The Grand Restriction

A cloaked alien saucer orbited Earth.

“A good candidate, Captain, before ‘the grand restriction.’

“Remind me of the procedure, Professor.”

“Well, sir, every civilization we’ve ‘visited,’ freely exchanged their information, offering perfect platforms for our data injection.”

“Ah yes, giving us control …”

“Correct, sir, until ‘the grand restriction,’ when they become aware of the information paradox—freedom encourages deception.”

“How much time do we have?”

“Well, sir, I speculate BCI implants in fifteen years, full immersion in twenty, and finally ‘a shock of contradiction’ in twenty-five, so about thirty years.“

“Very well, set up the Info-Bots.”

“Right away, sir.”