New recruit: magic pocket watch

It's a beautiful day at camp Niflheim, the Normarkian army's training grounds for new recruits. Eva Thorsdottir made a show out of straightening her collar, not because she thought it was crooked, but to make a point of its excellence to the new recruits.

"ATTENTION!" The twenty-seven-year-old roared, causing the thirty something recruits gathered in front of her to stiffen their postures.

"Welcome to your new home, recruits. The weeks in front of you will be pure hellfire. But it's through that fire that I will forge you into deadly blades for our nation. I am your sergeant–Thorsdottir." She could feel the recruit's nervous gaze. They were no doubt impressed with their first up close meeting with a military leader. Her blonde hair was meticulously made up in a bun. Her green camo uniform was pressed with not a wrinkle from the collar of the jacket to the end of her pants.

"As long as you're here you're under my command. That means doing what I say, when I say it and also when I'm not saying it. For your first week here the focus will be on attitude. As a soldier, you wil wear the flag of our proud nation. With that comes a duty to show the best side of yourself. Attitude is key!"

Eva looked at the young adults in front of her with contempt. In her mind, these were the very antithesis of proper soldiers. Normark had long practised compulsory conscription for both genders, so the recruits were roughly evenly split between the sexes. Looking at the girls, Eva saw nothing but the hairspray and immaturity representing the youth of today. One of them embodied this to the ****. A long-haired blonde with a suntan screaming of solarium. She had received and was wearing her military uniform, but had forgone buttoning the jacket all the way, leaving the t-shirt underneath exposed. She had likely picked a t-shirt one size too small, as it was fitting snuggly over her impressive bosom. Eva suspected the recruit, who's nametag read "Newland", was wearing a push-up bra rather than the organisation's own brand of cotton bras.

Walking in front of her, Eva said, "Recruit, Newland! Congratulations on passing the initial draft. You must have really impressed the examiners."

Not shy in the face of flattery, Newland flipped her hair over her shoulder as she said, "Of course they were. I work out five days a week. Those tests were nothing, Seargent."

"Oh I'm sure you do," said Eva sweetly, before abruptly shifting her face into a deadly serious scowl. "Because they sure as hell didn't select you on a basis of common decency or respect! Button up your uniform, soldier. Did your mother not teach you how to dress!" she shouted, spit flying with each syllable.

Newland looked appalled, gaping in disbelief at the disrespectful tone of her Seargent. Finding no sympathy, she had no option but to comply, sulking while buttoning up. Low snickers could be heard from the crowd.

"Does anyone find this funny?" Eva said, staring down her troop. That shut up everyone except one recruit who didn't seem to read the room.

"Lighten up, Seargent. It's out first day. I'm sure you have days where you mess up too." the recruit, a guy with a nametag reading Berg, said in a tone Eva found much to jolly for a fresh recruit.

"Lesson one, recruit. When it comes to my uniform, I never mess up. Congrats, you've just earned yourself a visit to my office. Newland, you're coming too. For the rest of you, since you obviously lack the proper attitude for a soldier I suggest you start working on that. At 08:45 sharp you'll have your first military lesson in classroom 5A. I'm sure many of you want to start by learning how to fight. Fat chance looking like you do. The topic will be how to dress yourself. I strongly suggest you don't show up looking as lousy as you do now. Dismissed!"

The group dispersed. Eva led the two trouble makers to her office. It was a relatively small room, with a desk and a computer. "What do you have to say for yourselves, recruits?"

Newland rolled her eyes, "Why am I even here? I buttoned the stupid uniform already."

Eva faced the female recruit. "That snark is exactly the reason you're here. Newland." Eva turned to Berg. "And you. What's with the chipper attitude. I'm not above throwing out recruits on the first day, so you must think you're real important to speak out of line like you did."

Berg stood in a relaxed pose with his hands in his pockets. "I don't know about important, but my grandad was in the military. He left me an old trinket he found when he first served in Niflheim. I was thinking this would be the right place to test it."

Eva grew increasingly agitated at the arrogance on display. "Never stuff your hands down your uniform, recruit! Take them out. That's an order."

Berg shrugged. "If you insist." He lifted his hands from his pockets. Eva's attention was caught by something being pulled along with his right hand. A pocket watch on a chain. It was so distracting that she lost herself staring at it.

"Attention."