She can't help she was programmed to be silent and thoughtful and not think for herself. Now, the person she was before, her child self, was a terrible student and would have done nothing but interrupt Waver and pout at answers she didn't like.

That does sound particularly unpleasant for the locals.

"Their lives...just change." She might repeat the words, but it's not a question so much as her biggest concern. It reminds her a lot of what happened back home - the vanishing of the moon, the changing of the stars, then suddenly, they were some people who were Dolls and some Contractors. Dolls being what she became, void of her own emotions, and now programmed to be this perfect machine to assist a team of Contractors.

She stares at the ground as these thoughts take root. Could it be something similar? Related?

"How often do new places appear?"