An alien with extraordinary technological powers—such as teleportation to anywhere in the universe, molecular construction of anything, and future or past time travel—wandered and searched the cosmos, granting civilizations a single wish like a genie from a bottle.


    Its amicable goal was to influence everyone to ''pay it forward.''


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    On Earth, people were conflicted as to what to request, so they turned to an all-knowing post-singularity AI:


    "Are you certain?" asked the alien. "That''ll include yourself too."


    "It''s what’s best for the world," said the AI.


    "Very well."


    The alien traveled back in time to stop human evolution.