Another probe does come, though it doesn't come from any particular physical direction in a sense it's coming from all around him, from the world itself, it's searching for additional languages. "Interesting, you're using some form of ability that lets you defend your mind. And that's why the initial results didn't return this language. That's an impressive amount of control."

He notices the search and moves a few more languages to the bait layer - just a dozen or so, enough to credibly show a skilled learner without giving away how many he actually has. He restructures the shallow mind-layers as well, strengthening the shields around the first core layer and resolving secondary and tertiary bait identities in case of a deeper probe. If he's dealing with an intelligent-world level of telepathic expertise, he can't afford to take chances being clever. 

He snorts. "Lots of practice. So...who are you, where am I, and why'd'you suppose I ended up here?" While he talks, he admires the color-shifting surroundings. It doesn't seem to be optimized for hostility, but one can always hope. 

"This is the Heart's Realm, it's a multiverse nexus of sorts the magic and physics of about two thousand worlds are all present and somehow reconciled to not cause problems. And that number keeps going up as we explore more. As for me I'm Tristan Watcher, I work for a multiversal organization called Starlight that explores worlds and tries to help the people we meet. To be clear, this is a remote unit I'm not physically present."

He bursts out laughing. Kami kai, how far did I travel? 

"A nexus! And here I thought they were all destroyed!" He continues chuckling for a few seconds, then slips into a mere friendly grin. On the surface, at least; in his core, he remains on guard. "Yours seems to operate differently than the old world-ways, though. There sure is something up with the rules 'round here. How'd you secure it against the Netherlings, Tristan Watcher? Or do you even have those in this lovely little pocket of spacetime?" 

"We haven't encountered any sort of multiversal threat so far thankfully, we have contingencies but they are thus far untested and with luck they will remain untested. This is also the only such nexus we've found."

No multiversal threats at all? Well, that's disappointing.

"Huh. You might just be the most remote universe I've ever seen - well, relative to our core cluster, anyway. If you've literally never encountered the Netherlings, count yourself lucky. They can give even groups like yours a run for your money." He turns to look back towards the pond, frowning. "As near as I can tell, though, that was a one-way trip. I don't expect to be followed." More's the pity. That fight could've been fun. And these folks must have some serious resources if they're combining rules from two thousand worlds. Quite the speed bump for those hungry bastards, even if it does give their heavy hitters more options. 

"If you should encounter any multiversal threats, let me know. They're my specialty. In the meantime, I'm guessing this isn't your first extraplanar visitor. What's the standard procedure, and how much of it can I skip with my otherworldy charm?" This is followed by a rather lopsided grin; half his cheek is still in the process of recrystallizing. 

"The only mandatory thing is that you listen to a summary of our laws. There's a number of other recommended steps but they're not mandatory."

"Fair enough. Let's hear 'em." 

"Doing intentional injury to others is forbidden the exceptions are as follows: you have their permission, your act is in defense of yourself or others, or it happens part of an approved operation and within the approved rules of engagement.

Citizens in physical worlds are required to spend at least 5% of their time doing approved community service work. Citizenship is available upon request and comes with healthcare, education, shelter, sustenance, and political representation.

Theft is generally forbidden though the definition of that tends to be stricter than many other realms define it. Generally it's only applied to people's personal property or if you're taking very large volumes of material.

Otherwise, there are additional restrictions in certain areas you will be informed of those when entering."

"I've got no problem with anything I've heard so far. If I wanted citizenship, could I choose what service to do? Can I or others revoke my citizenship? Do you have any community service that involves military training, martial arts lessons, or similar?" 

"You can choose to stop being a citizen, there's indexes of available community service work. Significant parts of that are associated with current conflicts we're involved with. Hand to hand combat is something of a niche skill but we do have some people who need to learn it and you may be able to contribute there depending on your own skill level. Military training is a broad category so we would need to discuss what you mean by that in more detail."

Oooo, conflicts. He was worried for a bit that this would be a boring cluster. 

"If it pertains to fighting things, I can teach it. Ki manipulation, combat magic, intelligence gathering, hand-to-hand, strategy, tactics, logistics, piloting ships or giant mechs, whatever you got." If this were any other world he'd be limited to only a few of those things, but it seems like he's kept all his knowledge for some reason. "I prefer the frontlines, frankly, but if I can't convince you to use me as a commando then teaching rookies how to not die is also a worthy calling. I'd like to learn more about your capabilities, but it sounds like citizenship is the way to go." Also, he's hungry and has no money. 

"It might be easier to continue this conversation somewhere other than the middle of the woods. Would you be willing to be teleported or would you prefer linear transport?"

"It's actually kinda nice here...feels homey. But you're right. Teleportation's fine." 

"I can move the necessary displays into place here if you prefer, most people find this place a little unsettling."

He chuckles. "Believe me, I've seen much worse. No need to go to that extent, though. Let's talk in person." 

He feels magic reaching out to his body it seems to be trying to determine where the border is between him and his environment. Following that more magic reaches out and teleports him to a new location. If his senses are particularly acute he might be able to tell the teleportation magic is switching volumes of space. The new room has a rich carpet with a pattern that looks a bit like a mirrored sunrise over a forest. There are two couches on either side of the carpet. He appears in front of one couch. There's a tall man with dark brown skin and short black hair wearing sleek slacks blue and a white long sleeve shirt with no visible seems. There's a small logo on the left breast of his shirt with stars against a dark blue background. "Hello there, nice to see you in person."

"Likewise." He slaps his good hand to his forehead. "Huh. I forgot to introduce myself earlier. See, this is why face-to-face is worth it. I'm Blastralion Protos, also known as Kalifor in some worlds. Technically I'm Blastralion Protos 32174, but that's a long story. Oh, and I'm told several demon realms have words for me, but I can't repeat any of those in polite company. You're Tristan Watcher, I presume?" 

His crystallizing wounds have mostly finished sealing at this point, leaving a polished surface like diamond scales. It's hard to tell where armor ends and person begins - even his head is vaguely helmet-shaped. He's also not quite humanoid. From the base of where his spine ought to be, a short monkey's tail protrudes. It's also crystalline, partially severed, and just finished healing.

His feet sink deep into the carpet, implying higher-than-typical density. 

"Indeed I am, it's good to meet you. Can I get you anything, food, a drink?"

"I'm pretty hungry, actually, but I should warn you - I eat more than should be physically possible. Especially with needing to heal this - " he gestures to his missing arm. "I'll eat just about anything most folks do, but foods high in minerals help with the healing. Nuts, seeds, beans, that sort of thing." 

"How does granola sound then? And juice?"

"Sounds great, thanks." He plops into the couch, resting his good arm on the back. 

A small table with a large bowl of granola a copper colored spoon and a tall glass of purple juice appears beside the couch within arms reach.

He digs in, finding time between bites to comment, "You're more hospitable than most places I've been. Thanks and kudos. 

"So, Tristan, can you tell me more about Starlight's current conflicts? I practically guarantee I can help somehow, and I'm happy to share what I can do." Some of it, anyway. For now. 

He brings up a visual representation of the local multiverse there's blobs of color and smaller motes all around a bright shiny speck of light with strings connecting it to everything. "There are nine areas of concern in the parts of the multiverse where we have operations. The first and most encompassing is in the Jovian's cluster. They live in a cluster of about 300 universes though they aren't able to travel between them. Our primary focus in that cluster is an expansionist hive mind that incorporates those they conquer into their hive mind by force.

That work is occupying the majority of our time because we believe they are the most likely of our current threats to be able to become more threatening if left unattended. A secondary concern in that cluster is a very conflict prone universe which seems to be almost continuously either at war or dominated by oppressive empires it shifts quite dynamically though and there isn't any faction we feel comfortable supporting.

The next most relevant area of concern is another cluster this one has a high concentration of genocidal threats, we're focusing our attention in a single universe within that cluster, unfortunately that cluster contains several stable time loops that makes certain forms of intervention difficult.

This cluster over here has extremely concerning magical conflicts on a semiregular basis but they also have a habit of resolving themselves safely without our involvement. As such, we mostly observe.

This smaller cluster here is actively monitored as criminal organizations in this area make a habit of unleashing cataclysmic forces. Somehow natives are usually able to counteract these events but we've taken to preventative actions as local surveillance capabilities are insufficient for the task.

The last of the major clusters in our area very recently fought a significant multiversal war for the fate of that entire cluster. We intervened to assist and we now administer the local afterlife. The native means of multiversal travel is damaging to the involved universes so it has been removed and we monitor to ensure it doesn't reemerge.

And then there's the singleton universes that represent cause for concern: There's one universe with what is as far as we can tell an extremely powerful god who has firmly rebuffed any effort to involve ourselves, we still keep an eye on it.

Second is a universe where an extremely powerful species seems to be setting up to harvest entire biospheres for an unclear purpose on rather long timescales. We prevented this action on one world in that universe but we're not sure how to locate more worlds under threat.

There's also a universe which is nearing its end currently in a timeloop we could turn off if desired. We're actively working to evacuate people but we've hit the point of diminishing returns.

Finally, a recently contacted world is potentially under threat from an pair of genocidal gods. We don't know how powerful they are or if they are still actively genocidal just that they have committed genocide in the past and threatened to do so again if they are summoned and the people of the world aren't sufficiently united."