“How long do you know Whiplash?”
“We’ve just met.”
“Then why is he here? You don’t even know him. You have to admit, this is strange.”
“I didn’t know you before you forced yourself into my apartment.”
“There wasn’t much to know anyway. Unlike him, I didn’t spend five years having my mind poisoned by some maniac who wanted to use me.”
“You’re right. You only spent three days under Sandlak’s tutelage. Don’t tell me you never thought about killing me, Alex, ’cause I don’t buy it.”
Ouch! Arex felt the sting of that statement. It was clear that Janiece didn’t want to feel like she was making a mistake letting this other reptile in, but it was equally clear she didn’t want to be morally judged by someone who could have easily turned out to be her killer. It made Arex think about what could have happened if he had killed Janiece. His life would have probably been much different than it turned out.
“I’m sorry, it’s just that I have a hard time figuring out what he’s doing here. You told me he’s responsible for those muggings and I panicked.”
“It’s alright,” said Mika. “I can understand that you’re a little confused. Let me explain what’s going on. Can you please close the door and sit down?”
Arex locked the door behind him and sat down next to Janiece, who gave him a wink. He noticed there a tiny glint of conspiracy in her eyes. That confused him since she had just chastised him a few seconds ago.
“We’ve brought you here today so that we could discuss a few important things as well as making sure we keep this meeting a secret. What I’m about to say never leaves this room, understood?”
Everybody nodded in agreement. Arex noticed that aside from her FBI colleagues, everyone except Tom Smith looked anxious to hear what Mika had to say. What it possible he was already aware of what was going to happen?
“As you already know, Whiplash spent a good portion of the last two months mugging homeless people. We learned that after spending four years in Arkansas, Kevin Spencer moved them both back to New York City a month prior to the first incident. About a week before said incident, Spencer decided to voice his purported discontent over the fact that the homeless were likely without a job and, in his opinion, did nothing but sit around all day, panhandling for money. Whiplash then proceeded to repeatedly steal what little money these people had. He’s admitted to fourteen counts of petty theft and seven counts of assault, which is more than what was reported to us. Unfortunately, that means there are half a dozen victims who didn’t report any crime being committed.”
“Wait a minute,” said Arex, “why wasn’t there a theft committed every night? It’s not like the streets are devoid of homeless people.”
“I can answer that, if you don’t mind,” Whiplash answered.
“Go ahead.”
“Kevin and I set up these cardboard boxes and several blankets in a makeshift home. The plan was that I would only steal from people if they settled themselves there, and I would only hurt them if they were awake.”
“Didn’t that sound strange to you?”
“It did, but I never questioned anything Kevin said to me back then. He also told me never to let them see my face or my body. That also sounds strange to me now, since I was told that Kevin’s plan was to get you in trouble.”
“Maybe he expected you to be somewhat sloppy so that people could identify you, while thinking you were me.”
“The worst scenario in his min, was that People would catch on that it wasn’t Arex committing these crimes, but Whiplash,” said Mike. “If Whiplash were to ever get caught, Spencer figured that nobody could ever trace his “protégé” back to him, even if the latter were to steer us in that direction. Unfortunately, he didn’t count on us picking up that Whiplash wasn’t committing these acts alone. That’s what got him in trouble, but it also left us with the obligation of having to let everyone think that he was a lone reptile stealing from the homeless for no good reason. Having him in our custody has already caused a stir-up, which is why we have the other two reptiles here.”
“I was going to ask about that. Why bring them in? What do they have to do with this situation?”
“As you know, Gianlorenzo and Tom Smith are members of the alien race that lives, as far as we know, in an alternate universe to our own. Their lifestyle is very different from ours. For example, they really only have one law, and that’s the fact that they must never show themselves to us in their true form. Unfortunately, both of them have done exactly that. Thankfully, we’ve been able to keep this secret on a need-to-know basis, at least, for the most part.”
Mike must have been referring to Janiece and Jason, who weren’t really supposed to know about the parallel universe.
“We are here, now, because we need to discuss what we’re about to do next. Our plan is to get Tom Smith to switch places with Whiplash and serve the latter’s sentence for him.”
Arex’s jaw dropped. He saw that everyone that wasn’t in the loop reacted the same way.
“You can do that?”
“Yes. Tom Smith was a Keeper among his people. He knows how to transform people into reptiles and vice versa. He’s also the one who invented the Mind Shifter.”
“What? I thought Sandlak was the one who created the Mind Shifter.”
“No. He had taken the idea from Smith by blackmailing him. Sandlak found out about Smith not being human and he managed to use that information to get what he needed to being the A.R.EX. project.”
Arex looked at Smith, hoping that he would refute that. He wouldn’t, of course, but he also realized something else.
“Of course, the public can’t know that he had that knowledge the whole time, because that would mean releasing the knowledge of the other world to the public. And we can’t have that, can we, Gianlorenzo?”
Gianlorenzo shook his head in agreement, but stayed silent.
“So now, I’m actually facing the person who’s truly responsible for what happened five years ago,” he said as turned to face Smith again. “Well, I’m sorry if you don’t see me shaking your hand in gratitude.”
“Mr. Rivers,” Smith replied, shaking, “I’m really sorry for what happened.”
“You’re sorry?! That’s all you can say? Where was that “sorry” when Jason’s dad vanished without a trace? Where was that “sorry” when Janiece was left to take care of a boy while both their lives were not only being turned upside down, but also put in danger?! Where were you when we had to deal with the whole crisis while at the same time feeling powerless to do anything? All I could was try to help as everything was happening around me. Then, I had build a life for myself from scratch while everyone in this city were afraid of me. Where were you during the whole ordeal? You were pretending like all of this had nothing to do with you. Instead of doing anything about the situation you created, you decided to keep your mouth shut. And now, you expect an apology, as sincere as you can make it sound, to make up for what you did? It’s not going to happen. Why didn’t you say anything? How many times have you seen and talked to Jason at the library and you didn’t say a word?”
“I had already said too much to Patrick Sandlak and…”
“… and the damage was already done! What you should have done is come forward and tell the truth years ago!”
“I know that, and I really wanted to.”
“You couldn’t have wanted to that much, because you still let this knowledge be hidden from us for a very long time. If you wanted to tell the truth that much, you already would have before. It’s a simple matter of being honest with people and facing up to what you did.”
“You don’t understand how much this has hurt me.”
“Really? Why don’t you explain that to Erik Meyers? Oh wait, you can’t do that because he’s gone! He’s dead! What’s left of him is my human DNA, and a bunch of deleted computer data.”
“But you’re the one who decided not to be Jason’s father.”
“Don’t you dare bring my decision in this as if I made a mistake. I couldn’t bring myself to be that man because I knew I couldn’t be. To pretend to be Jason’s father just to please him would have been a waste of time and would have hurt Jason more than the situation already did. Do you know how hard it was to look at him and tell him that he hadn’t really gotten his father back? You don’t because you weren’t there. You weren’t there as I was desperately just trying to be his friend.”
“But he can have his father back.”
“What are you talking about?”
“The Mind Shifter’s hard drive doesn’t dump its memory when being hacked into like the FBI must have thought. The problem is what happens when the security password entered is false. After three attempts, the computer recognizes it as a hacking attempt, so it automatically shuts down, then blocks access to the files it has stored. It was a safety feature I had installed. I can retrieve the files with a simple code. I can restore your memories to you. Not only that, but I can also turn you back into a human being.”
“I can’t believe you’re so stupid as to suggest this. You allow the A.R.EX. project to happen and then you hide you involvement for years just to appear to Jason as a friend. And instead of telling him the truth, you find some runabout way to let us know what really happened. You know what? You can stuff your offer. I don’t care what you know. I don’t want anything more to do with you.”
“But what about Jason?”
Arex’s jaw dropped.
“I can’t believe you’re bringing up Jason. Are you hoping that I’m going to feel guilty for your role in this? That I’m going to turn back the clock five years in the hopes of making Jason happy for a little while? What if he wouldn’t be happy about that? Do you think I would be happy about that? I spent the last five years building my life out of nothing but a cool-looking body only a child could like and a compensation check that technically, wasn’t mine to accept. I’ve had to live with survivor’s guilt and the knowledge that I couldn’t do anything to make things right. I was helpless. I couldn’t help Jason cope because I felt responsible for what happened. Jason and I didn’t make friends out of nowhere, it took time, just like it took time for people to trust me, for me to trust myself. In all that time, I learned how to be more than just a victim. I learned how to be a person, how to be me, because nobody else could. I spent most of that time thankful that nobody else in the universe looked anything like me. Suddenly, Whiplash here shows up and turns everything upside down. Again, all of this because you gave in to blackmail. Then, it turns out there’s an entire world full of reptiles and that really got me depressed. And now, here you are, trying to turn back time to before your actions had any real consequences. Are you serious? All you really want to do, is erase what you did to try and make yourself feel better. Life doesn’t work that. It’s not that simple and you know it.”
Arex looked around, trying to get other people to agree with him, but nobody else seemed to be saying a word. Everyone was looking at him like he’d gone crazy.
“Why is everyone looking at me like that?”
“Because it sounds like you’re raving,” said Mike. “I can understand that you’re a little angry, and you have every right to be. What he did is horrible, and it could have been avoided, but there’s nothing any of us can do about it now.”
“You’re right, but do you also understand that what he’s suggesting is stupid?”
“Why is that stupid?”
“Mike…are you serious?”
“What? You have an opportunity to remember your entire life until you were transformed.”
“But I don’t want to do that. If that were to happen, I would change. I wouldn’t be me anymore, I’d be someone else. Why would I want to go through that again?”
“Because Jason deserves a father.”
“You’re right, he does, but it doesn’t have to be me. Besides, your argument is rendered pointless when you stop and think about it.”
“How?”
“Okay, let me explain. Everyone knows my human DNA is what’s left of Erik Meyers. That much was made obvious. So I have to ask, what would happen if Whiplash was given those memories in the Mind Shifter? Would that make him Jason’s father? He would have the memories, but not the DNA. Would that give him the right to claim Jason as his son? And he would know those memories aren’t his, so he would probably try and reject them. That’s what would happen to me. Am I making any sense here?”
Everyone in the room looked like they were thinking hard about what he just said.
“You’re right,” said Mika, “it seemed obvious to us at first, that you would want to have your memories and humanity restored. I’m sorry.”
“Well, I’m sorry too,” said Arex, “I didn’t mean to rant and rave the way I did. It’s just that I’ve come to enjoy my life the way it is, and the fact that I no longer felt like I didn’t belong. Then you guys show up… I don’t know. I guess I reacted this way because what I thought I knew was true months ago, wasn’t the truth at all. I’m trying to cope with this situation. What are they doing here, anyway?”
Rodgers put up his hand to explain:
“Like we said before, Smith is going to transform into Whiplash and the other way around. Smith is going to serve Whiplash’s sentence as he agreed to do. Gianlorenzo is here to take Whiplash back to his own world, where he’s going to start his life over as Kevin Spencer will be punished for his involvement in the affair.”
“You mean Kevin Spencer was the one who was hiding him the whole time? When we saw him in court, he really didn’t say much.”
“Well, when you decided to let Mark Reeves off the hook, that created a domino effect on the rest of the scientists involved with the project. Spencer was the only other person working on the project from the beginning besides Patrick Sandlak.”
“So, you’re basically saying Whiplash’s rampage was my fault.”
“Not in so many words, but it would have been avoided. Instead of being thankful to you, Spencer decided instead to enact some sort of revenge fantasy on you, even though you did him a favour. Now, we can at least do something about this situation, and help Whiplash. He was willing to go on trial for what he did, which means Smith will get a reduced sentence. We will keep the secret, all of us. That’s why we’re here, away from the cameras. Everybody believes that we’re in Arkansas, looking through the farm Spencer owned before coming back here. We’re safe, assuming nobody heard your little outburst.”
“Don’t worry about that,” said Janiece, “these walls are soundproofed, besides, how long does it take for the transformation to take effect?”
“It can take a few minutes, to a few hours, though thankfully, Smith knows how to cut the process down on time.”
“The problem with that,” Smith added, “is that it’s going hurt a lot. You can be thankful you were asleep during the whole process.”
Rodgers opened a suitcase he brought with him and took out a couple of beakers and a couple of syringes. The suitcase was full of other things, such as tubes that were usually connected to IV lines. With Mike helping him, he proceeded to take two blood samples the size of an average blood donation from both Smith and Whiplash. Smith then took a necklace out of his pocket with a stone in the middle of it. He explained:
“This stone is the key to the transformation. It has a natural property to transform people into a certain appearance when that person’s genetic material is exposed to the stone. We will distil the blood using the beakers and with the stone inside. Then, we will inject the resulting concoction into our bloodstream to induce the transformation.”
After the mixture was completed, the two reptiles got them injected through IV tubes. At first, it started slowly, but Arex suddenly heard them both grunting in pain as their bodies started changing in front of his eyes. Both reptiles dropped down to their knees, as Rodgers and Mike held them in place to try and calm them down, urging them to grit their teeth and take deep
breaths.
Arex was horrified as he heard bones seeming to snap or crack as their bodies started reshaping. Whiplash’s body grew in stature, and started turning green, while Smith’s body contracted, turning darker.
The transformation took no more than five minutes, as they had predicted. By the time the transformation was completed, both of them were gasping, trying to catch their breath.
“Now that that’s over with,” said Rodgers, “we can give Whiplash this necklace so that he can blend in with humans, and we’ll take Smith back to the station.”
Arex suddenly realized there was a problem with their plan.
“Wait a minute. What if Whiplash doesn’t go with Gianlorenzo to his world?”
“I would never do that,” Whiplash answered, “I don’t want to give them a reason not to trust me. Once I’ve left, I will never come back, I promise.”
“It’s going to take me a while before I believe that. No offence, but I can’t trust you after meeting you once.”
“You don’t have to trust me. I understand.”
Arex nodded. Soon, everyone except Arex had left the apartment.
“I’m sorry for the way I reacted,” said Arex. “I thought I had it together, and just lost it.”
“You were worried about me and Jason,” Janiece replied. “It’s perfectly understandable, given the circumstances.”
“Still, I overreacted and probably made you feel like you made a mistake. I didn’t trust your judgment as much as I should have. I promise, I’ll never do that again.”
“Good, because I don’t need my boyfriend telling me who I can or cannot trust.”
Epilogue
Six Months Later
Tom Smith, while pretending to be Whiplash, was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment for 14 counts of petty theft and 8 counts of assault towards homeless people. Gianlorenzo Di Nicola left the Earth with Whiplash, although the former promised to return. Alice had dropped out of Arex’s class to concentrate on her studies. Arex wished her luck, but was somewhat saddened by that fact.
The A.R.EX. Origin Page 16
