Luke takes both boxes. The box A contains $1000. The box B is empty.
Omega appears in a flash of light.
Luke: “You killed my grandfather!”
Omega: “No, I am your grandfather.”
Omega, continues: “Because of your stupid choice, I had to travel back in time and kill myself. Luckily, I was signed up for cryonics. In 2048, the year of Singularity, I was revived by uploading into a robotic body. By lucky coincidence, I got my hands on an unfinished time-travel research, which I succeeded to complete. I devised a clever plan that involved traveling to the past and providing you with $1000000, so that you could found the company that will develop the technology which will eventually bring the Singularity, which would make our family the undisputed masters of the post-Singularity world.”
Omega, continues: “For technical reasons, to avoid certain paradoxes related to time travel, it was necessary to implement this plan as an acausal decision, where the wrong choice would doom the whole project and revert the world to its original timeline. I trusted your rationality, Luke, but apparently, my expectations were too high.”
Luke: “But how can I exist if you killed my grandfather… uh, yourself? Isn’t that a paradox? I remember my grandfather still living when I was a small child...”
Omega: “I never said I would kill your grandfather before you were born. Or before your parents were born. Apparently, you were not even paying attention to the problem in front of you, Luke. I am so disappointed.”
Luke: “Wait, we still have some hope! You said that a wrong choice would restore the original timeline. But I still have the extra $1000 from the box A! Not enough to found my own company, but perhaps I could still buy a share of the company that will bring the Singularity, and we could still own a fraction of the future world.”
Omega snatches the money out of Luke’s hand.
Omega: “Nope. I have no more trust in you. I am putting this money into my savings account. In 2048, this, plus the interest, will be barely enough to pay for this high-tech robotic body. I need enough processing power to do the time-travel research. This is the original timeline, Luke.”
Luke takes both boxes. The box A contains $1000. The box B is empty.
Omega appears in a flash of light.
Luke: “You killed my grandfather!”
Omega: “No, I am your grandfather.”
Omega, continues: “Because of your stupid choice, I had to travel back in time and kill myself. Luckily, I was signed up for cryonics. In 2048, the year of Singularity, I was revived by uploading into a robotic body. By lucky coincidence, I got my hands on an unfinished time-travel research, which I succeeded to complete. I devised a clever plan that involved traveling to the past and providing you with $1000000, so that you could found the company that will develop the technology which will eventually bring the Singularity, which would make our family the undisputed masters of the post-Singularity world.”
Omega, continues: “For technical reasons, to avoid certain paradoxes related to time travel, it was necessary to implement this plan as an acausal decision, where the wrong choice would doom the whole project and revert the world to its original timeline. I trusted your rationality, Luke, but apparently, my expectations were too high.”
Luke: “But how can I exist if you killed my grandfather… uh, yourself? Isn’t that a paradox? I remember my grandfather still living when I was a small child...”
Omega: “I never said I would kill your grandfather before you were born. Or before your parents were born. Apparently, you were not even paying attention to the problem in front of you, Luke. I am so disappointed.”
Luke: “Wait, we still have some hope! You said that a wrong choice would restore the original timeline. But I still have the extra $1000 from the box A! Not enough to found my own company, but perhaps I could still buy a share of the company that will bring the Singularity, and we could still own a fraction of the future world.”
Omega snatches the money out of Luke’s hand.
Omega: “Nope. I have no more trust in you. I am putting this money into my savings account. In 2048, this, plus the interest, will be barely enough to pay for this high-tech robotic body. I need enough processing power to do the time-travel research. This is the original timeline, Luke.”
Omega disappears.