AUTHOR'S NOTE:
All characters in this story (all parts) are 18+.
This first part is primarily world building, scene setting, and some character development. Things begin to take off in the next part.
* * * * * * * * *
"Well," I thought to myself, "this is going nowhere. Its almost 1 am, I have work tomorrow, and this place is dead. Every woman who's even remotely attractive already has at least two guys trying to chat her up. I think I'll just finish my scotch and call it a night."
I downed my scotch, number three for the night, and paid the tab. As I was putting on my coat at the door, a voice spoke behind me.
"Excuse me, sir?" I turned. A tall woman wearing a windbreaker over a turtleneck sweater stood in front of me. In the light shining in through the bar windows from the street lights outside, she looked almost blue. "I am conducting a research project, a survey, regarding individual knowledge and beliefs regarding society. If you are interested, your participation will be compensated, and will take only approximately 30 minutes." She wasn't really my type - too tall and slender - but I'd spent all night looking for female companionship, so on impulse I agreed.
"Ok. Where do we go?"
"I will use a facility around the corner from here. Please, follow me." Her accent was odd: it made me think of India, although her appearance in no way matched. My initial impression was that she was Scandinavian - tall, with long blonde hair, large eyes (although I didn't catch their color), although unfortunately almost completely flat. Lacking one of my favorite female features. Oh well, maybe she has a friend... I followed her out into the blustery Chicago winter, my eyes streaming in the cold wind, my checks freezing almost at once, shivering despite the heavy coat. She strode before me with an odd gait, not really very feminine at all. I began to think that maybe this person was trans, or maybe just a guy with long hair and an alto voice. It was also odd that she or he was walking around Chicago in a sweater and windbreaker. Maybe that was why she was blue?
I was having second thoughts when she turned the corner into an alley and opened a door. I stopped and stared: here, in this grimy alley was something that looked like a stainless-steel block with a door, about six feet tall and four feet wide. It was just big enough for the door. She stepped inside, and gestured for me to enter. I found myself standing in a large, featureless room, well lit from a high ceiling, furnished with only a table and two ordinary chairs. I looked back through the open doorway, and saw the Chicago street outside, and figured that the steel block was just a side entryway into the building: the end of the alley must have been much closer than I realized. "Maybe I should try a different brand of scotch," I thought. She closed the door, and I immediately realized that I felt warmer, and removed my hat, coat and gloves. We were alone in the room.
She sat down at the table, and placed a small device on the table. It resembled a small tape recorder, maybe a dictating machine. I sat down as well. "My name is Nurt" she said. "Thank you for agreeing to participate. Would you like some water?" I was a bit uneasy about the surroundings, and declined the water: who knows what she could have put in it. "My research project is to investigate the disparities between concepts and beliefs held by a number of individuals regarding their society, their effect on choices, and the objective measure of the society."
"Ok..." I replied, unsure of exactly what she had just said. Sounded more than a bit out of my league, especially after the whisky and how late it was. "Is this like a test?"
"More like an interview, a survey."
"Ok, I'm fine with that. Ah, what did you say the compensation was?"
"Whatever you desire. Within reason."
"Huh? what do you mean?"
"Literally that: whatever you desire, with certain limits. The technology I have available is far in advance of the technology you employ. The research project provides that I satisfy three requests that you make, subject to certain limitations. These limitations do not permit you to alter the human race in any extreme way, for example by requesting 'world peace' or instantaneously ending hunger, although you may request things that could help
you
to bring such a condition into effect. Additionally, certain requests require substantially higher technology, in which case such a request may count for two or even all three requests allotted."
I digested this.
"So, like, I get three wishes?" (I was firing on all 2 cylinders at that point...)
"Yes."
"You're kidding."
"No. Skepticism is a common reaction. You may make your first request before beginning, if you prefer."
"Oh! Ok. And can I change my mind and ask for something different, if it doesn't turn out?"
"You can change your mind at any time up the point you leave this room, and substitute a different request."
"What if I wished that I could fly, like Superman?"
"Yes, that can be granted. Is that your request?"
"Um, not really. But it would make a good demonstration. Can you grant that just for a few minutes, and then I'll think of my wishes during the interview part?"
"Yes. She touched the device on the table with two fingers, then looked at me and said "Please try it now." I stood up, and raised my arms out to my sides.
"Do I flap?"
"If you prefer. You need only think about changing your position."
I concentrated on floating upwards. I felt air moving past my face and outstretched hands, and felt that I had risen five feet off the floor. I just knew, without looking, exactly where I was. I thought I should be horizontal, and my legs swung up behind me. I thought of circling the room, and it happened. It was really more like levitating than flying: it didn't provide the exhilaration that I had somewhat expected, but it definitely proved that she could deliver things far outside my understanding. I thought about returning to my chair.
"Ok! I'm convinced."
"Would you like to make your first actual request now?"
"No, let me think for a while. We can go ahead with the interview part."
She began speaking (more like reciting) a carefully worded question, but my attention was elsewhere. My attention was on the fact that she really did look blue, and that she seemed to have no fingernails, and that she seemed to have about seven thin fingers on each hand, with no distinct thumb. She finished her question, and I had no idea what she'd asked.
"Excuse me, where exactly are you from?"
"Not from this planet, nor from a planet that you would recognize. The purpose here is only to study the social structure of this planet."
"So, you aren't, ah, human?"
"No. Nor a mammal, nor as having a gender as that term is used in your culture."
"Ah." I thought to myself, so, Nurt is an 'it', not a 'she.' So much for having a cute friend.
"Ok, ah, could you repeat your question?"
Nurt repeated its question. The questions began with my relationships with family members and friends, then explored my employment situation. I'm 28, unmarried, and currently without a girlfriend. My mother is still living, as are my two sisters. My friends are mainly people that I've known from high school and college, and one or two people that I work with. I work as a paralegal at a law firm downtown that specializes in litigation: my days are spent reading, summarizing, and indexing voluminous deposition transcripts and discovery responses for the attorneys. I feel that my liberal arts education had prepared me well to think critically and analytically, but that this job is essentially drudge work. Nurt inquired into the college system, and how it affected my social life and choice of employment. Finally, Nurt inquired extensively into my beliefs and attitudes towards government and politicians. I think I really earned those wishes.
"That completes the series of questions. Have you made a decision regarding your requests?"
"Yes, I have." I had thought about the "genie problem" before: I've read numerous stories throughout school (and the occasional erotic story during and after) that featured a an opportunity to receive three wishes, and the disasters that usually befell those who failed to choose wisely. "Ok, first, can I ask for something like $47 million?"
"Yes. Providing money is one of the simplest requests to fill."
"And nobody will end up dying because of it? Like, I don't want to receive money because my mother dies and leaves it to me in her will."
"Nobody will die to provide the money. If this is your request, a lottery ticket will be given to you which will win in approximately three days. You will then collect a sum slightly in excess of 47 million dollars, unless you want the amount to be exactly 47 million. Is this your wish?"
"Um, yeah. In excess of $47 million is fine, it doesn't have to be exact."
Nurt touched the device in three different spots with three fingers, and then touched a fourth spot. Nurt then lifted the device to reveal a Powerball lottery ticket, which it handed to me.
