The most effective way to adapt to changing circumstances would be to enter into one-shot deals that would leave the party the freedom to enter into subsequent transactions or not, depending on the then-current circumstances.
The element bombarded should be of high isotopic content, and should not give any other positronic radioelement whose lifetime is comparable to the one looked for.
Dried plants make equally good raw material for toymakers, and vivid little personalities may be born of nut-heads with moss or corn silk hair, and peanuts or seedpods for feet; stitched leaf skirts and tiny bouquets of dried flowers, built on a foundation of pipe-cleaners and posed against a painted background.
