"It's time for a blast from the past because it's me, Sarah McMillan!"
"Uh-huh," said Jon. "I don't believe you."
"Yeah," said Karyn. "Why should anyone believe you? We're 200 years in the future. You're telling me you managed to live 200 years?"
"My mind was downloaded into this android body," said The Queen. "That's how I've managed to survive for 200 years! Now tell me, how did you survive just as you are? Android bodies look pretty good, but there's no way they're that good. Did you use the artifact?"
"You mean the stone?" asked Jon.
"Stone? Huh?" replied The Queen.
"Stupid," whispered Karyn. "You wished they'd all forget about the stone. So even though they remember an artifact, they don't know that it's a stone, let alone that it's your stone."
"Never mind," said Jon. "If we had this artifact you're talking about, wouldn't we just use it to escape?"
"I wonder," said Sarah.
And then, Karyn said "I wish Jon and I were 10 miles away from here in a safe place."
The world shimmered around them, and they reappeared on a sidewalk. The sidewalk had absolutely no cracks and was a little too smooth, but it was basically just a sidewalk. "You picked one mile the last time," said Karyn. "And they found us in around two minutes. So I picked a longer distance. Now, I wish everyone except us would forget about the stone even as an artifact." She handed the stone back to Jon. "We'd better get back to the 21st Century," she said.
"Didn't we solve everything?" asked Jon.
"I don't think so. We made them forget, but the stone has a limited range. It'll only last as long as it'll take for them to meet someone outside the range who can tell them again. And we can't just wish the whole gang away, because of the range."
"Hmm," said Jon. "You're right--we should go back. The gang existed since the time of pirates, so they exist in our time. And something happened to make us disappear when we're around the age we are now, so it'll happen soon after we get back. Here goes...." Jon made his wish. "I wish that Karyn and myself would travel to the same time and place we were at before this trip to the future."
They reappeared by the lockers. The mountain was visible through the window, as before, and it looked normal. The seasonal decorations were still decorating the halls, and the year posted was correct. So they were back.
Karyn yawned. "I think I've got jet lag," she said. "We spent all day there but now it's lunchtime again."
"Easy to fix! I wish me and Karyn were no more tired than we usually are at lunchtime."
"Thanks! That's better!"
"What do we do now?" wondered Jon. "Just finish the school day? Try to figure out what's going to make us disappear? Try to find the Royal Flush Gang in the present? I wonder if Sarah's a member yet."
"It might not happen right now," said Karyn. "It could be tomorrow, or in a few months...."
"I wish I knew all the details about our disappearance," said Jon.
A voice rang in their heads. At least it wasn't alphabet soup this time. "No answer can be given by magic, because beings immune to magic are involved."
"Great," said Jon. "Probably Delphites. So we just have to prepare for it, wait, and hope we prepared well enough that things won't happen the same way when we disappear this time... But how do you prepare for something like that? Any ideas?"
