Look, there are 6 new words on there, but they're not all the same as last time."
"Oooh, let me see!" Jon's newfound curiosity got the better of her and she snatched the cube from her friend. She read out the words on each face of the object. Jon glanced back at Karyn as she read the sixth face.
"Well that's-" Karyn began, but Jon raised a finger to her piggy snout to silence her.
Without another word, Jon hid the cube under her bed and guided Karyn by the arm out of her bedroom. Jon ensured the door was shut tight and took Karyn into the spare room, where they sat next to each other on the bed. Only then did Jon tell Karyn what she had planned.
"Karyn, I don't want that thing to hear us," said Jon, noticing as she did so that she was now shorter than her friend. "It's evidently uncontrollable and dangerous and I don't want it going off while we figure out what to do."
"Good idea," Karyn replied quietly. "Who knows how good that cube's hearing is?"
"I think we can gain control of it, with some smart wishing," Jon tapped her snout, knowingly, which caused Karyn to giggle.
"What?"
"I'm sorry Jon," Karyn shrugged, "I, it's weird, but when you touch your nose I want to, too."
"You want to.. what?"
"You look and sound like a cartoon character Jon," Karyn blushed. "It's cute. Adorable, in a way. Can we cuddle?"
"Really is this the best ti-?"
"-well if you don't want to-"
"-I mean, that sounds nice, but-"
"-not a good time, I know-"
"Alright already," Jon rolled her eyes. She grabbed Karyn's hands and brought them up to her face. "Knock yourself out. Like this day couldn't get any weird-eep!"
"Sorry," Karyn gasped, "I didn't know it was so sensitive."
"Neither did I," Jon rubbed her snout, embarrassed. "No more pinching, please."
"I'll be gentle," Karyn smiled. "You were saying, about the cube?"
"Oh yeah," Jon's train of thought got back on track, "I meant that we don't know anything about the cube except what we've seen so far."
"I noticed when it changed you, it ignored my made-up story about meeting a pig. It didn't magic up a black hog out of nowhere."
"But it still copied your madlib and applied it to me, exactly as you described it."
"Well, you're not completely a pig."
"Gee, thanks," Jon replied sarcastically.
"You know what I mean. You're like a human-animal hybrid, or..."
"A cartoon character?"
"With big tits," Karyn grinned. "But not, say, a big, black female with curious hog tits."
"I beg to differ," Jon grinned. "I find my tits very curious."
"I bet you do," Karyn stifled a giggle. "Maybe that's a limit of its magic, turning people into almost-people. And it's the wording of the madlib that counts. How you put the words together, that seems to be how it changes people."
"And that anybody can set it off, if the cube hears them."
"The same thing happened when we were filling in the sides of the cube."
"Sorry, when who was-?"
"Hey, you picked the animal, Jon," Karyn raised an eyebrow. "By the way, how's that working out for you so far?"
"Well with your hands on my nose, I can't say it's too bad."
"I am good with my hands," Karyn smiled sweetly.
"Though it's tough to ignore all my new soft and wobbly bits, which is pretty much everything..."
"So what's our plan here? Do we get rid of the cube?"
"No, it might be my only way back. I'll make some wishes with the stone. I believe we can stop the cube picking up every stray word, at least. Then there are these changes. I wonder if the cube can alter reality, or-"
"What the!?" said a startled voice from nearby. Somebody had entered the spare room to find the two of them lounging on the bed, Karyn stroking Jon's snout.
"I think we just found the answer to your last question, Jon," Karyn whispered.
The newcomer who interrupted the pair was none other than...
