Frank stared at the small arabian-style bronze lamp sitting on the table in front of him. He had bought it from a pawn shop on a whim; something his wife had berated him for when he returned home. Frank was grateful that she had left the house to pick up the groceries he had forgotten, giving him a rare moment of alone time. He sighed as he looked down on the lamp, trying not to think about his tumultuous home life. Feeling wistful, Frank began rubbing the lamp with his palm; internally, he wished for a genie to make all his problems go away. 

Frank nearly fell over when smoke began pouring from the spout of the lamp, accelerating faster and faster to coalesce in a gaseous blob hovering in the middle of his study. As Frank jumped from his chair, backing away from the smoke, the lamp cut off the smoke stream; the blob of smoke reshaping itself into the form of a man. As Frank cowered in the corner of the room, the smoke stabilized. 

The completed man was grey-skinned, and beneath the skin, swirls of smoke continued roiling; looking like dizzyingly shifting tattoos. He was bald, with pure-black eyes. Frank realized absently that he was peeing himself as wetness streamed along his leg into the carpet.

“What is your wish, master?” The grey-skinned man asked dispassionately.

Frank cleared his throat as he pulled himself to his feet, legs trembling. “Are you a genie? Do I get three wishes?” He asked with a shaking voice.

“I am a genie, and you may have one wish. In exchange for your wish, I am freed from this prison to return to my home.” 

Frank’s curiosity temporarily overrode both his fear, and his desire for a wish. “Wait, if you just give one wish, and then you’re free, how are you still here?”

The genie sighed. “A powerful wizard once made a contract with me, binding me to this lamp. I thought a single wish would be an easy task, but the fool could not make up his mind about what he wanted. Soon he was killed by a rival, and none who found me were able to summon me. Activating the lamp requires both intent, and physical contact. None were aware that I existed, so there was no one to summon me from the lamp. I am grateful to you for doing so. Now, I am eager to return to my world. It has been thousands of years since I last saw my family. While I have no power to force you, I implore you to make up your mind quickly.”

“Are there any limitations I should know about? Something like not bringing back the dead or anything?” Frank asked excitedly.

The genie shook his head. “No, there are no limitations. On this plane I am essentially omnipotent outside of the chains I foolishly placed on myself. Did you want me to bring back a lost loved one?”

“Hold on, let me think about what I want.” Frank said, mind whirling. The genie sighed, but said nothing else. Mind whirling, Frank found there were too many things he wanted. That thought transitioned into looking for loopholes in the wish system, which finally brought him to his wish.

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“This is going to be a bit complex, so I’m just going to outline my idea without wishing for it at first. If you have any questions or decisions that need to be made afterward, feel free to ask. I wish for the ability to create, and travel to another plane of existence. This plane starts out as a blank space, in which I can create anything I choose, and make any fact true. While I’m there, time is stopped on earth. While I’m on earth, time is stopped there unless I decide to let time continue flowing. I can’t bring anything back from that other world except what I bring, but any changes I make to myself remain so long as those changes are possible here. Any changes that aren’t possible here remain dormant, and return to me when I go back to the other world.” Frank paused to take a breath.

“This is… a difficult wish you have given me.” The genie said, shaking his head. “Essentially, you are asking me to make you the god of another, blank world, while simultaneously maintaining your mortal existence here. Is that correct?”

Frank nodded. “By the way, will that setup allow me to bring back the dead? Even the dead from this world?”

The genie nodded. “You would be essentially omnipotent, and I will leave a secondary intelligence with a link to sort out the details of your broader commands. If you wanted, you could create millions of copies of the same person without batting an eye, or similarly bring back everyone who has ever died on earth. Since you will be the one setting the rules, it will be your choice.”

“Alright. Are there any traps, weaknesses or loopholes you think I should know about? You don’t strike me as the malicious kind of genie.”

The genie snorted. “Do not judge a book by its cover. That being said, I am compelled by contract to answer honestly. I see the possibility that you become a cruel master who commits evil upon your subjects. I sense that you would not wish this.”

Frank nodded, thinking. “Well, then how about once I’ve fully established a world, I can only interact with it by sending an avatar down, or making systemic changes like changing the laws of physics. In other words, I can’t make direct changes outside my avatar unless they affect everyone equally. Would that work?”

The genie shrugged. “If that is your wish.”

Frank nodded. “Would I be able to make more than one world this way, or would I be limited to one at a time?”

The genie cocked his head. “I don’t think you realize the depths of the power you have requested. If there truly is such a limitation, you could simply choose to remove the limitation. Your power and options are as big or small as you choose. We will essentially be equals as long as you are in that other world.”

Frank nodded. “Alright, then I wish for it.”

The genies eyes flashed. “Your wish be done.”

The genie disappeared with a flash, just as Frank heard his wife’s car pull into the driveway. Frank looked back to where the Genie had been, finding nothing. The door opened as he stared at the empty space. “Hey honey, come help me with the groceries.” His wife called out to him. When he didn’t respond, still stupefied, she entered the room. “Frank? Can you…” She stared at him, still wet with pee, and at the puddle in the corner of the room.

“What the fu-” Her words were cut off as his strong desire to be somewhere else manifested, whisking him away to a pure black nothingness.