Sarah and Karyn had spent some time arguing over the right course of action outside of Jon's house. However, after Jon had turned up the volume on several television sets in the house in an attempt to drown them out, they had to agree to change their tactics. After they heard a blast of loud Goth rock music presumably coming from Zoe's room (and presumably caused by Jon sneaking in to Zoe's room and turning on the stereo), they knew they had to do something to mislead Jon.
Karyn had come up with the plan. Since the window of Jon's room allowed him to see part of the street, Karyn and Sarah would leave the house, walking down the street until they were no longer in sight of Jon's window. This would give Jon the impression that they had given up and chosen to go away.
Of course this was a ruse. They turned, and headed down another street, and then turned again until they were on the street with the houses behind the houses on Jon's street. It took quite a while, and they were slow about it. Sarah was worried about a lot of people - her friends at school, her father - but Karyn had told her that hurrying most likely wouldn't help in this case. They needed to be slow and methodical about this.
They did not check their phones. In fact, they had turned off their phones because Sarah and Karyn agreed they would be too much of a distraction.
So Sarah did not get the text message Nicole had sent shortly after Kyla Leeson and Jay Duncan had their phone conversation. Had she seen it, she would have seen the following.
Nicole: Are you okay? We're making progress here. Have you found Jon yet?
But Sarah did not get the message when Nicole sent it. At the time Nicole sent it, Sarah had turned her phone off, and she and Karyn were busy climbing over a fence. They were cutting through the yard of the house behind Jon's house. Normally, they would not do such a thing, but this was an emergency. This was their only real chance of getting to Jon's house and getting inside without him realizing they were doing it.
Jon had the magic wishing stone that had caused all the trouble in the first place, and was too scared to use it now. Their mission was to reach Jon and the wishing stone. That was what mattered.
Sarah and Karyn soon climbed over the fence, and ended up in Jon's back yard. Sarah hoped that Karyn was right, and that Jon would mostly stick to his room. His room did not have a window facing the back yard, and for their plan to work, they needed for him to not see them coming.
Quietly, they crept over to the back door. It was there that Sarah took a hairpin, and picked the lock. She knew this was breaking and entering, but what choice did they have? She and Karyn could only hope the neighbors hadn't seen them, and weren't calling the police.
The back door opened, and Sarah and Karyn quietly walked in. Not that it mattered much, since the TV in the living room was on full blast. When they entered the living room, a news program was in progress.
Karyn and Sarah stopped for a moment, and watched in stunned silence as they took in the news reports. They had heard the earlier report about the Lake Point Mutual bank robbery, but only in bits and pieces through the window of Jon's house. They had assumed at the time that the Transformation Guns being used by both sides were ones that had just mysteriously appeared, like the ones at Lake Point High School and McMillan Tech Industries.
The scenario the news presented them with now was something far different. Apparently, not long after Sarah had confiscated the Random Gun from the crazed Mrs. Williams and decided to destroy it, some mysterious wave went over the entire planet and transformed all types of normal guns into Transformation Guns of various kinds. Entire arsenals had been wiped out, replaced by weird ray guns that could change someone into a Goth, a Punk, a Nerd, a Jock, a Clown, or whatever. The machinery that ran the weapons factories had short-circuited and caught fire, and anything even remotely completed had turned into a Transformation Gun.
The news commentators talked about how the whole thing was scientifically unexplainable, while religious authorities debated over whether this was a sign from God, or if it was the Devil's work. They described reports of people being transformed in strange ways in incidents occurring not only in the United States, but across the world. Wars, robberies, and other incidents that may have once been violent took strange turns as people were made Fat, turned into Mimes, or transformed in other ways as opposed to suffering serious life-threatening injuries.
Sarah and Karyn silently watched for a moment, neither able to believe what they were seeing. Sarah wanted to think this was some really weird dream, but she knew she was awake.
Karyn, meanwhile, knew what this had meant. The Transformation Guns had spread all over the world, far beyond whatever limited range the wishing stone had. This news changed everything.
"President Elizabeth Loughty is expected to make an address discussing the worldwide changes this evening. In the meantime, citizens are advised to keep their eyes open." the news anchor was saying, just before the 'Breaking News' logo appeared.
"We've just received some breaking news. There is a major disturbance in progress at the Lake Point headquarters of McMillan Tech Industries. A large concentration of the mysterious transformation-causing ray guns has been discovered there, and various staffers are, according to one anonymous source, using them to maliciously transform other people in various ways."
"An unnamed source has leaked this report to the media. A man armed with a so-called 'transformation gun' invaded a meeting of McMillan Tech's Board of Directors. While this report was vague on the details, the source claims there was an explosion in the board room, and four or five of the directors have been incapacitated, including founder and CEO Richard McMillan. Mr. McMillan's condition is unknown at this time."
Sarah gasped. "Daddy..." Tears filled her eyes, as the news anchor continued.
"Another source within MTI, who asked to be quoted on condition that their name not be disclosed, has stated that Mr. McMillan and most of the board are still alive, and being treated by attending physicians. They have confirmed one fatality, that of Chief Operating Officer Clay Dankworth."
At the mention of Clay Dankworth's name, Sarah winced. She had only met Mr. Dankworth a few times when her father had invited a few of his business associates to dinner, but those few times were enough to make her skin crawl. He gave off the vibes of someone who wanted to climb his way to the top, and didn't care who he stepped on to get there. She believed the rumors about his manipulations and deceit, and was sure he was planning on trying to take over her father's company.
If the reports of Mr. Dankworth's demise were accurate, then Sarah felt it would be no big loss to McMillan Tech Industries. She was sure, however, that the PR department would try to spin it as a tragedy. They'd write some big eulogy giving him more praise than he deserved. Sarah didn't really care about him.
It was her father's fate that concerned her. She tried to wipe her tears, but it was too late.
"Sarah, are you all right?" Karyn asked quietly, standing right next to her.
"I ... I'm okay." Sarah said, in a quavering voice. She wiped away a few more tears. "Let's just get up there and get the stone, okay?"
