The A.R.EX. Origin

by Angelo Facchin

  He was actually surprised when he was told to meet a witness who claimed to have met the suspect the previous night. He took her to an interrogation room to get a statement from her.

  “Thank you for coming here, Ms. Daniels. Please, tell me what happened to you.”

  “I was having problems with my ex-boyfriend for a while. Last night, he was drinking heavily and he went to my apartment completely inebriated. After a brief talk, I decided to escort him back home since he lived alone. When he realized where we were going, he immediately became hostile and then violent toward me. We struggled for a while, and then he started to strangle me. I couldn’t breathe, I thought I was going to die. And then the reptile saved me.”

  “HE saved you?”

  “Yes. He knocked my boyfriend out with a single punch. Then, he escorted me to his hiding place.”

  “You saw where he lived?”

  “Yes. He hides in an alley on 105th Street.”

  That’s three blocks away from where Arex lives.

  “Would you mind escorting me to that spot?”

  “Of course, but I have to tell you that he may have left.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “He told me he had a human provider who was basically a father to him. He told me that it was that man who told him to hate homeless people. When I pointed out that his thinking was wrong, he told me to get out of his face and to never go back there looking for him again.”

  “Don’t worry. We have special non-lethal weaponry. I won’t harm him that much and he won’t have the chance to hurt you if he gets angry, I promise.”

  Mike got a TASER gun Before they had a chance to leave, however, they were accosted by Arex and Jason at the front lobby.

  “I’m sorry guys, but this will have to wait until another time. We have a lead on the whereabouts of the other reptile. I’m going over there right now with our witness, Ms. Daniels here. Whatever it is, it will have to wait until later.”

  “You’re going alone with this woman to try and catch someone who might be as strong as I am.”

  There were no other agents to be spared, since Mike was technically acting on a tip he just received. No one else was ready, willing, or able to provide backup for him. He also didn’t want to alert the police to the reptile’s location, since they wouldn’t be so keen to let him come out of that alley alive.

  “I have to go alone. If he turns out not be there, then I don’t want the police to be mobilized for nothing. Besides, if the police are mobilized than there will be a media frenzy all over this. You were different, you wanted to be discovered and were as open as could be. I don’t think this guy is an any way familiar with the press and if he is, will probably want to avoid any unwanted attention.”

  “Then I’ll come with you. I’ll be your backup.”

  “Are you sure you ant to come along?”

  “I don’t use weapons, so I’m ready to go.”

  Mike drove them to the alley using Ms. Daniels’ instructions. When they got there, he and Arex got out of the car and walked toward the left-hand dumpster, the one the witness said the reptile was hidden behind. There were cardboard boxes arranged in a way that made a small house. The boxes were lined with old blankets.

  “That looks like the setup a homeless man would have.”

  “I know. Maybe he took over that spot. If he did, he might have done it by forcing however was here before out.”

  “The way it overlooks the dumpster, it’s like he’s stalking his victims.”

  Mike gave Arex the best disapproving look he could give.

  “Thanks for pointing it out. Now I have to put this in my report. Don’t you realize what any lawyer prosecuting this case would say about the suspect? They would say that he’s a cold, calculating, willing criminal. We know that he has a human telling him what to do, but he’s the one committing these acts. He’s the one we’re trying to find. The public is not going to be kind to him if they find out that he was stalking these homeless people.”

  “Okay, I’m sorry for even bringing it up.”

  “This guy has purportedly been raised to hate these people. If we’re to find the mastermind behind him, we have to find him and get him to give the human up. The problem here is that we had to release the ex-BIOGENCORP scientists. We couldn’t detain them any longer. So now, the reptile is probably with his human buddy and who knows where they are now. It’s possible that they will disappear now that we’re on their trail.”

  “Well, maybe the reptile left some evidence here that you can use.”

  They ransacked through the boxes, but found nothing that could indicate a reptile living there.

  “Well, now what, Mike?”

  “I don’t know yet. We can’t keep up the pressure on the scientists, especially since it’s more than likely that we’re only looking for one of them. We can’t even tell the public that one of them is involved, because that will bring unwanted attention on them, which will punish those among them who are innocent in this case.”

  “What about the witness? How did she see him?”

  “He saved her life and then showed her hiding spot. He was taking her away from her ex-boyfriend who almost killed her. She was told that this guy had raised him. So the human is ultimately the mastermind behind the whole scheme of trying to ruin your life.”

  * * *

  They got back to the FBI building and Mike finally got the opportunity to listen to the reason why Arex and Jason were there in the first place.

  “You’re not going to believe this, Mike, but Jason’s put it in his head that his life is in danger because of an old, worn out book.”

  “What?”

  “That’s what I said. I’ll let him explain it.”

  Mike turned his attention to Jason, who started off by taking the book out of his school bag. It looked like a journal, with its black leather cover and yellow pages worn by time and weather. Jason explained to him how he got it.

  “There was a guy I met at the library a couple of years ago, his name is Tom Smith. He’s a curator at the American Museum of National History. He told me he was working on a thesis on ancient cultures, the differences and similarities between their myths and how those affected their way of life. Anyway, I saw him at the library on Saturday, because I borrowed the Silmarillion and several pages were torn from it, and he gave me this book. I thought he wanted me to borrow it, but he never told me when I should bring it back. What this book seems to be, is the travel journal of Mr. Tselios as he went through the Amazon rainforest just over 70 years ago. There it’s written that he meets an alien race by accidentally walking through a portal. Now, there seems to be several pages missing, namely most of the maps, and everything describing the race has been completely ripped out. You can see the pages are missing.”

  Mike looked through the book and noticed the rips.

  “So, how does this mean that your life is in danger?”

  “Mr. Smith must’ve ripped the pages out, because he gave it to me and he told me it was an interesting read. He had basically no reason to give it to me, even though he knew I was interested in those kind of stories. And then, I try to meet him again and he’s not in the library any more, and he went to the library every day for at least two years. He just disappears and now I have this book, which isn’t some novel or a work of fiction. This isn’t a library book, so there’s a good chance this is real.”

  “You know, I can see how you can possibly deduce that, but I don’t see how you can go from there, to people wanting to kill you.”

  “My point is that he might have given the book to me because he might have felt threatened by someone or some people. It’s possible that some people want to keep this book a secret. The only way to know, is to find out how old the book is. If it really is seventy years old, then there’s a good chance the “story” written here is real. If that’s the case, then someone might not be happy about this nook exchanging hands. If that’s the case, then I don’t want anything to
do with this book. You can keep it.”

  Mike thought Jason was being a little paranoid. Just because he had what looked like the travelling journal of someone who may or may not have met some other form of intelligent life in a parallel world that may not even exist, didn’t mean he was in danger just by having the book in his possession. Tom Smith’s disappearance could simply mean he was finished with his thesis and that he was sick of always being in the library every day. Then again, the kid seemed genuinely afraid for his life. Maybe it was best to look into that and find out as much as he could about Mr. Tselios and his purported journey through the Amazon rainforest. If it turned out to be an elaborate hoax, then he would have to find Tom Smith and demand an explanation as to why he would deliberately scared a young teenager like that. If it wasn’t a hoax, and he really hoped it was, then there was a possibility that there were people living in a parallel plane to their own.

  “I will look into it. I’ll let you know what I’ve found out.”

  “Okay,” said Jason.

  “And don’t worry about your safety. I’m sure there’s nothing to be afraid of.”

  Mike put the book on his desk and made a note to make sure to find out everything about the journal. He wondered whether or not to tell Mika or Rodgers about it, but felt it best not to, since this technically was not a case until he found anything.

  Chapter 19

  Wednesday, July 16, 6:24 p.m.

  Gianlorenzo Di Nicola’s Apartment, New York City

  Alice felt like she had to wait forever for Gian to come pick her up. He had told her that he had a secret to tell her. She had a lot of questions for him once they arrived at his apartment. She vowed to herself that she would get the truth from him no matter what, and she wasn’t going accept any more secrets and more lies from him. I didn’t even matter how terrible the truth was, she didn’t care anymore.

  When he finally arrived, he barely spoke when he introduced himself to Alice’s mother. His face was drawn and looked like he hadn’t slept in days. Something was clearly wrong with him. He remained silent as he drove her to his apartment.

  She was thankful that she took certain precautions before leaving. She had put a stiletto knife and a canister of pepper spray in her purse and kept it half open in case she needed to use them. She hoped that his secret wasn’t anything to drastic, though.

  Alice tried once again to try and start a conversation with him while they walked up the staircase to his apartment, but he told her he wanted to wait until they were safely in his apartment on the fourth floor.

  When they got inside, Alice took a step back. The apartment was painted in warm colors and the overall aesthetics had an inviting feel to it. The furniture, while simple, was elegant and presented a stark contrast in quality to the rest of the building. It looked like a showroom, but it still gave the feel like someone was living there.

  “I can’t believe you live here. It’s so modern and rich. How can you afford it?”

  “I got a pretty nice grant from my government. I also… well, I didn’t want to tell you this, but I work at Burger King on the side.”

  “That’s not something to be ashamed of.”

  “I hate working in a fast food restaurant.”

  Gian had expressed his feelings on the subject when he saw her munching on a Big Mac during her break. After her shift that night, he promised to make her a homemade meal of hamburgers to show her that they were far superior.

  “Well, now is your chance to surprise me with your burgers, Mr. Mystery. It’ll be a nice way for you to open up to me.”

  “It’s not that simple for someone like me to open up to you, and I know I have to. You might think right now that I’m hiding my past because I’ve committed crimes. That’s not true… yet. What I’m about to tell you will make me a criminal, though. I would appreciate it if you don’t tell anyone. Please, promise me you will keep this secret.”

  “I promise, even though I have no idea what you’re talking about. I you haven’t committed any crimes, then what could you possibly tell me that will get you in trouble? Are you a spy or something?”

  “No.”

  Gian had started pacing back and forth, trying to remain calm. It was clear that he wasn’t getting his message across like he hoped he would.

  “Hold on, you need to see with your own eyes first. I will go to bathroom and… change. Then, you’ll see.”

  What is he talking about? There was no reason for Gian to change his clothes without taking a shower. She thought it strange the way his speech wavered when he said “change”. What could it mean? What was she going to see when he came out of that bathroom? Was that going to give her all the clues she needed to understand what his secret was?

  “I have to tell you a secret. I shouldn’t be telling you this, but I want to. I don’t want to keep secrets from you and lie to you anymore. You’ll have to be patient, though. This takes time.”

  “I can’t take this anymore. Whatever it is, you can tell me. I can take it.”

  “I doubt it.”

  Alice slowly stepped closer and pressed her ear against the bathroom door to make sure she didn’t miss anything.

  “Just tell me. I promise that I’ll try my best to be understanding toward your secret.”

  “Well, do you remember what I told about the pendant around my neck, and how I never take it off?”

  “Yes. You told me it was a family heirloom good luck charm, and you felt it help you through the day as long as you had it around your neck.”

  “That’s not true. This doesn’t belong to my family. It’s not a good luck charm, either. It doesn’t even belong to me.”

  “You mean you stole it?”

  “No, it’s just… this is taking way too long.”

  “What is?”

  “Hold on, just please, be patient.”

  “I’ve been patient enough with you, now come out of there, or I’m coming in.”

  “Wait… you won’t need to. I’m coming out now. Promise me you won’t be scared.”

  “Scared? I promise, I won’t be scared. At least, I won’t be running away at first sight of you. I know what you look like.”

  The door slowly creaked open. Alice slowly took a few steps back and reached into her purse for the pepper spray, in case she needed it.

  When Gian finally appeared, but he didn’t look at all like she had expected. She put her hand to her mouth when she saw him standing there. He was another reptile, one with green skin. Almost reading her mind immediately, Gian said:

  “I have a lot to tell you.”

  * * *

  July 16, 7:16 p.m.

  Gianlorenzo’s Apartment

  Mika had spent the entire day looking through Mike’s report on Gianlorenzo Di Nicola. He had found several things that didn’t make sense. There wasn’t any birth certificate with his name for any city in Calabria during the last thirty years. Within that same time period, only one student in the entire country had that name. That person had never even applied for a foreign exchange student program, and lived in Venice. A broader search revealed that he wasn’t a university student registered in the state, or even in the country for that matter. He had arrived three weeks earlier from Sao Paolo, and applied for a green card. He got a job at Burger King’s and started renting an apartment in the East Side District. Then, he signed up for Arex’s Aikido class. Those were his major purchases, and the only evidence anybody had of his existence.

  This secrecy led to several possibilities. The first, was that the young man was a rapist. A number of sex offenders had decided to leave their countries and maybe even change their names in order to avoid any unwanted attention, or to avoid further prosecution. It would have been easy for somebody from Sao Paolo to pretend he was Italian, since both Portuguese and Italian were Latin-based languages. Alice Smith probably wasn’t familiar with either one and her knowledge of Spanish couldn’t have been very proficient. What gave even more credence to that theory, was the fact t
hat there was warrant out in Brazil for a wanted rapist matching Di Nicola’s description.

  For this information, she took it upon herself to tail Alice Smith while on her date. All she wanted to do, was make sure Alice was safe.

  Thankfully, Alice had told her he was taking her to his apartment, so she simply decided to stake them out half an hour before they arrived.

  Mika had advised the younger woman to carry a knife and a can of pepper spray in case she needed to defend herself. She hoped she was wrong about Di Nicola, though. She actually enjoyed it when she was proven wrong because the truth always pleasantly surprised, even though she would also be somewhat ashamed at her assumptions.

  When she discretely followed them all the way to the door, she kept a close ear to the door. Her fears seemed to manifest themselves as she the pair talking about lies and secrets being kept. Di Nicola kept going on about revealing his terrible secret to her.

  Mika had brought a lock pick with her to open the door if it was locked. She took it out when she heard Alice raising her voice. She slowly picked the lock, making sure she made as little noise as possible.

  She was relieved when she realized that the young man had gone into the bathroom and had essentially locked himself in. As long as she’s keeping some measure of distance from him, that’s good, she thought.

  Just as she succeeded in unlocking the door silently, she heard Alice give a sharp gasp. Without really thinking, Mika took her handgun out, quickly opened the door…

  “You have got to be kidding me.”

  Chapter 20

  July 16, 7:35 p.m.

  Gianlorenzo Di Nicola’s Apartment

  “I suppose there must be some sort of explanation for what’s going on. I’m waiting for it.”

  Mika sat on the couch in the living room of Di Nicola’s apartment. After the initial shock of seeing the man as a reptile had worn off, she now demanded to know just what had happened. She found herself wondering if the A.R.EX. formula actually had survived in someone else’s memory, though that seemed unlikely.