The A.R.EX. Project:Transformation

by Angelo Facchin

  “I am not trying to take advantage of anybody. You, on the other hand, have succeeded in getting yourself out of jail using amnesia and a new body as an excuse.”

  “Objection, your honor,” Janiece intervened, “Mr. Shannon is trying to imply that my client is the one who is on trial and not his.”

  “Sustained. Mr. Shannon, you will refrain from making accusations against the witness on the stand without any proof.”

  “Your Honor.”

  Everyone turned to see Arex, who had stood up from the seat. Judge Simmons was mildly surprised.

  “Yes, Mr. Arex?”

  “I know that it might not be my place to ask this, but I don‘t want to answer Mr. Shannon‘s questions any more. None of them had anything to do with the case so far. For some reason, he tried to make me feel guilty for having put his client on trial. When that didn‘t work, he went after my relationship with Jason, which is none of his business. It doesn‘t make sense and, quite frankly, I didn‘t want to have any part of this trial to begin with.”

  “You didn‘t? Why are you here, then?”

  “My intention was to bring Patrick Sandlak to justice. That was also the intention on the part of the F.B.I. agents and miss Ryder. When that didn‘t work out as planned, everyone else decided to go after Mr. Reeves, and I just couldn‘t understand why. Now I understand. People want people to be punished for a crime committed. Sometimes what happens is that people lose sight of what is truly important and just want revenge, no matter whose life is ruined in the process. These people are made up to be examples or become martyrs. I should know, because I became a martyr, a poster boy for a crazy project created by an angry person who couldn’t understand why people die needlessly. Do I forgive Patrick Sandlak for what he did to me? I can‘t, because he died and now his employer is paying the price for what he did. He left the world a coward, and he left people with the desire for revenge.”

  “This isn‘t about revenge. This is about justice for what happened and what could have happened,” said Janiece.

  “You don‘t really believe that anymore. Do you really think it necessary to have Mr. Reeves in jail? With Patrick Sandlak dead, the A.R.EX. project will no longer be a viable idea. Don‘t you think that justice has been done already?”

  Janiece had swallowed a bitter pill just now. He was right. She had put her ideals aside in an effort to win her first case as a prosecution lawyer.

  “Well Mr. Arex, what would you recommend? I‘m asking you this because you seem to have more common sense than everyone else here.”

  “I don‘t want Mr. Reeves to pay for Sandlak‘s crimes. They were and are two different people. After all, you‘ve all been using the same logic with me.”

  Out of the corner of her eye, Janiece saw Reeves eyes stare straight into Arex. It was unclear what he was thinking, but she figured he was thanking his lucky stars.

  “Done,” said the judge, “Mr. Reeves, it seems you have just been acquitted. You are free to go.”

  When he said that, the entire courtroom seemed to come alive. Arex, on the other hand, was dumbfounded.

  “Really? You‘re letting him go just because I didn‘t want him to go to jail?”

  “Yes, Mr. Arex. After all, this entire trial was put together on the basis that you were the plaintiff against Mark Reeves for criminal negligence. Your plight was the lynchpin of this case. You‘ve basically told us that you were dropping all charges. Unless, of course, I‘m mistaken.”

  “No, you‘re not. I really am dropping all charges.”

  With that, the case was said and done. Since the charges against Mark Reeves were dropped, he was a free man. He was extremely emotional when he answered the media’s questions surrounded by his family. The F.B.I. and Janiece decided it was best to accept Arex’s decision, but weren’t content until Reeves promised to pay for the compensation Patrick Sandlak had promised Erickson Meyers before extraditing him. Janiece was still a little peeved, and was prepared to let Arex know about it

  Chapter 7

  Friday, January 29th, 5:34 PM

  Janiece Ryder’s apartment

  Arex knew that Janiece was mad at him for having stopped the trial, but he never expected her to have exploded the way she did.

  “I can‘t believe you did that! How could you? You let Reeves go, even though he had just as much to do with the A.R.EX. project as Sandlak did.”

  “Yes. He had just as much to do with the project. The project as it was originally intended.”

  “And what is that supposed to mean?”

  “It means that the project was intended as a legitimate idea to create a military weapon. Think about it: Did Reeves have any idea who had really hired him? What exactly is evil, Patrick Sandlak or the project he used to try and cover up his actions?”

  “What about the person who put him in a position of power? Reeves should have known what his friend was going to do. His friend, Arex.”

  “I‘m your friend, aren‘t I? That didn‘t stop you from using me. I thought the whole idea behind the trial was justice, not revenge. Ad I also thought that you had your priorities straight, but maybe I was wrong. I didn‘t like the fact that you started the trial in my name without telling me.”

  * * *

  Janiece was still angry, but slowly, that anger was turning against herself. She wanted to tell Arex off, but he ended up telling her off. She felt his anger and was a little afraid of him.

  “I‘m sorry. I should have told you these things. The truth is, I felt like I had something to prove, not just to the world, but to myself. I first became an attorney with the idea that I wanted justice for those accused of various crimes. I felt like it was my job to speak for these people and to actually care for them and about them. That‘s why I wanted to adopt Jason. I cared about Jason and I felt that the case was my responsibility. As time went on, I guess I got frustrated with constantly being disrespected because I kept choosing to help the defendant in a case, and rarely winning a case. I was beginning to think that my career had taken a wrong turn and hit a dead end.”

  “Why didn‘t you tell us any of this? Janiece, why can‘t you trust me?”

  “You‘re not an easy person to trust. How can I trust you, now? You went over my head and stooped the trial. Reeves gets away with…”

  “With what? Losing his job? Being humiliated in public? Seeing the possibility of losing his freedom because of what someone else did? I suppose that means he wasn‘t being punished enough. Truly he deserved to lose his freedom, his family, after having already lost a lot of money.”

  “He was inattentive as to what was going on right under his nose, and then he left control of his company to a power-hungry maniac who took a life and ended it.”

  “So this is about revenge. You feel that Sandlak hurt you by taking Jason‘s father, destroying him and creating me in the process. Instead of being able to bring Sandlak to justice, you placed the blame on his employer. I know that I‘m a little inexperienced when it comes to life, but I know this much: it‘s wrong to take somebody, blame him for crimes committed by someone else, and basically destroy his life. How is Mark Reeves going to live his life now? I don‘t care what happened to me. I don’t remember being anybody other than who I am now, so let it go.”

  Janiece did let it go. It was no use arguing with him since he had a point. It just irritated her to know that he was the very ideal of kindness. She gave him a warm smile and drew a deep breath.

  “I hate it when you‘re so nice. But you‘re right, and I was wrong. And I‘m tired of fighting you.”

  DING-DONG!

  Janiece sighed. It was a very emotional moment and it was officially ruined.

  “I‘ll get it.”

  She opened the door to the pair of Mike and Mika, the two F.B.I. agents. They wore some thin smiles.

  “We heard your tirade all the way at the end of the hall,” said Mike, “so we figured we‘d wait until you lovebirds had calmed down. We came here with some name suggestions
for Arex to start his new life with. Also, Mark Reeves was so thankful that the charges were dropped that he added another million to the compensation payment. Arex, your practically set for life.”

  Mike gave Arex a sheet of paper.

  “Uh…thanks. I‘d still prefer it if I got a job, though.”

  “That won‘t be a problem,” said Mika. “I‘ll bet there‘d be plenty of people who would want to hire you. The question is: where will you live?”

  Arex thought the question over. He turned to Janiece and asked:

  “I don‘t suppose you‘d tolerate for another few days until I find a place to live?”

  Everybody in the room broke into laughter.

  “No. The honor is all mine, Mr.…?”

  Arex looked at the sheet Mike gave to him.

  “Alex. Alex Rivers. That‘s my name.”

  Epilogue

  Six months later,

  New York City

  Days went on. As quickly as fall turned into winter, winter, in turn, melted into spring. It was a whirlwind at first, but life had finally begun to settled down for Arex. Though he got a new name for himself, it wasn’t easy for anyone to call him by such a generic name as Alex.

  His life was beginning to shape up pretty nicely. He apprenticed for a while and got a job working for a construction company and was obtaining his necessary elementary and later high school diplomas through correspondence courses. He was also working on getting his own black belt in Aikido, which he had become fond of practicing.

  As for Janiece and Jason, change hadn’t come too easily, but he insisted on repaying their kindness and hospitality with a portion of his salary. The three of them had formed a lasting bond, and he knew he would always be welcome at their apartment. Jason had come to think of him as an older brother more than a father figure, which suited Arex just fine all things considered, since he quickly found that that he was too lenient toward Jason to be an effective parent. His feelings for Janiece were never fully admitted to, but romance wasn’t exactly on a lawyer’s agenda. He felt somewhat comfortable knowing that the two of them would remain friends.

  For now, though, he was busy settling into his new apartment. He had rented an apartment a few blocks from Janiece’s building. He actually couldn’t even move in right away because of the smell. The apartment had previously been rented by an old woman who had three cats. He had taken upon himself to clean, redecorate, and get rid of just about everything there, and have everything new. He was told that it was somewhat of a tradition for someone moving into a new home to hold a housewarming party. Janiece, Jason, Joe Henry, and the F.B.I. pairing of Mika Nomura and Mike Scatchard were all present and huddled up in his living room. Even Mark Reeves, whom many in the room disapproved of, was enjoying Arex’s hospitality.

  Arex felt a twinge of pride after having prepared all of the food himself. Cooking was quickly becoming one of his favorite hobbies. He discovered a talent for preparing foods that everyone enjoyed, if he judged well by the emptying plates across his kitchen counter.

  For the occasion, he also wanted to unveil a special banner that he had been preparing for a while. Gathering everyone around, he finally took the veil off and revealed what was going to be his rules of conduct in life:

  Life Rules

  1. I am not a violent person, nor am I a thief or a murderer.

  2. I shall never be haunted by the ghosts of my past or the circumstances surrounding my creation.

  3. I will never agree with what other people say about me unless what they say suits my perception of myself.

  4. I will life my life the way I choose to live it, and not the way preconceptions or outside influences dictate it to be.

  5. I will always strive to find a balance between selfishness and selflessness.

  6. I will always be proud of being unique in this world.

  7. I will never be thought of as anything less than a person.

  8. I am proud of who I am, and that is Alex Rivers. Arex.

  The End