The dictaphone

Santiago wondered... maybe this device was worth something? It looked like a voice recorder, yes, but the lines were kind of... futuristic. It wasn't like any other he had seen. But he had to admit he hadn't see many. Who still used a voice recorder nowadays? Well, maybe his friend Judy could help.

Santiago had known Judy for years. They were kids when they met, and if Judy wasn't his best friend, nor he wasn't hers, they were close friends. They never really thought about dating each others, mostly because they were interested in other people they met more recently. But Judy was cool. She was fun in her own way with a dark sense of humor, the kind of girl who just laughed with a smirk when you talked about high school life. Another senior with average grades, average looks, the kind you forget the moment you leave the class if you don't take the time to know them.

Judy's house wasn't far, so Santiago walked there, and rang. He heard Judy's footsteps, and the 5'6 girl with long wavy brown hairs and eyes cleaned her glasses when she saw the latino boy at her door.

"Hey Sant, what's up? Back from fishing?" she said, looking at the fishing rod on his shoulder.
"Yes. I just wanted to show you something I might need help to identify..."
"You're supposed to be the fish expert, you know?" giggled Judy "I was studying for the next physics exam. And you should too, you know, neither of us are in the top students. We need to work twice as much as the smart kids if we want to be maybe close to their grades."
"I know, but anyway... I found this in the river. Care to take a look?"

Judy closed the door behind him. Obviously, she was home alone for the moment. The two of them went for the living room, crashed each in a couch. On the TV, there was a live police cruise. Santiago pointed at the screen.

"You were... studying?" he smiled.
"Yes." she said, showing him books on the table in the middle of the couches "But I like to have some background noise while I work. Right now, the cops are in a cruise with some kind of muscle freak who's running around town. Funny."
"Now, about what I wanted to show you..."

Santiago showed her the dictaphone. Judy took it and calmly studied it.

"That's a voice recorder." she eventually said.
"I know, thanks. But it looked... weird. So I hoped you knew a bit more about it. And why would anyone throw this in the river?"
"I don't know. Did you listen what was recorded in? Or if it still works?"

Santiago shook his head. "Okay, let's see if it works first." Judy said. She tried to press the record button... but it was stuck. She pressed hard, but the thing wouldn't move.

"Looks like it's useless." sighed Judy "But maybe the other buttons still work...". She pressed play. And it worked.

The walls of my room are blue", "Kevin can see the alteration I made.", "Only Kevin and I can use this device." said a boy's voice. Judy and Santiago blinked. It didn't make much sense.

"Cool. You found a voice recorder you can't use, but you can still listen to three stupid messages on it. What a lucky day you're having." Judy said with her ironical usual tone.
"Very funny. Okay, it's worthless. Maybe a guy will buy it for the parts." Santiago sighed "I'd like some money to pay for the fine quality fishing line I had to cut because of this thing.
"I just want to try something..." Judy suddenly said.

She pressed the erase button, and then pressed play again. The dictaphone was empty of any record. Santiago wondered what she was doing but then... Judy pressed the record button. It was unstuck! She pressed stop immediately, and smiled.

"Interesting. I erased the record about only these two dudes being able to use this, and poof, it's now usable."
"You mean there's a voice command in it?" Santiago wondered.
"No... I mean... let me try something."

She looked at the TV, where a chopper was trying to keep the camera on the figure of the very muscled boy running away. Judy started a record.

"The fleeing guy on TV doesn't cause any trouble and won't ever."

The screen went blur the second she pressed stop, with a sparkling sound. Then, the picture stabilized... and the live police cruise was over. Instead, there was a reporter talking about the number of tourists expected next summer. And far away, Kevin wasn't a problem anymore. He was back to school, still a jock, but not as strong nor big or growing. He was the quiet captain of the football team, and didn't even remember having been a geek. He was going to live the quiet life of a successful athlete, not causing trouble to anyone.

"Ho." calmly said Judy looking at the TV "I think you didn't find any device. But a kind of magical one able to change things around."
"What?" frowned Santiago "Judy, you're funnier usually."
"But I just stopped the police cruise." Judy blinked, pointing at the TV.
"No. You stood there, recorded something about a fleeing guy for some reason, and that was it. There wasn't even a fleeing guy to begin with."

Judy looked at him, thoughtful. And eventually, said "So it's not just magical. This thing changes the very fabric of reality."

"What are you talking ab..." started Santiago.
"Santiago there knows I'm right." simply recorded Judy.

Santiago blinked and suddenly exclaimed "W...wow, that's amazing! That's true!"

"I know, right?" smiled Judy "Powerful stuff you found there."
"But how can you stay so calm? Not be shocked?" Santiago exclaimed, standing up "This is amazing!"
"Calm down Sant." laughed Judy "If you found a magic lamp with "Rub me" written over it, would you be shocked if a genie got out of it? Not that much, because you half-expect it. Even if that's crazy, I know. But you'd be more excited than shocked. So... this is what I am right now."
"You're right." Santiago said "So... what do we do now?"