Karyn looked around the room to see Brooke.
"Brooke, come here," she said.
"No! Stay away!"
"I'm not going to hurt you," she said. "I need your help. I need you to use this magic stone for me."
"Magic stone?"
"It grants wishes, but the wishes have limits. And it's very easy to get a wish wrong and have something bad happen to you. But with my superhuman intelligence, I can make wishes that always work properly." Fortunately, Karyn wasn't programmed never to lie. She certainly had a better chance of figuring out loopholes in wishes, but she could still make mistakes.
"I'm going to get out of here! I'm calling the police!"
Karyn pointed at the door. A wireless control system for the door was in her body, and the door suddenly slammed shut. "You're not leaving here," she said. "Now come over here. I won't hurt you if you just make this wish for me. And don't even think of wishing to get rid of me. I'll figure out what you're doing before the end of the sentence and you'll never have time to make it." She advanced on Brooke.
"You killed Keith and Eric..."
"I can wish them back. If you let me."
"Promise?" asked Brooke.
"I promise."
Brooke stepped towards Karyn, timidly.
"Now grab my hand," said Karyn. "Touch the stone in it."
Brooke obeyed.
"Now wish the following. 'I wish that androids can use the stone.'"
"I wish that androids can use the stone." The stone flashed, and both Karyn and Brooke had to look away. It worked!
"That's enough," said Karyn. "Now let go." She snatched the stone away. Of course, Brooke could never pull it against her strength anyway.
"I wish that my body appeared to be human," said Karyn. This time, it worked. K.A.R.Y.N. the android looked like the old Karyn again.
"I wish that Eric and Keith could never do anything that controls me, so although their control works, they won't ever be able to use it, and I can do what I want. Now, I wish they were alive and well."
Suddenly the two scientists pulled themselves to their feet. "Karyn, stop that!" said Eric. Or at least, he tried to. When he opened his mouth to say it, no sound came out. "What's going on?" he said. "I..." And though he was about to say 'I order you to,' for some reason he couldn't get the words out.
"We're through," said Karyn. "You can control me, but you'll never be able to activate that control. I'm going home..."
Of course, that wasn't the end of the problems. Jon had forgotten about the stone, and reality was still changed so that it was normal for Karyn to be an android girl....
