Five individuals stood alone in their own vast, empty white voids, each facing a blue screen hovering before them.
The silence pressed against their eardrums like cotton wool, broken only by the soft hum of otherworldly energy. They didn't know what was happening, only that the answers they desperately needed lay behind the cold, digital interface floating just out of arm's reach.
Ethan Carter stared at the screen, his work boots planted wide on the non-existent floor. Grease still clung to his fingernails from the morning shift, and his hi-vis vest bore the accumulated stains of a dozen different jobs.
He'd always been the type to act first and think later, but this, whatever this was, demanded a little more care.
"Alright," he muttered. "What is this about."
He fired off a series of questions.
"How far can I take my wish? Are there limits?"
Your wish can affect yourself, the earth, or humanity as a whole.
"Can I wish for multiple things at once, or is it just one?"
One wish with one effect per person.
"What happens if I don't make a wish at all?"
Nothing.
Ethan grunted, processing the answers. No clever loopholes. No shortcuts. Just one shot at changing everything.
"Bloody hell," he sighed as the weight of the situation settled on his shoulders. He'd make it count, he always did when it mattered.
Meanwhile, Lily Everett couldn't stand still. The adrenaline from her morning run hadn't fully faded, and now it mixed with something closer to panic. She bounced on the balls of her feet, her mind racing faster than her pulse.
"Wait, wait," she said, hands gesturing rapidly. "So other people get the same chance? How many exactly?"
All humans have received the same opportunity.
Her stomach dropped as she pressed a hand to her mouth, then pulled it away to ask another question, words tumbling out faster now.
"What about kids? Do children get wishes too? What's the age limit?"
No age limit, if they can communicate a desire it will be granted.
"Can people wish for others to die? Like, specifically target someone?"
No.
"What happens if someone wishes for the world to end?"
Then it will end.
Each answer only made the pit in her stomach deepen. This wasn't just about her anymore, it was about navigating the collective madness of humanity.
She wrapped her arms around herself, trying to think of what could possibly make things better instead of catastrophically worse.
In his section of the void, Walter clasped his hands behind his back, his weathered face betraying nothing of the careful calculations running through his mind.
Decades of teaching had taught him that the right questions often mattered more than the answers.
"Does magic exist in our world?"
If it is wished for, it shall.
"What is the fundamental nature of this place?"
You don't need to know that.
Walter nodded slowly, filing away each response.
"What is the meaning of life?"
Life is what you make of it.
A faint smile touched his lips.
"Will there be consequences for making selfish wishes versus altruistic ones?"
No.
"Are you planning to judge humanity based on what we choose?"
Yes, but only privately.
"What happens if everyone's wishes conflict with each other?"
Wishes can cancel each other out.
Walter closed his eyes briefly. The entity spoke of choices and consequences with the detached certainty of natural law.
Maria Thompson had always been the practical one in her family, the one who remembered to pay bills and check insurance policies. Now, facing the impossible, her mind immediately went to contingencies and damage control.
"What exactly are the limits of the questions I can ask? And can you offer guidance on wishes?"
There are no clearly defined limits to the questions, ask and you will either get an answer or you won't.
I can offer limited guidance from the stance of humanity as a whole.
Good. She could work with limited guidance. Maria had spent years making decisions with incomplete information.
"If I give you an example wish, can you tell me the potential consequences?"
Yes.
"Can wishes be undone or modified after they're made?"
No.
"Will we know when everyone has finished making their wishes?"
You will be sent back once all wishes have been made.
She exhaled slowly. No takesies-backsies and no coordination between eight billion decision-makers, what a mess.
"Can you show me what the world might look like after all wishes are implemented?"
Yes.
Victor Langley approached the situation like a business negotiation. This entity, whatever it was, had rules, which meant it had structure.
Structure could be analysed, navigated, and exploited. He'd built his career on finding advantages others missed.
His first questions probed for intelligence gathering.
"Can you tell us what others wish for?"
No.
Blind bidding. Interesting. That changed the strategic landscape entirely.
"Can wishes affect the past, or only the future?"
The past is untouchable.
"What happens if I make a wish that counters someone else's?"
Then their wish will become irrelevant.
"Are there any wishes that would give someone power over this process itself?"
No.
"Can you tell me the most common types of wishes humans typically make in situations like this?"
Money, power, lifespan.
A cold smile pulled at his lips. Information was power, and power was survival. If he played this right, he could position himself to thrive regardless of what chaos everyone else unleashed.
But as Victor formulated his next question, a thought struck him. What if the real trap wasn't in the wishing, but in thinking he could outsmart eight billion other people who were just as desperate to survive as he was?
In their separate voids, the five continued their questioning, each approaching the impossible task ahead in their own ways.
The screens hummed patiently, waiting for the moment when the questions would end and wishes would be made.