Grant and Peter stood silently awaiting orders as officer Stevens surveyed the modest quarter acre he had to work with.
"My boys need room to stretch their legs." He said. Cupping the stone in his right hand and gesturing it subtly toward the yard. The ground began to expand in all directions filling in with large patches of new and varied terrain pushing the neighbors properties away as they shrank into the distance. The yard became enormous with heavy forestation along the perimeter, a muddy field of churned muck leading to a swampy marsh filled with cat-tails, a meadow of tall grass, a collection of large mounds of dirt that were bigger than the house, and a small lake fed by a formidable creek that looked like it could become a swift flowing river if the rains ever came hard. Everything was connected by wide grassy passages carved out by unevenly eroded dirt trails . The back yard was mostly out of view but it was clear it hadn't been untouched by the change.
"Much better." The officer said, "Room to run and no distractions. I want you cadets to take a nice long jog down the drive to the property gate and come meet me in the back yard. I've got a surprise for you that'll keep you busy for the rest of the day."
"Yes SIR!" The boys shouted and they proceeded to jog side by side down the long hilly driveway.
"What the hell is that stone?" Prodded Carter the moment they were out of earshot of their subjugator. "It's like it lets him change reality any way he wants... My clothes, your room, the yard... what can't it do?"
"I don't know." Peter admitted. "I'd never seen it before until he used it to dress me up like a soldier boy... but I was feeling weird before that, like I had to do what he says."
"But he's only changed objects with the stone, right?" Grant chimed in hopefully, "maybe he can't change us directly."
"He changed your hair" Peter observed.
"Oh yeah, our hair... but that's pretty minor, you'd think if he could use the stone to really effect us physically or mentally he'd have just done it."
Peter was quiet for a moment. Obviously thinking... Grant tried to turn his head to see Pete's face and maybe get a read on his thoughts, but the movement was liable to destabilize his jogging form and his head snapped back automatically preserving his perfect gait. The two continued jogging in silence, listening to the hypnotic rhythm of their grey jogging shoes.
"Not OUR hair..." Peter said slowly. "He took me to the barber to cut mine... it was supposed to be a kind of punishment for some tagging I did last night. I think that's when I started to feel funny... like I needed to please my dad. Like I wouldn't ever be happy if didn't do everything I could to make him proud... That's all I want anymore"
"...Ok..." Grant said. "So maybe he used the stone to force you to GO to the barber shop?"
"Why would he do that if he could just use the stone to cut my hair?"
"Maybe he can only copy things, like he needs to see an example?"
"He made those uniforms without referring to anything, I think he might have gotten the stone FROM the barber."
"If the barber had a stone like that, why would he be a lame ass barber?"
"The Sargent is a great man!" Peter blurted out, immediately feeling self conscious about the outburst, but the Sargent was a veteran war hero and it wasn't right to belittle his honest profession. "I mean... I don't know... I get the feeling the Sargent, my barber, would... wouldn't... would have enough character to responsibly use that kind of power... Like, he wouldn't use it for silly things like giving hair cuts... I don't know he's a... he's a... he's a great man."
Peter's train of thought ended in defeat. He kept thinking if he just kept talking he would be able to express the point he wanted to make about the Sargent, but no matter how hard he tried, all he wound up uttering was praise and now he wasn't sure exactly what he wanted to say about the Sarge.
"Well, regardless... where it came from... it's damn powerful" Grant continued between labored breaths. "I can't stop jogging... I can't even... relax my form... a little. I'm.. really out of shape..."
Grant fell silent, forced to commit all his time to breathing to maintain the relentless exercise. The two eventually reached the end of the driveway each stopping but for an instant with one foot landing smartly on the track of the open property gate, immediately pivoting back around continuing their jog in the direction of the house.
They each spent their return trip both admiring the nature around them that had so recently been created and wondering what surprise Peter's dad had in store for them. If there was any way to get that stone from the officer it hadn't reveled itself yet. All they could do was patiently observe and hope some opportunity presented itself... Hopefully before they were too far gone to take it...