It was later that evening, after Jon had finished his chores and homework for the day that he finally pulled the stone back out and thought back over the day's events. Karyn hadn't just changed herself when she'd wished up her new blonde hair and bigger breasts, she'd altered reality. It was thankfully subtle, but Jon had noticed that guys were checking her out when they really hadn't paid much attention to her before and girls were coming up and talking to her, asking her opinion about things. That part, Jon thought, was probably the strangest for Karyn. While she was opinionated, she wasn't the type to go blaring her thoughts out for all the world to hear. Besides, these girls were coming up and asking her where she bought her top, what kind of lip gloss she was wearing...in other words, not the kind of questions Karyn ever really gave much thought to.
For his part, Jon was amazed at how a couple of changes in her physical appearance seemed to have a ripple effect on the school, raising Karyn's status in the hierarchy of the school. There was a very small part of him that was saddened that the basis of popularity seemed to be derived from looks. This got him thinking, though. Karyn was resisting this new reality because she remembered the reality that existed before the stone magically altered her looks. In time Jon figured she'd adapt to this new world but it would never feel right for her because she didn't have the memories to match the newly created reality. For this reason her behavior would always be a little out of sync with what everyone else expected of her.
Jon was still pondering the links between memory, perceived reality, and behavior as he flipped through the channels on his TV. He paused when he saw that Dark City was on. He loved that movie. Rufus Sewell was awesome and the Strangers were generally creepy. Before long he had gotten so engrossed in the movie he lost track of what he had been thinking about. Then, when the movie cut to a commercial, he looked down and realized he was holding the stone. Then it hit him. He could pull off the same experiment the Strangers were pulling in Dark City by using the stone and get some answers to his questions. Plus, it might be a fun way to fulfill a secret fantasy of his at the same time.
