The cadets were finally nearing the end of their jog; their mechanistic movements belied their exhaustion. As the cadets followed the dirt path that reached around the modest home, they caught their first glimpse of what appeared to be their "surprise". Piles of sorted lumber and various fasteners littered the property. Large rough hewn boards and beams, pallets of rope and nails; nuts and bolts, enormous wooden logs like telephone poles, all seemingly sorted into piles for individual construction projects.
The cadets found themselves coming to rest just a few meters from the officer gasping for breath but presenting themselves in a dignified formation.
"At ease cadets." The officer announced with satisfaction. "You've earned yourselves a brief hydration period before we start you on your day's task. I want you both to drink at least 800ml. I can't have you getting dehydrated, but fill your canteens and keep them with you throughout the day. You'll be working hard 'til supper!"
"Sir, Yes SIR" They responded thoughtlessly drooping and gasping to the degree permitted while still maintaining ranks.
"As you know you cadets are but one of my responsibilities, and I if I want you to grow to be real men I need to set a good example. To that end, I'll be on duty at the police office for the remainder of the day; I'll be returning at twenty-three fifteen hours. You'll be expected to carry out your tasks as I have outlined them on this schedule."
He presented the schedule to each of the cadets, which they accepted and studied dutifully.
1500S - Hydration Period
1515S - Equip Appropriate Attire - [Dress Uniforms]
1530S - Construction Project 1.A - [First Low Wall]
1900S - Supper [Mess Hall MREs]
1925S - Construction Cleanup [All tools, unused materials, and scraps are to be neatly organized. The construction site is to be made immaculate]
2000S - Uniform Care and Maintenance [The uniforms are to be cleaned and stored in like-new condition]
2045S - Night Prep and Socialization
2100S - Lights Out
"As you can see, we have a lot of work ahead of us." The officer proclaimed gesturing to the mounts of materials. "Each pile is a single piece of a grand obstacle course. A grueling obstacle course I assure you but to enjoy the thrill of proving yourselves on such a course is a treat you cadets have not yet earned. Hard work and effort. That's what it will take to build each structure, and by your own hand you will place obstacle after obstacle in your path, as you've done every day of your lives through your selfish, juvenile decisions. But the training you receive here will prepare you to navigate those obstacles, to overcome your pasts and free you from yourselves. It will be glorious." He gazed out at the piles of lumber in self-indulgent awe and satisfaction.
"Permission to speak freely, sir" prodded Grant meekly. Surprised he was permitted to say anything at all.
"By all means cadet. I intend to see to it that all of your needs are met before I need to leave. What is it you have to say?"
Not wanting to waste the opportunity to speak, but knowing the situation was delicate, he decided to ask something he was genuinely curious about but that shouldn't provoke an angry response or punishment...
"Pete and I don't really know much about construction... How will we know how to put all this together?" Grant asked, genuinely.
"I'm concerned by what you just said, Cadet Carter." The officer replied disappointedly.
"Oh, God. How could even that question be wrong?" Grant wondered with defeat and fear.
"There is no 'Pete' here, cadet. Your platoon mate is correctly and RESPECTFULLY addressed as Cadet Stevens, is that understood?!"
"Yes Sir" Grant chimed.
"And who are you Cadet?"
"Cadet Carter, SIR" Cadet Carter replied, surprised by the ease with which it flowed from his lips.
"What are your names?" The officer coaxed again.
"Cadet Carter, SIR" "Cadet Stevens, SIR"
"And who is your platoonmate?"
"Cadet Stevens, SIR" "Cadet Carter, SIR"
"And who are Grant and Peter?" The officer challenged.
The two Cadets paused for a moment, caught decidedly off guard by the question. They tried to link the two names to anyone they knew, but nothing gelled. Where they friends from school, from their past lives? No... Maybe the names referred to sports figures or even apostles from the bible considering how unsolicited and off-topic the question seemed to be to their minds.
Seeing the confusion and fear of giving an incorrect response on his platoon mate's face, Cadet Stevens timidly chimed in himself, saying:
"Sir... Respectfully Sir... We do not know Grant and Peter."
Cadet Stevens braced himself internally for the castigation that did not come.
"Very good." The officer beamed.
Relief visibly spread across the cadets as the officer proceeded to address the original concern.
"There are detailed plans included with each construction project. The plans explain exactly which parts are to be assembled in which order. Required material modifications are similarly documented including required tools and techniques. Deviation from the plans is not permitted, however, all the thinking has not been done for you cadets. There will be assembly challenges that I expect you to be able to overcome on your own. A keen mind is shaped by the puzzles it is forced to solve!" He smiled at the thought. "Further, the collection of tools you have been given are all completely hand-driven. This has many benefits, not least of which is simplicity of operation. You won't find any use for electricity outdoors, and that's as it should be. You should appreciate and cherish your tools; their use is a privilege easily lost and delays due to loss of tool privileges will not be tolerated." The officer seemed to seethe with disgust over the thought...
"Now, are there any more questions?" The officer asked, perking up and shaking off the mental imagery of ungrateful cadets disrespecting their precious, privileged equipment...
"Sir, no SIR" the cadets responded together. Neither wanting to risk saying the wrong thing and eager to be free of the officer's presence for the remainder of the day.
"Then carry out your orders cadets. Fall out!"
Without a moments thought they both rushed back into the house feeling mostly recovered from their jog. They barreled neatly into their barracks to fetch their canteens from their lockers. They then proceeded to the mess hall to fill them with water and consume a minimum 800ml of water as instructed.
Cadets Carter and Stevens instinctively knew their canteens held a full liter in volume, so they needed to drink the canteen down to almost empty in order to comply with their orders. This wasn't a problem, however, since they were both very thirsty from their previous exertions and were easily able to drink more than their required intake.
Cadet Carter was a little unnerved by his intuitive knowledge of their equipment. There was no way he should know his canteen's volume. He never even used the metric system... But he did know. And he had known the names and purpose of each of the different uniforms in his locker. That was proof that the officer had changed him mentally. It wasn't just forced control of his body. He was being changed on a deeper level.
"Cadet Stevens?"
"Yes Cadet Carter?"
The name hit the Cadet deeply and seemed to trigger even more concern for his mental state. "Cadet Carter" he thought... That IS my name but it couldn't have been my name before I became a Cadet. "Well... Then I was just Carter" he offered himself...
"But that doesn't sound right at all... Could I have always been called Cadet Carter?" That sounds right... It's the only name that could have ever fit, but it seems like a wild coincidence that I would have been named Cadet Carter before becoming a Cadet. "He really did do something to my mind. It's like that stone can do anything... Then why not instantly make us the Marines he intends us to become and be done with it?" he wrestled internally with the conflicting ideas... "Of course." the thought came clearly to him... "For the same reason he didn't make the obstacle course with magic. He thinks we need to earn our status as soldiers. As men. We need to actually do the work even if he has to force us every step of the way."
"Yes Cadet Carter?" Cadet Stevens repeated growing slightly impatient.
"I think he's actually changing our minds." Cadet Carter admitted, now more sure than ever.
"I think you're right." Cadet Stevens replied, "I'm actually really proud of my jog this morning, did you see how happy, my dad, I mean, Sir was when we got back? We need to do extra fine work building the low wall... He'll appreciate extra care and attention to detail, I know he will." Cadet Stevens said smiling. "I just hope I don't get my uniform dirty. That will be the real challenge." He continued, remembering the fact that they were intended to perform their construction tasks in full dress uniform regalia... That thought actually did break his excitement at pleasing the Officer and allowed him to indulge again for a moment in the despair he was actually facing.
Cadet Carter noted his platoon mate's fallen continence and felt it was his duty to help lift his spirits.
"Well" he said "No sense worrying about it, we'll just have to do our best." he offered more half heartedly than he meant to.
Suddenly they were both struck by the urge to continue their schedule. It was as if they knew deep down it was exactly 15:15 and they needed to dress for their next task. The bounded up to the barracks and began stripping away their PT clothes. Neatly replacing them in the provided hamper space that was physically partitioned within the locker.
Cadet Carter was embarrassed being forced to change his clothes again in front of his platoon mate. It wasn't that he was especially self conscious, though that was a factor, the main issue was that he didn't seem to have any control over his movements. He'd like to cover a part of himself from time to time but couldn't. He'd like to stay hunched over and maybe keep the bulge in his underwear from showing too much but his body didn't seem concerned about that kind of thing. He stood erect and proud, against his natural instincts.
Cadet Stevens was surprised by the ease with which he dawned the layers of clothing. He buttoned up the shirt with ease, wasting little time fastening each button. There was a swiftness and desperation in his movements that made it clear he had little time for the task. As the tie effortlessly draped around his neck he was increasingly astonished by his ability to tie a tight and sharply formed Windsor knot and again by his quick and involuntary tightening of the piece of fabric until it settled back into the incredibly familiar and uncomfortable resting place just below his Adam's apple.
As the cadets worked feverishly to don their formal attire, they heard the distinct sound of a car starting in the driveway. It seemed the Officer was leaving to attend to his own duties. The Cadets were understandably pleased by the notion. If there was ever going to be a chance of freeing themselves from this nightmare it would surely happen while the Officer was away. Perhaps he left the stone in the house. If only they could coax the enchantment to let them explore, perhaps they could find it. It was clear they couldn't refuse their orders, but perhaps they could bargain with their orders... find some way of following them that allowed them to play out their own agenda... They would have to try.
Cadet Carter was regretfully to the point of returning his feet to their heavy leather prisons. The boots weighed much more than seemed possible given their rubber and leather construction... If there was a single aspect of todays labors Cadet Carter would love to change it was the required footwear. He tried with all his might to resist the inevitable plunge of his right foot into the dreaded boot. Before even starting to tighten the laces his foot began to ache from the muscle memory alone of the torturously uncomfortable insoles. Despite his best efforts his left foot joint the right in awful confinement as he began to use both hands to draw each crisscrossed section of laces outward until tightness and constriction matched the exact feeling he'd had when the shoes had been forced upon him by magic. The rouch and itchy wool fibers of the pants legs being crushed against his fine skin embedding themselves deep into the tissue. Driving him mad with annoyance, yet he continued the task of tying his laces completely unabated.
Now fully clothed and ready for their task the two Cadets have no time to rest as the time is already 15:30, as though their movements were timed to exactly coincide with the cursed schedule. The two Cadets marched together out to their first grueling construction task, immediately defeated but holding on to some hope.
""