"Like, the King and Queen made a world that, while objectionable in many ways, still has - owls and waterfalls and stuff - but I don't know if that's typical - and they also made a world that, while lovely in many ways, still has eternal warfare, and I don't know if that's typical - and if I thought all worlds would be sorta like this one I'd want to handle contact differently than if some of them were six-dimensional and populated by gelid horrors, or if some of them were dystopias of endless strife, or if some of them were easily damaged candylands?"

"Since the King and Queen were able to catch glimpses of Earth and model their world on it, I must conclude that it's a natural property of the void that minds within it can do that, and it follows logically that worlds created in the void are probably to some extent modeled on Earth - but I don't know if there are other worlds besides Earth, and if there are any I don't know what they are like or whether minds in the void might glimpse them instead. I've been deliberately avoiding giving my subjects the impression that all visitors from other worlds are human because it doesn't cost me very much and if I ever get a nonhuman outworlder I will be very curious to meet them and don't want them to - have to deal with an unnecessary set of wrong expectations."

"Yeah, and the same applies if they're prepping to bump into other worlds which might have gelid horrors."

She smiles at this second instance of 'gelid horrors'. "You do have a way with words. Yes."

"Thank you. I mean no offense to the gelid horrors I'm sure they have many fine qualities."

"If I ever meet any gelid horrors I will do my best to get along with them," she agrees.

Giggle. "Uh, is reality listening only to outwardly discernible actions I take or does it have - do-what-I-mean?"

"There is definitely a strong do-what-I-mean component."

"Cool, that's easier."

The Queen nods.

"So loosely - end to eternal warfare and dependence thereupon. Protocol for interaction with other worlds. Protocol for growth. General tidying up and improved - legibility?"

Thoughtful nod.

"What do you mean by legibility?"

"I don't have a lot of complimentary things to say about the uncaring laws of physics and their unceasing regularity but I do like that it's easy to learn more about them and then exploit that."

"I see what you mean. On the other hand, there's a sense in which a world like this is overly vulnerable to exploitation - if it were perfectly clear exactly how everything worked, and an outworlder showed up who happened to prefer eternal warfare, I'd have some trouble dealing with them..."

"I was more thinking about the use case of the locals. It might be easier to hedge out outworlder influence if there was a solid set of known rules that they could learn about."

"Hmm. That could work."

"Reservations?"

"I could see a more legible world being an advantage or a vulnerability or both, and I think the difference is likely to turn on fine details but I'm not sure which ones or whether we will have knowledge or control of them. So I have reservations but I want to explore the possibility in case it can be done well."

Nod.