Jon took a moment to gather his thoughts. On reflection, getting back to Earth was probably still very possible, given what the Stone could do. It had already conjured up a Space Buggy for him to drive around: Maybe he could wish a UFO into existence and fly it back to Earth? Actually, that was overkill, he realized, and wishing up technology that he didn't know existed yet could have ramifications. Just a normal human rocket would probably do. He'd hop in, propel himself up to crazy speed, slam into the atmosphere at Mach 100 or however fast that was, burn to a crisp on reentry, land at some random point in the ocean if he survived that, float around for however many weeks hoping some ship would rescue him...
Actually, no. Getting back to Earth could still be a challenge after all.
He wanted to think through the details of what a return trip would look like, but Jon soon found himself distracted, since he was getting a little hot. Instinctively, he tried to wipe the sweat off his brow, and then banged his hand against his helmet and felt like an idiot for a moment.
Why is it so hot up here? Isn't space supposed to be cold? Jon wondered, but then looked around himself. Barren, exposed lunar rock was baking in the bright sun, punctuated only by dust and craters. Yeah, I'm basically in a giant desert here, he realized. A desert that gets blasted with sun for two weeks every day. The sun seemed to be pretty low in the lunar sky, thankfully; on Earth it wouldn't have been all that long after sunrise. It suddenly occurred to him that at lunar noon in a few earth days, this place was gonna be SCALDING.
"I wish there was a garage to park my buggy, and that that garage was kept at a comfortable temperature."
Instantly, a big opening appeared in the ground before him. A nice, clean ramp was cut from the rock, leading down to a cavernous room fairly deep under the ground. No lights, and no obvious power source, interestingly. Apparently the Moon was kinda like Earth in that caves were still consistently nice and cool?
Still, it probably needed lights and stuff, and more than that it needed power. Fortunately, a temporary answer to that one came quickly to Jon. "I wish there were a working solar power plant here."
Half a dozen big parabolic reflector dishes came into existence, mounted on motorized stands that would turn and follow the sun. Pipes filled with some sort of working fluid led to their focal points, and then away from them and underground. Also, lights appeared and flicked on in the garage ramp, just as Jon had hoped for.
This was good, but Jon immediately realized there was an obvious problem. "I wish there were also a Nuclear Power Generator here to supplement the Solar Plant at nights."
This change was a lot more subtle than the Solar Plant, in that the only change Jon could actually see was a hatch door coming into existence on the lunar surface. The Nuclear Generator was probably underground too, he realized. Maybe for heat dissipation? It wasn't like he could count on air-cooling here. Speaking of that...
"I wish the Garage had a Garage Door that also served as an Airlock."
Jon only really figured he needed a plain, thick piece of metal for a garage door, but the Stone apparently wanted things to be a bit more stylish. A transparent semispherical crystal quadrant came into existence down in the cave to shut off the garage interior, complete with lights and computer displays that seemed to just hang in space within the crystal. One display, for instance, showed the clock time in Lake Point. Another showed the "Lunar Time", apparently calibrated to the lunar day. A third read "AIRLOCK DEPRESSURIZED" in big red letters, evidently indicating a vacuum inside.
"Hm. Fancy," Jon commented as a garage door opener / remote control for the computer displays appeared in the buggy. He opened up the garage with his newest toy, then fired up the buggy to park it in the airlock. No obnoxious car noises, and not just because there was no sound in space; apparently the buggy was fully electronic, and also rechargeable, judging from the power stations that appeared in the garage. It glowed around the trim with a neat off-white color to indicate it was on, and driving the thing turned out to be fairly intuitive. Jon pressed another button to close the airlock behind him, and then readied himself for the novel experience of what repressurizing the airlock would mean. He took a breath and pushed enter.
...Tightness is what it felt like, mostly. His stretchy spacesuit had actually been pretty comfortable out in the vacuum of space, but after some hissing reintroduced air pressure to the suit's exterior it suddenly felt very tight and constricting. He considered figuring out how exactly he ought to get the suit on and off, but after a second's thought resorted to the lazier course of action.
"I wish I were dressed in more comfortable clothes."
And just like that, the spacesuit and helmet and everything were hanging neatly off some hooks in the garage walls, and Jon was dressed in his typical T-shirt, jeans, and sneakers. Actually, wait, they fit his frame better now. God, I love this Stone! he thought as he finally got his opportunity to wipe the sweat off his brow.
Jon climbed out of the buggy and looked around. The Garage had a little style to it, yes, but it was still mostly bare, and there was only a single door in the walls. On inspection, said door led to what seemed to be a maintenance room, for access to the subterranean bits of the power generators. It... Well, it would do for now, and Jon could get back to figuring out how to return to Earth, but then, he had a thought. Earth wasn't going anywhere. It wasn't even leaving the sky like the sun (tidal locking prevented that, he knew). And if literal rocket science ended up being complicated to figure out, he could be here for a good long time before he was able to make a safe departure.
Why not invest some time up front to make the lunar base more livable?
"I wish this garage were part of an underground complex that also had a bedroom, a kitchen, and living room." He thought a moment. "... and bathroom."
Another door appeared. This one was much more like the sturdy metal thing he expected when he was first wishing up the garage door, and had a keypad and display right next to it for more airlock controls. Naturally, he was expecting the interior of the base to be functional and utilitarian like the door, and hence was awestruck when he opened it up.
The living room was a big, spacious affair, chock full of nice plush couches, sturdy wood furniture, vases and potted plants and other tasteful decor, and it was all illuminated by a chandelier that looked like it cost as much as a car. There was a flatscreen evidently built into one wall and an aquarium built into another, and even a selection of videogame consoles below the TV. It looked like it had come straight out of a billionaire's dream home.
Suddenly excited, Jon ran to check the kitchen, found it to be built to the same standard and chock full of food, and then ran to his bedroom. Of course, he ended up practically diving on the big, soft, luxurious bed he now had.
Those 3 rooms, plus the bathroom attached to his bedroom and the 2 rooms earlier, constituted the entirety of the base so far, but it occurred suddenly to Jon that he was thinking small. "I wish this place had a greenhouse too, with plants and fresh fruit and everything for the base to support itself!"
And it was so. Jon had to go downstairs a level now, but the exploration revealed a veritable underground forest bathed in the Base's artificial sunlight, lush with fruit trees and leafy greens and even some flowers. It was a greenhouse with multiple rooms and climates, and inside, it almost felt like he was back on Earth already.
"I wish this place had a pool! No, actually, I wish this cave had a cenote!"
Down another level, the rock became more organic and natural, and into the living rock was formed a crystal clear pool of deep blue spring water, perfectly drinkable, illuminated from beneath, and always crispy cool enough for good swimming.
"How bout a jacuzzi, too? I wish there was a jacuzzi in my bathroom!"
It was so. Jon was starting to get carried away, but he was starting to run out of things he could imagine wishing for in an underground place like this, at least without diving into genuine magical fantasy. He even considered wishing up some maids or something to help him run the place, but then, no, it seemed most everything was fully automated already thanks to the Stone, and besides, he had the Stone, for any chores. Still, it would be nice if there were anyone to share the space with...
Jon was seized with another whim. He thought for a moment, and said "I wish there another marker up on the Moon's surface, declaring this place to be called, 'Luna-Luna Resort!'"
