It was 01:00 hours and the Cadets were sound asleep. The Officer had returned from a long days work and was sleeping soundly in his own bedroom which, thanks to the unshakable suggestions of the Sargent, had been redecorated in a more spartan military-style arrangement.
Silently a young teen scaled the side of the house to a sizeable landing just below his friend Pete's window. He'd done it more times than he could count. He'd been good friends with Pete since they were little. They both loved the thrill of going out and causing mayhem... The trick was never getting caught, which was a lesson he'd have to teach Pete one of these days...
He was a little younger than Pete, he'd just turned 16 and wanted to show Pete his driver license. Just think if the trouble they can cause now that they're both licensed to drive.
He cracked open the window and whispered Pete's name as quietly as he could but got no response. He could hear someone's calm breathing so he knew Pete must be around.
"Hey Pete." he tried again, a little louder this time and holding his crisp new driver's license up to the window in excitement, but still getting no answer.
He decided he'd better crawl in and get a better look around. Once inside he was surprised at the emptiness of the room. Pete was a real pack-rat; on a normal day you could scarcely take a step in his room without standing on some bit of flotsam in the form of memorabilia, or entertainment media, or just plain trash....
He tried to follow the sound of the breathing but became confused when it seemed like there were two people in the room. He approached the nearest one and tried to make out his face, but It was far too dark in the room to see anything clearly. He didn't want to get caught where he didn't belong, but he really wanted to talk to his friend, so he decided to flash his cell phone screen for just an instant to see who was there.
* FLASH *
It only took a second but in that moment he could see clearly that it was his pal, lying in his underwear on an old military cot. He figured he'd ignore the other person for now, if they were in his buddie's room they were probably cool. A cousin or something.
He immediately turned the phone back on and held it up to Pete's face. He figured the light would wake him up but the boy didn't stir at all. He shook Pete's shoulder and whispered again but got nothing from the boy...
"Jesus Christ" He thought "He must be passed out drunk or something."
"Hey!" He shouted in a whisper, continuing the shake his friend. He knew he was getting a little out of control and definitely pushing his luck being so loud, but he was REALLY desperate to share his news so he kept trying despite himself. He lifted Pete's bare shoulders up and pushed them back down again into the cot, but still the boy was out cold.
Exhausting his options there, he decided to see who player number two was. Slinking over to the other body with his phone on, he was surprised to see Grant Carter laying on the same type of cot, wearing the same tight military green boxer briefs.
"What is this, some kind of weird sleepover?" He thought to himself. "Well, might as well see if I can get some answers out of Grant"
He started to go through the same routine with Grant. Flash, wiggle, whisper...
SLAP!
In a moment of frustration he'd forgotten his surroundings and slapped Grant HARD in the face. He was so giddy over it, he laughed uncontrollably but was able to stifle the sound for the most part.
Just then he heard a clear voice from the doorway.
"It's past lights out, they won't be waking 'til morning."
At that the boy's heart began to race, or stop, he wasn't sure. He just knew he had to get out of there. Pete's dad was a cop and he didn't need that kind of heat.
He rushed to the window and dashed through the small portal like a professional. "Thank goodness Pete cleaned his floor today" he thought. But as he brought his hand down to the windowsill to steady his decent down the roof, he dropped his license back inside, on Pete's floor.
"Fuck" he thought "The floor is so clean there's no way Officer Stevens won't see it, he'll know it was me!"
Torn between getting his ID and taking his chances by running, he decided he really had no choice. He had to run and hope his license went unnoticed in the dark.
With his mind Preoccupied by his previous mistake and fear of the likely ramifications the boy lost his footing and rolled his ankle on the sloped surface of the roof. He rolled uncontrollably and landed 15 feet below with a thud. His head struck the terrace leaving him dazed and confused. He wanted to stand. To run. But the world was spinning. He tried to make it to his feet but he couldn't keep them under himself.
A shadowy figure appeared from around the corner, brandishing a large metal flashlight. The beam from the light was intense, effectively blinding the poor boy, revealing his form clearly for the the first time. He was a fresh faced boy with a round, lightly freckled face and tight black curly hair. He was still lightly endowed with baby fat but seemed more or less athletic in his own way. He knew he'd been made even before the shadowy figure directed the light down at a small card, that, to his dismay, he knew was his license.
"Jason?"
"Yes" he said plainly and apologetically, still overcome by his head injury "I'm sorry Officer Stevens, I'm in the wrong place."
"Not at all " Officer Stevens replied pulling out a bizarre transparent rock of many colors "You're right where you're supposed to be..."
"Jason Stone" He continued in his authoritative tone, "I have deemed you worthy of joining my at-home bootcamp. Lets make you part of the platoon..."
At that moment Jason passed out. The Officer cupped the stone and set about recruiting his newest Cadet.
Jason's hoodie and underlying t-shirt morphed into a gunmetal blue blazer and a starched and pressed button-down dress shirt. The cords of the hoodie's draw strings grew and formed into a tightly knotted black tie pulling his stiffly starched collar ever so tightly around his throat. His cargo shorts grew longer and darker becoming woolen and prickly with black stripes down the sides. They continued to expand until they tucked into his shoes which were themselves expanding upward and thickening into heavy black saddle leather boots, that bound his legs with yards of tightly drawn shoelaces. The boots completed growing at just below the boy's knee. Jason's feet ached from his new footwear, even in his unconscious state he wouldn't be free from their inhumane effects.
A belt formed around his waste, holding his blazer smartly in place and hard shiny had appeared at his side. His curls fell down all around him leaving his head cleanly shaven on the sides with little more than modest stubble across the top. Finally, a small metal nametag appeared on his blazer that said "Stone".
His transformation was complete.
"ATTEN-HUT!" The Officer yelled with spark of glee.
Cadet Stone rose swiftly from the ground, standing perfectly straight, his chin angled slightly upward, his chest proudly expanded, and his shoulders drawn back slightly. He clicked his heels together and angled his toes slightly outward while his arms fell limply to his sides holding his hands in loose fists, yet through all the dramatic changes in posture his eyes remained completely closed.
Officer Stevens was mildly amused by that. Of course he had been healed from all of the injuries he had sustained during his daring escape. But as a Cadet, the boy could never be awake passed lights out.
"Report to barracks Cadet!" The officer shouted, causing the boy to march in his unconscious state up to his new living quarters.
The Officer used the stone to expand the barracks in order to accommodate his newest Cadet and order him to lay in his cot. The boy was still fully clothed, but it would do him good to endure some of that discomfort for the next few hours. Allow his new boots to haunt his dreams... He hadn't yet earned the privilege of bedtime skivvies.
Satisfied with his work, the Officer returned to his bedroom. He'd have to contact the Boy's parents in the morning, but they'll be happy to know their boy is being taken care of.
To know that he's a Cadet.