"You don't?" said Karyn. "Fine. Just wish you knew what the consequence was."
Jon took out the stone and said "I wish I knew the consequence of trying to turn Karyn into a guy." He blinked.
"See?" said Karyn. "I did set the stone up that way. If you turn me into a guy, not only does it not work, but you immediately get female organs and become pregnant. So you... wait a minute. Something's wrong."
"Nothing's wrong," said Jon. "If I did that it would fulfill half of what I want to do anyway."
"That's exactly it! It's not just that you want to do it. Something's pushing you towards it. You want to do it, so you'll probably do it on purpose, but just in case you don't, it can happen by accident too. Something made me wish for those consequences--something which was trying alternate ways to get to the same result. Jon, give me that stone."
"No. You won't give it back."
"I'm just going to wish for information."
"Really? Then I wish that Karyn can make one wish for information right now without touching the stone."
"Jon.... I was telling the truth. I wish that Jon and I knew what wish caused all of this."
They knew then, of course. The wish was that Jon find the right man to get married to and have children with.
"See?" said Jon. "The wish isn't for me to want to do it, the wish is for it to happen. If I don't want to do it and I don't wish for it, it's going to happen anyway. Somehow. So I may as well wish for it."
"Jon," said Karyn, "then I should wish that you don't want it. It wouldn't really be reversing the wish."
"If you wish that, it would still happen. I just wouldn't like it. Look, Karyn, first of all, you're not convincing me not to do it, and second, it doesn't matter. It will happen somehow."
"So you're going to change thousands of people all to fit this... strange desire of yours?"
"No, Karyn, that was all either your ideas, or me working from your ideas. I had something in mind on a smaller scale. I wish...."
