“So it was a stroke of pure luck that you were able to meet up with Jason Meyers and build up a friendship with him to the point where you felt it a good idea to entrust him with the journal. Why did you tear up several pages though? You have to explain that.”
“Honestly, I don’t really know. I thought that I would meet up with Arex at one point. When that finally happened, I couldn’t really say anything because Jason was there. And then I thought about it: what if I could give Jason the journal? I still had it with me, and it was complete. You will understand if I don’t really divulge what was written in those pages or even show you those pages. I have them at home, but I don’t think it’s a good idea to show you. I’ve already told you too much. That’s the reason why I tore those pages up. I figured that Jason would think that the journal is a hoax, or at least a framework for a fiction novel. I didn’t mean for his imagination to run so wild that he would think his life is in danger. As far as my people know, I’m in hiding, and that’s where I should remain.”
“What about the funding that Sandlak was getting? Do you know anything about that?”
“I only guess as to where the money came from. I’m sorry, but this is honestly something I don’t know.”
“Well, at least we know that the information missing from the journal is supposed to be in it, but there’s still a problem: Patrick Sandlak didn’t just create Arex. You’ve heard about the reptile who’s been terrorizing homeless people, right?”
“Yes, I’ve heard of him. So he’s not simply a man in a costume?”
“I’m afraid not. Now, we have this guy here and it turns out that he’s been used the entire time to try and destroy Arex’s reputation. There is a very scared reptile being held in custody right now, and I don’t think he deserves it. Arex has to deal with the fact that he will never be able to be a father to Jason. Thanks to you, he will never be able to remember Jason’s first steps, his first words… and Jason? You can’t honestly say that he can just throw this under the rug and leave it there. I know you can’t fix this, but can you at least acknowledge that what you’ve done is create a real mess for all involved and more? This all happened because you gave in to blackmail and you really didn’t need to. Nobody would have believed Sandlak or Shultz if they ever tried to expose you. The worst part of this is, I’m not sure that I can hold you for anything. You didn’t use the Mind Shifter on Arex or Whiplash. You might have committed a crime in the eyes of your people, but we have no jurisdiction over that. We’re not supposed to know about your people’s existence. I really wish there was something I could do about you, but I can’t. I guess you’re free to go.”
Mike left the interrogation room feeling both disappointed and relieved at the same time. It was nice to obtain all of that information. He was going to be able to take a weight off Jason’s shoulders. He wasn’t satisfied with the outcome of the interrogation, though. Smith really did get away with committing crimes, but there was nothing he could do about it. Exposing Smith would mean exposing the other world to the government. When he saw Mika and Rodgers again, he voiced his frustrations to them.
“This guy’s going to get away with it. We have to keep this secret, and because of that, he gets away with his crimes. Is there really nothing we can do about it?”
“Unfortunately, there’s nothing we can do. We can’t expose this secret to the world. How much time did it take for people to get used to Arex? Anybody who meets him on the street for the first time would be weary of him no matter how good his reputation is. And let’s not forget the amnesia part. And let me remind you of that guy Kevin Spencer has been brainwashing for the past five years and is now looking at a tough sentence. And Spencer himself? Just wait ’till I get my hands on him.”
“Calm down, Scatchard,” said Rodgers, “I know how you feel about this, but there’s only so much we can do. We are supposed to follow the word of the law, and do that while keeping in mind its spirit.”
“But if a law can’t be written down? What about the spirit of the common good?”
He stopped himself from going further. Something in their statements made him realize that he could do something.
“What species is Tom Smith?”
“I don’t know. Why?”
“Didn’t he say he told Sandlak how to change a human being into a reptile?”
“Yes.”
“So he would know how to do it again if asked.”
“According to my source, it has something to do with the stone in the pendant he’s wearing.”
“You know what? I know exactly what I’m going to do about this case. Come on.”
He hurried back to the interrogation room with the other two agents right behind him. Smith looked up from the seat. The man hadn’t left the room, or the chair he sat on.
“This might sound incredibly strange for me to say this, but I have to ask whether or not you feel guilty about what you’ve done.”
“I do feel guilty, but there’s nothing you or I can do about it.”
“Not necessarily. You were a Keeper, remember? You’re the one who gave Sandlak the secret behind the A.R.EX. serum.”
“Your point being?”
“What if you could, and bear with me, everyone, change yourself into someone who would look just like Whiplash?”
Mike saw the realization in Smith’s eyes.
“You would want me to change places with the reptile responsible for the string of muggings? Would that be legal?”
“There isn’t a law against that, since we shouldn’t even know something like this is possible. You know, Whiplash is looking at something to the effect of five years in prison, but I’m really concerned about how he will be treated by the other prisoners. Let’s face it, he’s pretty impressionable right now and criminals are the last thing this guy needs to be exposed to. Would you take his place? We can arrange this so that nobody notices the switch. If you tell us where the nearest portal is, we can take Whiplash there with the other one of your people and Whiplash will be able to live in your world knowing he could live a peaceful life there. Don’t you think you owe him that much?”
“I agree. I’m willing to do that, but would he be willing to go through this deception?”
“I’ll tell him right away.”
The agents followed Mike out of the room. They stopped and his office, where Rodgers got in front of Mike, his face red with rage.
“I cannot believe you did that. Who authorized you to make that kind of deal?”
“What kind of deal?”
“The one involving an alien switching with a criminal we have in a holding cell.”
“Exactly. What deal? Nobody would ever know about this. None of this needs to be known by anyone outside from us.”
“I didn’t hire you so that you could play hero and bend the law to your mind’s will.”
“Which is exactly why I’m not doing that. Can’t you see what’s going to happen if we don’t do this?”
“I know exactly what’s going to happen.”
“Then, would you let it happen? If Whiplash is found guilty, and I doubt it would happen any other way, he’s going to jail. If that happens, he will be exposed to some of the nation’s harshest and nastiest criminals. Some of those guys actually revel in their cruelty and there’s no way anybody would bother trying to be his friend now that he has a reputation for petty theft and squealing. Arex had to built his reputation from the ground up. Whiplash is starting off far below that point. He doesn’t need all of that. He was manipulated and then betrayed by the one person he thought he could count on, and he’s proven himself to be just a nice a guy as Arex. Heck, he could have been Arex if the situation was reversed. I know it’s sneaky, I know that it might be going against the spirit of the law, but the law is about the guilty party being shown to be guilty and be punished for their crimes. The question is, who’s the guilty party? Is it Whiplash or Tom Smith?”
The senior agents took a good glance at each other, neither one
of them seeming to want to commit to an answer for him.
“Mike, you play dirty,” said Mika, “You’re right, and I have to admit that. I can’t say that I agree with your plan, but if that kind of thing was possible, I would get Patrick Sandlak’s ghost and force it to do his time. But you’ve just catered to our emotions and our thoughts about this situation. The fact is, it’s not up to us to ”
Mike knew he won that argument when neither agent had offered any other solution to this case. Rodgers still looked peeved at his arrogance and he had to admit to himself that he had gotten himself in trouble. Still, it was the right thing to do, and if that was going to be his final act as an FBI agent, then he would have managed to go out in such a manner which wouldn’t leave him with many regrets.
Chapter 28
Sunday, July 27, 4:40 p.m.
FBI Field Office
After putting an arrest warrant out for Kevin Spencer, it wasn’t long before his vehicle, a blue 2000 Honda Civic, was found abandoned near the Woods of Sundown, nearest the Ashokan Reservoir. The man had actually driven his car off the road, leaving it off Route 28. The search soon went to the neighbouring states where he might have hidden himself. Finally, Spencer was caught after over a week on the run. He was staying in a motel near Buffalo, NY, where the staff immediately contacted the FBI.
He wasn’t cooperating with the police as they dragged him out of there, kicking and screaming, protesting his innocence. By the time they got him to the field office, he had calmed himself down enough to request a lawyer. One was provided for him before the interrogation began. Mika wasn’t phased by that though:
“Honestly, Mr. Spencer, it really doesn’t matter what your lawyer does here, there’s really nothing you can do to keep us from knowing the truth about your involvement in this case. We already know everything from Whiplash, who told us all about how you managed to keep him a secret during the last five years. We also know that you taught him to hate homeless people and then encouraged him to steal from them, even violently harming them if they had the misfortune of being awake during the robbery. All of this just to try and destroy Arex’s reputation. I would simply want to know how you could possibly think that would work or even why you manipulated a being you were supposed to be responsible for.”
Spencer’s lawyer, Mr. Collins, spoke for his client.
“Agent Nomura, it seems you have absolutely no proof that my client is in any way guilty of any crime, never mind the case you’re currently working on. All you have is the eyewitness testimony of a talking reptile who is the one guilty for these horrible crimes, and thus, he is the only person who should be held accountable the robberies.”
“I disagree. My colleagues and I agree that Whiplash couldn’t have committed these crimes on his own because he would have to be hidden during the daytime and it’s impossible to do that without human help when you’re a reptile. Besides, Whiplash had to have been created somewhere and sometime, and the A.R.EX. project was the most logical place to look. You were the only scientist besides Patrick Sandlak who was a part of the A.R.EX. project during first and second test. Only you had the opportunity to keep Whiplash alive erase his memories again and keep him hidden for so long. I know about the farm in Arkansas and how you moved there to better hide him after BIOGENCORP was dissolved. I know that for some reason you came back here to New York City and that’s when the robberies began.”
“You do realize that there is a strong possibility that this being was lying to you and that he knew about the A.R.EX. project through the media. It’s also that this reptile wasn’t created by BIOGENCORP or by my client. That theory is even more plausible when you consider the fact that my client doesn’t know the contents or the methodology behind the A.R.EX. formula. Nobody but Patrick Sandlak knew about the formula, or so the FBI thought. Someone must have created the necessary serum by pure chance just like Dr. Sandlak did and it’s highly probable that the person who did that is the reptile himself.”
“It’s a nicely spun story, only there’s a problem: we know of the contents of the serum and its methodology. We know for a fact that your theory is false, especially when we were told the trick behind unlocking the hidden memories inside of the Mind Shifter’s hard drive. After all, the memories weren’t truly erased as we had originally thought. We know now that Whiplash was once Jamal Andrews, 23, who was incarcerated for first-degree murder in January of 1998. We were also able to recover Erickson Meyers’ memories and have discovered his innocence. Mr. Spencer, as you know, there is no statute of limitation on murder, so you are now put in the position of having to answer for the effective murders of both Jamal Andrews and Erickson Meyers. Add to those the charges of conspiracy to commit petty theft and assault and you’re looking at a lengthy prison sentence.”
“Agent Nomura, I must protest, seeing as Misters Meyers and Andrews are, technically speaking, still alive. After all, their bodies didn’t die, they were transformed. Like you said, their memories are intact. They’re not in their minds, but the memories are there. I bet they can access the memories pretty easily and install them right back.”
“Nothing is “easy” when you have someone’s memories in your hands. But it’s obvious that you’re trying to distract us from your client. You really have no defence for your client, because you know he’s ultimately responsible for the crimes committed.”
“You do realize that even if he did encourage the reptile to commit crimes, that doesn’t mean he’s guilty or even responsible for these crimes.”
“Not really. You should know that Arex is listed in our database as being five years old. Whiplash will be the same no matter what will happen next. Let’s face it, it was his choice to stand trial, a mature choice, but one he didn’t have to make. He was smart enough to recognize the damage he had done. Are you, Mr. Spencer?”
Spencer shifted in his seat, never once looking up. He was broken, his defence was broken. His attorney had nothing to say, either. Mika picked up her folder and left the interrogation room. She knew nothing about what really motivated Kevin Spencer, but there must have been some form of resentment towards Arex, both at the fact that the latter had become a well-liked member of the community, and the continual frustration of having to keep hiding Whiplash. It might have been these factors that finally pushed Spencer into convincing Whiplash to commit those robberies. Still, it was a mystery why he didn’t have Whiplash target people who actually had a home and had a lot more money to lose. Her focus soon turned back to all of the reptiles she had to contend with. Their next move would be to try and tie everything together before the trial.
Chapter 29
Monday, July 30, 1:47 p.m.
Janiece Ryder’s Apartment
Arex stood at the front door, unable to move. His jaw had dropped from the moment he saw the three other reptiles sitting in Janiece’s living room. Janiece had called him there and told him that there was something he had to see right away. From her tone of voice, it sounded pretty urgent, but never in his life would he have been prepared for something like that.
“This is ridiculous,” he said, “I knew there was a whole world full of them, but this is something else.”
The entire apartment was crowded for the occasion. Aside for Janiece and Jason, there was Alice, Mika and Mike and Corey Rodgers. The other people in the room, far from looking like they were uncomfortable being in that room at that time, looked like they had been living with reptiles their entire lives. Alice was sharing the sofa with one of the reptiles, with she held hands with. That has to be Gianlorenzo. Upon learning that one of his students was a reptile, he had a long conversation with Gianlorenzo as to why he didn’t mention that before, at least to him. He had told him that it wasn’t up to him, that it was the general consensus among his people that humanity probably wasn’t ready to know about another world filled with reptiles such as them.
“Can somebody please explain this?”
Mika stepped forward.
“I will expl
ain everything in due time. For now, let me introduce you to the people you may or may not recognize in this room. Gianlorenzo you know,” she said, pointing at the reptile on the couch, “Tom Smith is the one standing next to Mike and Whiplash is, of course, the one sitting on the floor.”
“Whiplash?”
“He’s the reptile responsible for the muggings.”
“What?”
Arex stared at everyone in turn, hoping he had heard wrong.
“I can’t believe this. You’re letting him come here without shackles or any guards around? Are you people out of your minds?”
“Arex, calm down. There’s no reason to be upset. He was merely being used as a puppet by one of BIOGENCORP’s scientists,” said Mike. “What he did was not his fault. He was conditioned into thinking that homeless people deserved being robbed and assaulted.”
Arex looked at his friend in disbelief, then looked down to the other reptile. He wouldn’t look Arex in the eye, preferring to keep his looking at the floor.
“Look at me.”
Whiplash slowly met Arex’s gaze. The two stared at each other for a moment while Arex tried to gauge Whiplash. This was the reptile who stole and hurt homeless people. If he was only doing what he was told, then why did he feel like trusting him would be a mistake?
“Janiece, how long did it take you to get used to me?”
“It took me a while,” she responded, “I wasn’t ready to trust you at first, especially after you told me you sent to kill me. It took me a couple of days before I was convinced that you were not going to do that.”
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