"Oh." He brightens up a bit, a little of the frozen unhappiness easing away from his face as he realizes that he can go into his pitch. Which - all right, doing his pitch is ridiculous here and now - how much is the Barrayaran mark even worth in Betan dollars? Is it even listed on the stock exchange? What good would an investor do? But it's something to do and something to say. And so he pulls the box with a butter bug out from his pocket. It stays closed for the moment as he explains -

"I have, in this box, a creature that can take wood, twigs, scraps, any biological plant material, and turn it into an edible foodstuff."