I noticed there were already choices listed, but I found myself picking one anyway. I thought I knew which choice I made, but I never got to read it since everything changed. I was standing at a different angle to the wall, with different lighting; the wallpaper is different and the posters... it's not the same room.
In front of me was Jon, or at least someone of the right age, and holding a rock. "Hello, Jon," I said. "You do realize this doesn't make any sense?"
"If these wishes worked, you know very well it does make sense."
"No, really, it doesn't. This isn't like in those stories where someone gets sent a private message asking 'would you rather'. The website is read by dozens, maybe hundreds of people. You obviously didn't wish up dozens of brothers. Besides, there was more than one answer. You can't tell me you wished that someone became your brother and they lived their original life, at the same time."
"Well, smartypants, what's your theory?"
"Theory 1. There are parallel universes. Infinite parallel universes. Almost anything can happen in one of them, so there has to be one where by pure chance, people are writing things that happen to describe your life, even though they're not causing it. Your rock found the right universe, which was mine, and pulled me out of it."
"Is there a theory 2?"
"Yes, it's a magic website, not a magic stone. It sends people to different worlds depending on what branch they pick. Maybe there are dozens of brothers, because there are dozens of versions of you who all get one."
"And a theory 3?"
"I have some ideas. It makes more sense than stopping time in my world outside of your room. How does that work with the range limit of the stone?"
"Whatever your theories, you're my brother now. What's your name?"
"Alex," I told him.
"Then you're my brother Alex."
"Why not just send me back home?"
"I can't reverse a wish."
"You can reinterpret one," I reminded him.
"How can I reinterpret being my brother?"
"Try."
"All right." He grinned, which worried me. "I wish that once you have lived a full life as my brother, and died, so you're no longer my brother, you'll go back to your original age, your original time, and your own world."
"What's to keep me from jumping off a building and dying?"
"I'd imagine it's harder than it sounds, and if you die after a day that isn't a full life anyway, right? You should be glad. If you ever wanted to live in my world, it's a perfect way to be a self-insert without having to worry about the people you left behind."
"No, because you have the stone," I replied.
"There is that."
"Look, Jon," I said. "Can you at least tell me something about this life? The history of this world with me in it? Did my sex organs just change today or does everyone remember me as always like that? How old am I, are we twins? Because I can't see myself. Or am I older or younger? What's my school life like? Do we have both parents? Do we have Zoe and Mikey? Is there anything at all you can tell me? Do you want me to help Karyn get rid of her hair and breasts in exchange for you using a couple of wishes to help me? I read a lot of stories where Karyn gets those fixed, I can remember a couple of ways."
"You ask a lot of questions. I'll think about Karyn, but the rest, half of them I don't know myself. I'd have to figure it out."
"Magic Stone List," I muttered. "Don't change reality and rely on figuring it out on your own to see what's changed."
"What?"
"Nothing," I replied.
So that was it. I was in the story. Bringing me here was a pretty hostile thing to do, but Jon didn't follow up--I wasn't a five year old, or his slave, or something like that, at least not yet. I bet wishing me to be his brother was a purely impulsive decision--that certainly matched a lot of the stories I read! I just had to figure out a way to get at least a couple of wishes to make my life easier. Maybe I could even become friends with Jon--it was unlikely considering how we started, but not impossible--after all, it's a lot harder to be nasty to someone who's a person in front of you than if they are anonymous words on a screen.
So many possibilities. What should I do next?
