Huh. Soon a bunch of words like 'poison' and 'toxic' and so on are exchanged. Maybe they can have small samples and volunteers can do progressive exposure tests?

They could take a blood sample and see if there is anything that would obviously interact dangerously first?

They'd be delighted to learn how that works first! They are a center of knowledge, after all!

Sure, they can watch the onboard shuttle lab process some blood from this green here. Little bit of blood comes out, some goes in the microscope and some in this machine here. They can look at the microscope image if they'd like!

Wow, that is some really good lenses! The magnification is much better than theirs! The pocket everythings are very neat too. This three tailed local geeking out over it happens to be a local bio/ecology professor apparently.

The expedition biologist experiences fellow feeling. So this machine can test for these proteins, see? If they're already there, they're probably safe to eat more of. And they can have it react with small amounts of things in the food. And they can check the food for trace chemicals.

Wow if more Amentan teaching can be had the university is going to be able to write like dozens of new books just on biology, at least.

It turns out that the basic mechanisms of biology are broadly the same- DNA, oxygen based respiration (knowledge of the underlying mechanisms is new here, and FASCINATING)- But the local biologist is pessimistic about being able to safely eat Amentan food. There's always the chance of- A two syllable word that takes some explaining. Some random unknown protein or chemical in the mix causing the body to poison itself and then poison itself more in response to the effects of the first poison. 'Metabolic cascade', perhaps.

Yes, that's the kind of thing they're worried about! Obviously someone will probably want to try it eventually but they'd like to first rule out all the problems they can detect in a lab.

"Why not try it with a bridge-crosser? ...With... Someone who wants to die doing something good?"

"We do not bring people who want to die in space shuttles. People who are okay with maybe dying even if no person wants this, we bring those. Not people who want to."

"No, no, I meant a kitsune- An Iwami person trying your food. Of course I wouldn't try to make that decision for [foreigners]. For - people who are not us?"

"It would be so sad if one of you died also! We want this day when we meet to be a good day."

"Agree. Let's talk about proteins more instead..."

Back outside, most of the locals have gone back to work aside from the threes and fours. Though some are working on handicrafts and food processing in viewing range of the shiny shuttle.

"We have stories, things we say that are maybe correct, stories that say there are world sailors who use space shuttles and explore worlds. They say that people like that put life on Iwami. I thought those were wrong until today. I am very glad to know that space sailors are real. It is a feeling of hope, a feeling that I think good things will happen. Is this the first time you have visited Iwami?"

"It is the first time for us. We did not have maybe real stories about this. We had only stories of wanting."

"It reminds me of a story about lonely sailors lost on the water. We would like to write your stories and to tell you our stories."

"We want to see your stories! Our computers can learn to read and tell us better how to talk if your stories for seeing are drawn with sounds."

"Drawn with sounds?"

"Sound characters."

"Ahhhh. Yes. Tsu-talk has a way of writing where one symbol always makes the same sound, is that what you mean? I don't know it. I think someone does."

"Sarai la Nar?"

"No... Maybe. Send some two to ask."

"I will."

"We are an everything learning place, not an arts learning place, but we do have, huuu... Plays. We have a few people whose art is moving and talking and talking music, singing. We call it a play. We have one every evening between dinner and sunset. We will invite you to see the evening play."

"We are wanting to see the play! We will put the play in the computer, too. Like this." The green in question points his pocket everything at himself. "I'm putting this in the computer." Then he plays it back.

"That is good. Pocket everythings are interesting. We want to learn how it works so we can also do this. Sailing and walking is a slow way to talk and makes agreeing with other places difficult. We know stories of Tsu towers. In parts of Tsu, talk is moved by people watching from inside towers and moving flags. I think you can do better. Your space shuttle is talking with people who are not here, yes?"

"Yes! The people up are doing word help."

"If we had pocket everythings we could show you the sound characters right now!"

"...We would like to ask that you do not record a certain thing. There are some things that it is very important to be correct. One of those things is the name rock. We don't let people write down anything from the name rock. It would be bad for the people whose names are on the rock. We think recordings are the same as writing. Please do not."

"Is the name rock very different from not name rocks?"

"It is in a place inside that we do not tell most people. It has this character very big and many small characters below." They quickly sketch a boxy complicated ideogram. "This character means 'Arkens'. That is the name of our good ancestor. An ancestor is parent parent parent."

"I should not put this in the pocket everything?" he asks, pointing at the sketch. "Or only the rock?"

"Only the rock. It is important because the name on the name rock is the last thing that a person writes before they die."