Jon, Karyn, and Sarah spent the next few minutes coming up with ideas on what to do about the stone. They all agreed that it was just too dangerous to have the stone easily reachable. Given how easy it was to slip up and make an accidental wish that 'something interesting would happen', for example, they knew that the stone couldn't be something they could use casually or every day. No, the stone had to only be brought out for emergencies or occasions where nothing else worked.
But it had to be put in a safe location until then. Just wishing it to disappear for a month or so would only be kicking the can down the road. They needed something that would work.
"Okay," said Jon. "We should have a box. A very strong box made of tough metal that's extremely hard to break open. This box would be locked with three keypad combination locks. Each of us would choose a combination, and not tell the other one. That way, access to the stone would require all three of us to agree to it."
Karyn paused. "It sounds like a good idea, to have three locks. But I'm not sure if this will work."
"That's because it won't." Sarah said. "What if one of us forgets the combination? What if one of us dies? Then the stone will probably be locked up forever."
Jon sighed. "You're right. It's not going to work."
"But wait." Karyn said. "This whole 'three locks' idea is something that could work if it was done right. Maybe you're overthinking it. Maybe we don't need it to be combination locks. Maybe it can be just a simple key."
"A key?" Jon asked.
"Well, three keys, one for each lock." Karyn said. "They'll all be distinctly shaped so we know they can't be the key to anything else and we'll each have one of them. And no one outside this room will have any clue as to what the keys unlock, so they're less likely to steal them."
"That sounds like a better idea." Sarah said. "But what if a key gets lost or stolen anyway?"
"Hmm." Jon said. "Maybe we could come up with a way to use one key to find another key."
Jon brought out one of his notebooks, and took out a few sheets of paper. Jon, Karyn, and Sarah began to write down what the strong box would look like. They even did sketches of the keys which resembled the old large keys that fit large keyholes, as seen in movies set in the Middle Ages or some fantasy world whose setting was similar.
"That's good." Jon said. "We're certainly not going to forget what those keys unlock. And no one else will have a clue. But let's just add one more touch." Jon took a pencil, and added small buttons to the drawings of the keys.
"The buttons activate the 'key detector' in each of the keys." Jon said. "When it's turned on, the detector will beep in the presence of one of the other keys. The closer it is to the other key, the more it will beep."
Karyn smiled. "Nice. It sounds like it'll work."
"It probably will." Jon said. "Anyway, let's just write all this down on these sheets of paper."
They did so. Afterward, Jon picked up the wishing stone, and the sheets of paper.
"Okay." Jon began. "I wish the strong box and keys depicted and described on these sheets of paper would become real and appear before us, and work just as we've described them."
And with that, a large strong box appeared in the room with them, accompanied by three medieval-style keys. Indeed, the box had three locks on it.
"Okay, so far so good." Jon said. "Let's see if the keys work."
Jon picked up one key, Karyn picked up another, and Sarah picked up the third. They turned the keys in the three locks, and the lid of the box popped open.
"Well, I guess it's time." Jon said.
"You're not going to wish yourself back to normal?" Karyn asked. Jon was still in the form of a girl with short red hair.
"No, it can wait." Jon said. "I think when the people from MTI come around in a day or so with the Restoration Gun, I'll let them change me back. For now, I'm okay."
"Are you sure you don't want to make any more wishes first?" Sarah asked.
Jon paused. "Well, I'm tempted but I think we've already made enough wishes for now. Do you have anything more you'd like to wish for?"
Sarah paused. "I think I've made all the wishes I want."
"I can't think of any." Karyn said. "I think those last few wishes covered most of what we wanted."
"Okay, then."
Jon picked up the wishing stone, and slowly placed it within the strong box. Jon took a long look at the stone, almost as if saying goodbye. This would probably be the last time Jon or anyone else saw the stone for a while.
Then, Jon closed the lid, and put his key in the lock. Karyn and Sarah did the same with their keys. The strong box was soon locked tight.
They carried it to Jon's closet, where it would be out of view to most people. They put the old shoebox and other things on top of the strong box, and closed the closet door.
There was a moment of silence. "Well, that's that, then." Jon said. "What now?"
"Not much to do." Karyn said. "Maybe just go downstairs and watch TV. The school day's going to end within the next hour. Or it would normally."
They headed downstairs to the living room. Karyn turned to Sarah. "I think we can turn our phones back on now."
Sarah reached for her phone, and turned it back on. After the phone finished activating, she saw the indication of a new text message.
It was from Nicole. Sarah knew that she needed to update Nicole on their situation.
All was currently peaceful in the Gibson household. For a moment, they could take their minds off the whole Transformation Guns situation happening elsewhere. At least until they turned on the TV, which was still turned to the news.
Sarah, meanwhile, began her response to Nicole.
