Of Men and Spiders

Alice awoke, ready to start a new day. Of course, for a while, she'd have to entertain herself. These days, she only needed about 4 hours of sleep. Something to do with her new body being far more efficient at resting. Charlotte had explained it once, but it didn't really make sense to Alice, so she just accepted that she slept half as much as anyone else she knew.

The first thing she did was send a quick mental "good morning" to Charlotte, who responded in kind before settling down at her desk and pulling out her new art supplies. She wasn't sure what she wanted to draw at first but eventually settled on a picture of Scott and Charlotte preparing the fields yesterday.

Her picture was far more refined than her old drawings used to be. The features and characteristics of the people she drew were now clear and distinct, a far cry from the simple circles with smiles she used to draw. This was partially because she was getting a lot more practice due to her early mornings and because this new body moved much more precisely in the manner she wanted, enabling her to recreate the images in her mind more accurately than ever.

Often, Charlotte would "ride backseat" while Alice was drawing. She was unobtrusive, content to watch passively, offering occasional questions or thoughts as the girl worked, but otherwise just hanging around, kind of like having a friend in the room with her. It helped keep loneliness at bay during quiet early mornings like this.

After a couple hours of drawing, Alice wandered out into the meadow Charlotte created for them. It used to be she started every day with breakfast, but with this body, hunger pains weren't really a thing. She was still aware of when she needed food, but it was more like a spare thought in the back of her mind rather than a powerful urge distracting her from anything else. So she ignored the hunger until Scott and Mom were up so she could eat with them, though today it would just be Scott.

That thought made her wonder about how things were going with Mom. Alice sent a quick probe to Charlotte, this time focusing it on a more distinct thought. "How's things going with mom?" The thought conveyed more than the simple words would have on their own, including ideas and feelings that added considerably more clarification to the question.

Charlotte answered back without delay. "Lacy interacted with several other humans in an attempt to contact her father, eventually succeeding, though I admit I do not fully understand the nature of their interaction. If I had to compare it to relationships among the She, they are less like a sire and offspring and more like two competing She, contesting the viability of their chosen survival methods. However, after observing your mother in action again, I am convinced she is considerably above average among humans regarding her capacity for violent conflict resolution."

Alice was happy for the extra thoughts and impressions that came with her connection to Charlotte because many of those words would have been beyond her ability to understand otherwise. Instead, she just kind of giggled back. "Yeah, Mom and Scott are both really tough and smart!"

Charlotte sort of "smiled" back as she answered. "Agreed."

After a while of walking along the riverbed, enjoying the relaxing sound of the water, and hopping in once or twice to make a bit of a mess, Alice cleaned herself off so as not to track any mud into the ship and walked out to meet Scott, who Charlotte had informed her had finally woken up.

Her brother was yawning and stumbling his way to the kitchen. Seeing her, he smiled and nodded clumsily. "Morning."

Alice responded a bit more energetically, "Good morning!" and the two went into the kitchen to get their breakfast.

If there was one thing Alice really missed about her old body, it was her sense of taste. Not that this one couldn't taste at all, but all it could really sense was "good" or "bad," with nothing in between. However, as she watched Scott pour himself a bowl of Charlotte's "nutritional paste," she reconsidered her desire to taste again.

Still, mealtime was a time to hang out and speak with her brother, and he was extra patient since he wasn't in the middle of working on any projects at the time.

Between mouthfuls of paste, Alice showed her picture this morning to Scott, who blinked and seemed to wake up a little as he looked at it. "Wow, this is really...good!"

He was being encouraging, and she could see he was definitely proud of her, but there was also a little sadness there. Alice knew Scott still blamed himself for what happened to her. She'd told him repeatedly she was even happier in this body than in her old one, and it did lighten his mood a little, but there was still a shadow in him where there hadn't been before.

A slight touch toward Charlotte's mind was responded to by letting Alice know she didn't know what to do about it either, so Alice decided to change the subject. "So what are you going to do today?"

Scott's mood lightened as he considered that. Maybe it was the time he spent on the forest planet, but he always seemed to brighten when working with his hands these days. "Well, with Charlotte's and your help today, I was going to work on tilling the fields, maybe get a little planting done. I want to see how much I can reasonably plant and tend, then maybe cut up some of the extra vegetables Charlotte brought so we can eat something other than this paste for a change..." Then, after a moment's hesitation, he added. "Not that I don't appreciate the food Charlotte prepared for us! I just need a bit of a change now and then!"

Alice giggled. Ever since she explained to Scott that she could now talk with Charlotte whenever and wherever she was, he seemed a little paranoid that she could always overhear him, too. He wasn't necessarily wrong. Charlotte could overhear almost anything Alice did unless she wanted privacy, but Charlotte wasn't about to be offended by something like that. She'd even offered to "grow meat" for Scott and Lacy to eat, but when she'd brought it up with Scott, he'd grown pale and declined. When Alice asked about it later, he said it felt like Charlotte was offering to feed him an arm or leg of her own, and it just felt creepy.

After breakfast, Scott revealed what he meant by Charlotte and Alice's help. He'd made a plow attached to a chain that ended in a harness they could wear over their shoulders like a backpack, and then Alice and Charlotte could take turns pulling the plow while Scott directed it from behind. Alice thought this was a neat game at first but quickly got bored. Thankfully, Charlotte seemed content to help.

Scott dug out another rock and grumbled, "Did you have to include rocks in the dirt?"

Charlotte nodded. "I was unaware of what was important and what wasn't, so I tried to include as many variables from the fields you worked on before as possible."

Scott didn't seem that amused at the moment. "Well, you definitely succeeded. For future reference, rocks can be kept separate from the soil."

Charlotte seemed mildly amused as she responded. "Noted."

After a few more minutes of work, Charlotte spoke up again. "Scott, what is the purpose of plowing like this? I remember you doing something similar before, with a hoe, but I am uncertain as to how it aids in the growing of plants. After all, the plants grow in the wild without the soil being dug up this way."

Scott threw another rock to the side, then nodded. "Yes, these plants grow in the wild, but through proper care and cultivation, we can considerably boost a plant's chance of success and yield. If I can make ninety-nine percent of plants grow, as opposed to, I don't know, ten or twenty percent in the wild, and get more per plant, that means a lot more food per square foot than I can find in the forest floor. Of course, other considerations must be made, such as crop cycles and pollination..." He paused, looking off into the distance as if realizing something important. "Wait, what are we going to do about pollination?"

Charlotte seemed confused. "What is pollination?"

Scott looked at her before answering. "Well, it has to do with a plant's reproduction cycle. I don't have time for a full lesson right now, but basically, a plant produces tiny particles that are supposed to spread from itself to other nearby plants to create seeds. Those seeds are where the fruit of the plant comes from. If a plant doesn't get any outside pollen, it won't make any fruit! Usually, it's bugs and birds, or something similar, that spread the pollen around, and without them, I'm not certain how we'll pollinate the plants!"

Charlotte considered this a moment. "So you need something that can collect particles from one plant and pass it on to others? I could create an appendage to do that."

After a moment, Scott nodded. "I suppose that could work... It'd be best to make it somewhat fuzzy for the pollen to cling to, and make sure you cause as little damage to the plants as possible in the process!"

Alice was once again amazed at how much Scott knew about everything. She hoped when she grew up, she'd be that smart! Although looking at herself, Alice realized she wasn't going to do much growing anymore... After a moment, she shrugged; that just meant she had to learn more now, and what better way to learn than watching and working with Scott, who seemed to know everything?

After a pause in their work, Alice approached Scott and Charlotte. "I'm ready to take my turn pulling the plow again!"

That made Scott pause. "I thought this was too boring for you?"

Alice shrugged and smiled. "Well, it was, but I want to learn like Charlotte is! So if I help out more, I'll learn more!"

Scott's eyebrows shot up as he tilted his head in consideration. "Yeah, I suppose that's true. Alright, you can take another turn, but no complaining about the work being boring until we finish for the day!"

Alice practically skipped over to the harness, a real feat when she has so many feet. "I promise!"