The A.R.EX. Project:Transformation

by Angelo Facchin

  “What?”

  “I know it‘s going to sound crazy, but…here, look at this.”

  She took a photo of Arex while he slept that night. She took the snapshot out of her purse and handed it over to her boss. His eyes went wide as he looked at Arex on her couch.

  “Is this thing real?”

  “Yes.”

  “And it was sleeping in your apartment?”

  “I let him sleep there. We met and we talked and…”

  “Have you lost your mind?”

  “Hold on, you don‘t understand.”

  “No, I don‘t. How can you let something like that anywhere near you? What about Jason?”

  “Let me start from the beginning: he was sent here to kill me. Instead of doing that, he decided to warn me. He basically saved my life. What was I supposed to do but trust him and let him stay? The only place had to go to was an abandoned apartment.”

  “But now he knows where you live. And what about Jason‘s safety? You didn‘t leave the two of them alone together did you?”

  “Jason‘s at his friend‘s house right now. I still know how to take precautions, that‘s one of the reasons why I‘m here. I want to know what to do next.”

  “But why would somebody want to kill you?”

  Janiece proceeded to explain the events of the last couple of days. Joe Henry took notes all the while. When she finished, he nodded in understanding.

  “I need to see this Arex. If he‘s anything like you say, then maybe you have yourself a prosecution case with a real star witness. Incredibly enough, I‘m very curious about this. You‘re saying that he has honest to goodness amnesia?”

  “His memories were erased by a special computer. He was told by Patrick Sandlak that he was created in the project. Sandlak didn‘t tell him anything about his former self, probably for a good reason.”

  “Well, this comes against my better judgment, but let‘s go see the talking reptile.”

  Chapter 3

  Sunday, November 1st, 1998, 11:30 AM

  Janiece Ryder’s apartment

  Mike Scatchard and Mika Nomura got to Janiece Ryder’s apartment door. They needed more information on the A.R.EX. Project, and they hoped she could provide them with such. In truth, they were also a little suspicious of her claim that she knew nothing of Rick Meyers’ extradition until it was too late. The likelihood of that happening was nearly impossible. The warden of Bare Hill corroborated her story, but added that she was extremely agitated and overemotional over one of her clients. It was possible she threw a fit at the prison to have suspicion placed as far away from her as possible. Even if she wasn’t involved they had to have more proof than a stolen computer file in order to get a warrant to search BIOGENCORP’s building.

  Mike knocked on the door. They waited for a couple of minutes. There was no answer. They tried again, with the same result.

  “I guess we have to pick the lock.”

  Mike took out his tools, and got to work on the lock. It only took him a few seconds before the door clicked open.

  They entered the apartment. The TV was on in the living room, displaying a talk show. A male voice called out from the kitchen.:

  “Janiece? Is that you? Why were you knocking?”

  “F.B.I. We have a search warrant for this apartment.”

  “F.B.I.? What does that mean?”

  The owner of that voice came closer, the agents watched as he slowly stepped out of the cover of the wall.

  Mika let out a gasp. There, standing in front of them, was a giant reptile, which she recognized as an A.R.EX. Soldier from the file.

  “What can I do for you?”

  It was talking to them. The agents exchanged some nervous glances. Mika pursed her lips and stepped forward.

  “We came here hoping to find miss Janiece Ryder. You are obviously not who or what we were expecting.”

  “I can imagine. If you don‘t mind coming later, Janiece is at work right now. She did say she‘d be back within the hour.”

  “Good, then we‘ll wait for her,” Mike replied.

  Now what? Now they were both confronted with a terrible truth: they were too late to stop an Arex soldier from being created. Not only that, but it was now in Janiece’s living room. Why it was there, Mika had to figure out. Until then, the being was asking them questions.

  “You two never told me what F.B.I. means. What exactly gives either of you the authority to break into Janiece‘s apartment like this? I hope you have proof of your being in a law enforcement organization. If you don‘t I won‘t mind throwing the both of out.”

  “We are federal agents,” said Mika, “This is Mike Scatchard, my partner on this case, and my name is Mika Nomura. We are currently investigating BIOGENCORP in relation to the A.R.EX. project. We wanted to know whether or not miss Ryder could tell us something new.”

  “Perhaps you would like to take a look at the file? She told me herself, all the information she has is in there.”

  “No. Unfortunately, we already have a copy of that file from when I visited her not too long ago. She told me that she has a source who works at BIOGENCORP. That person provided her with the file. We were hoping something else would have come up that could give us more evidence.”

  “Isn‘t this file enough? At what about me? I‘m proof enough of what happens to people who are transformed through the project.”

  “Yes, that‘s true, you would be a good addition to our evidence pile. A pile that‘s not very big, however, since we have reason to believe that the American military is involved in this scheme. If so, then that makes the project perfectly legal.”

  “Not if Patrick Sandlak created me will the sole purpose of killing Janiece.”

  That would have certainly tainted the legality of the project, but only if it could be proven.

  “So that was Patrick Sandlak‘s reason behind changing the schedule of the project?”

  “Apparently so. I know now that he was being dishonest with me.”

  “Why?”

  “Janiece guessed it was because of the file she received. Sandlak told me, or rather wrote down that Janiece was a corrupt lawyer, who wasn’t above murder to protect her clients. Something in that folder I read didn‘t sit right with me, so I decided I wouldn‘t do anything until she told me her side of the story. I believe she‘s the one who told me the truth. Not only that, but I suspect that even if she was a criminal, it shouldn‘t be my problem to solve, but rather someone in your position, am I correct?”

  “That‘s right”

  “And on top of that, ending people‘s lives shouldn‘t be something I was meant to do. It doesn‘t feel like it would be a natural thing to do. Am I making sense, or am I just ignorant?”

  “No, well, perhaps a little,” said Mika. “Maybe you might be a little naïve, but it was a good idea to come clean about what you were sent here to do. Tell me, what‘s your name?”

  “Patrick Sandlak named me Arex, after the project.”

  * * *

  The agents looked at each other. Arex waited as they started making hand gestures and speaking inaudibly. It seemed to him that they were having a private conversation. Finally, the male agent took the lead.

  “I hope you understand that your existence is going to cause a lot noise.”

  “Why? If there were many of me, I would understand, but there is just me.”

  “First off, you really don‘t know that at this point. Second, Your presence alone is actually enough to cause widespread panic on the face of the Earth.”

  “How can that be? Why is my existence such an event?”

  “Think about it this way: Appearance plays a major role in perception and impression. We look at someone and we tend to base our impressions of that person on the way they look, it doesn’t matter what that person is really like. Human beings also have a natural fear of the strange and the unknown. Someone like you can simply walk down the street and still cause widespread panic, you don‘t even need to say or so anythi
ng. Not only that, but let’s take your specific case into light. The circumstances and motivations behind your creation are less than ideal. You were created to be a killer, a weapon, and now you suddenly decide to do otherwise? If, or rather when you‘d be discovered there will be people who will question your motives and will perceive you as a threat. People might celebrate you, fear you, try to destroy you or maybe even worship you as some sort deity come from another world. On top of that, people like to put things and living beings into different categories. They would spend hours on end trying to figure out, not only who you are, but what you are. And I‘m not even talking about a species in this case. There will be debates on whether or not you‘re a martyr, a criminal, a weapon, an animal, a person, etc. Some people might even try to create more of you or even become just like you. The entire face of the Earth could change over this matter, because…”

  “ENOUGH!!!”

  Arex found himself panting and sweating after the agent’s speech. His hand trembling, he dragged himself to the kitchen to get a glass of water. He bent down on the sink, trying to calm his nerves down. How could he live knowing what his life was going to be like once people knew about his existence? Why did life have to be so complicated?

  “Are you okay?”

  The female agent had followed him in. From the look on her face, Arex guessed she was concerned about something. Was she concerned about him? Why?

  “I‘m not sure. I just couldn’t even fathom all of these things. How can I continue? I wish I was never created.”

  “That‘s never a good reaction to have. I‘m sorry, but it was necessary to tell you what might happen. Janiece was probably sheltering you from this truth because she might‘ve guessed your reaction ahead of time. I can see how this is affecting you. You‘re crying.”

  Arex realized it was a fact as he felt under his eyes.

  “It doesn‘t matter, anyway. I‘m a monster, right? I don‘t have any feelings. What in the world gives me the right to have a say in what I do or what happens to me? I‘m just a weapon meant to kill and not care.”

  “A weapon, maybe, but you’re also a person who has a genuine mind and a heart. Any intelligent life should be entitled to the same rights, privileges, and responsibilities as we have. You‘ve taken responsibility by owning up to what you were supposed to do and deciding against it.”

  “Do you really believe that?”

  “Yes. Don‘t pay all that much attention to what anybody says about you. You and you alone are the only person who can judge you adequately.”

  “But what if it‘s true, and all of these do happen? It would be my fault.”

  “You can‘t think like that. Sure there might a bit of a problem for you earlier on, but who‘s to say you can‘t live a normal life? People will slowly get used to you until they accept you and those you refused to do so will be thought of as backwards thinking.”

  The door clicked open right at that moment. Arex’s mouth flew open as he looked at the agents.

  “Oh no. It‘s Janiece. She‘s here.”

  They hurried back to the living room, where they found Janiece and another man coming in through the door. Janiece’s mouth was just as wide when she saw the agents in her apartment. Arex felt embarrassed to be found in their company.

  “Uhmm…I can explain,“ he said, but he realized that there was no way he could explain what had happened while she was gone.

  Chapter 4

  Sunday, November 1st, 1998, 11:45 AM

  BIOGENCORP Laboratories

  Patrick Sandlak was hard at work, trying to get a new, larger budget approved. There was no doubt that the A.R.EX. project was a viable cause, but the financial restrictions due to the other tasks BIOGENCORP was accomplishing, added to the limited budget the Pentagon was sending him, were getting in the way of being able to extradite the other prisoners he needed to complete his squadron, housing them and then having them transformed and then trained. The disastrous first test in July had done a lot of damage to his reputation and made his employers panic slightly about his ability to get the job done. He wanted to be able to complete the first squadron by the end of the year, the trouble was getting the money he needed.

  At the same time, he was waiting for a report on Arex’s whereabouts. He had sent an espionage expert to keep tabs on him. He had been told earlier that Arex wasn’t at the apartment where he was dropped off. This might have meant that he spent the night at Janiece Ryder’s apartment after silencing her.

  In the meantime, Sandlak had to look into his technical systems to make sure that they weren’t tampered with. He also had to make sure that nobody made changes to his A.R.EX. file. He was the only person to know the specific details of the project, such as the inner workings of the Mind Shifter and the composition the serum used for the transformation. This meant that the project revolved around him. Not even his superiors knew that he had put a special alarm notification for the file in case it was intrusively accessed, deleted, copied, or even slightly modified. The specifics of the intrusion would be kept in his computer’s log and pop up the minute his password was inputted into the system. Sandlak always checked the files once a week. It was his life’s work, and he had to protect it.

  His safe thinking was justified when he found a recent intrusion in the A.R.EX. file. It came from one of the main computers in the operating chamber. The log showed that the file was accessed and copied on the 27th. He realized that this is where Janiece Ryder got her source from.

  He checked the duty roster for the 27th. It revealed that Daisy Carter was running the defragmentation program on all computers. What her relation to Janiece Ryder was, Sandlak didn’t know. One thing was certain, she had to be silenced. When Arex came back, he would have him get her too.

  The next phone call he received put paid to those thoughts. His spy described the comings and goings in Janiece Ryder’s apartment. At one point, Arex was actually left alone for more than two hours. Not only that, but he had spent the night there. On top of that, there were now two FBI agents now in her apartment.

  His project was no longer a secret, that much was clear. He was betrayed, and now his life’s work was in danger of being destroyed. He had no other choice, but to step in and fix this problem himself.

  Chapter 5

  Sunday, November 1st, 1998, 12:00 PM

  Janiece Ryder’s apartment

  Janiece just found herself in a real mess. All she wanted to do was show Arex to her boss, and now she had to contend with two F.B.I. agents. To make matters worse, Arex had let people inside her apartment without her knowledge or consent.

  She tried to get angry at him, but it was hard because in the back of her mind, the thought of the fact that Arex was completely amnesic and somewhat naïve, so she figured he had to let them in. She was also somewhat innately afraid of him. That last thing was something she had to work on. She now hoped the agent’s presence wasn’t going to mean serious trouble or more bad news for her.

  “I‘m not mad Arex,” she assured him, “I just wish I‘d given you my cell phone number. And maybe I should have told you not to allow anyone inside. It‘s a good thing I recognize these agents, but you need to be careful from now on.”

  “They broke into your apartment. I‘m sorry. What‘s a cell phone?”

  “Later.”

  Just then, Jason came back from Kip Simon’s apartment. Janiece heaved a sigh of relief.

  “Jason, please go to your room. I have people here and we have things to discuss,” she said.

  “Wait,” said Arex, “There‘s something else you should know. Jason came here earlier with his friend, Kip Simon.”

  Oh no, she thought, he didn’t just say that. He just released the bomb and now she was going to exploded.

  “WHAT?! How could you let them in the apartment?!”

  “I didn‘t let them in, Jason had his key with him.”

  Of course he did, she thought. Now matter how she looked at it, Kip Simon was now involved.

>   “You don‘t really understand how bad this is, do you?”

  “I‘m not sure,” Arex replied, “but I don‘t see how it can be that bad. Kip won‘t tell anyone. He promised me that much.”

  “You can‘t count on a eight year-old kid to keep a promise!”

  “Why not?”

  “Because most kids aren‘t mature enough to keep their mouths shut! Especially with something as important as the existence of a humanoid reptile here on Earth.”

  “Please, calm down,” urged Joe Henry.

  “I will not calm down! For all we know, you could‘ve already fed what you know about Jason and Kip to Patrick Sandlak. I don‘t want to be killed, or worse!”

  With tears in her eyes, Janiece looked at Arex. He had hung his head down, and she realized she had just told everyone in that room that she didn’t trust Arex at all despite having just let him spend the night in her apartment and had just left him alone for two hours.

  “Is that what you think? That I would betray your trust and put all of your lives in danger?”

  “Maybe. I just don‘t think I trust you enough with anything. Please understand, you were created to be a weapon. With that in mind, I have to keep an objective perspective and not take our safety around you for granted. On top of that, your attitude is not normal. Nobody should be that calm about a situation like this. Normal people are never this honest, or this innocent.”

  “Do you think I‘m being less than sincere? If you had doubts about me, why didn‘t you say so in the first place? I told you that I would leave last night after having talked to you. Why didn‘t you let me leave?”

  “I don‘t know. It just that I want to be able to trust you. I just can‘t rely on my eyes to tell me whether or not your lying to me.”

  “I‘m sorry. If you want me to leave right now, just tell me, and I will.”

  The truth was, Janiece wasn’t sure distancing herself from Arex was the right thing to do.

  “Do you know who gave me the information for the A.R.EX. project?”

  “I have no idea.”

  “It was a friend of mine. Her name is Daisy Carter. She works at BIOGENCORP. She wasn‘t supposed to know about it, but she discovered the file on their computers and downloaded it.”