Karyn had been getting a bit nervous about Jon's attempts to use the Replomat. She was afraid Jon might just resort to unnecessary wishes. "Jon, let's put the stone away for now. Not just back in your pocket; put it in the closet or something."
Jon raised his eyebrows curiously. "Why?"
Karyn pressed on. "You said that you want to 'do what a native of this world can do.' If you have the stone, it will be too easy for you to just wish for what you want. I bet there's all kinds of high-tech fun to be had here, but with the stone, it's kind of moot, like you said."
Jon provisionally accepted this, but wasn't quite ready to stop wishing for the moment. "Well.... OK, but I've been thinking about how easy it is to get stuck, or to lose the stone. If we're gonna put it away, and really explore this reality, that means we'd have to leave it behind. I've been thinking about wishes we could use to protect the stone, but we have to be able to change our minds. I thought about making it so only we could use it, but..."
Karyn completed his thought. "What if we want another really good friend to use it. Or what about your heirs? If you died, all you'd leave for them is a pretty rock."
Jon drew back at that thought. "Yeah, I didn't even think of that. Sheesh, Karyn, morbid much? Anyway, I've thought about an immortality wish."
"Woah, that's major." Karyn had been thinking about that possibility too, but they had to be really careful.
Jon was on the same page with her, at least on this point. "I know. That one needs some really hard thought. I've read scifi stories. Immortality isn't always a good thing."
Karyn suspected this might be wrong, but she said it anyway: "Your grandpa didn't do it."
"I said I wasn't sure he's even truly dead. I'm still not sure."
