Rick had been waiting for a friend to come back in the apartment when it happened. He heard angry voices out in the hall one of which was his friend. Curious he went to the peephole in the door and looked out. His friend was arguing with a guy saying he didn't know what the guy was talking about. He didn't have any drugs and didn't deal or use them. The guy didn't seem to accept that and faster than Rick thought was possible he had grabbed his friend turning him around and draw a knife across his throat cutting so deep that Rick thought his friend's head would fall off. As his friend's body hit the floor he backed away from the door being careful not to make any sound. He figured that they would be coming in at any moment and if they found him he was sure he would be dead as well. Thankfully the apartment building had a fire escape and he made his way to the window. His heart was hammering in his chest but he was able to open the window silently and climb out. He was able to close the window and was thankful that his friend rarely locked his windows so that wouldn't arouse any suspicion that someone was using the fire escape. He made his way down as quietly as he could. Fortunately he seemed to make it down without being detected. He made his way to his car as casually as he could trying to make it look like he was leaving from a different apartment. He was able to get into his car and drive away. He didn't go to the police right away fearing that he may be followed.
A little while later he was sitting in the police station having gave a description of the men. He was still a bit nervous knowing that there could be a leak in the police and if so he could still be in danger. Finally the officer that took his statement came back with a woman in a suit. The officer nodded at Rick and said, "This is FBI agent Jessica Poore."
Rick groaned and leaned his head back. "Fuck," he said closing his eyes, "I'm in deep shit ain't I?"
"You are Mr. Plunkett," Jessica said a little bit of excitement creeping into her voice. "You witnessed Joseph Durgan personally kill someone. We've been trying to bring him to justice for years but could never pin anything on him. Now with your testimony we'll be able to link him to drug smuggling and of course the murder of your friend."
Rick nodded but said, "Of course I'll testify but he's sure to eliminate me before the trial."
"We can protect you," Jessica said handing Rick a file folder, "we just need your permission to do so. These documents state that you will testify of your own volition and give us permission to protect you. Once you sign them we'll go to the airport and catch a flight to D.C. Will you sign?"
"Of course," Rick said taking a pen and signing the documents.
"We need to go now," Jessica said with a sense of urgency in her voice once Rick had finished signing.
They quickly went out to a car and Jessica drove out to the airport. Instead of taking the exit to the airport however she kept driving past which confused Rick a little bit. "I thought we were going to fly to D.C.," he said the confusion evident in his voice.
"I said that so we'd have a chance to get there," Jessica said shaking her head. "I didn't want to take the chance that there was a leak somewhere there."
Rick nodded and settled in for the ride. They did stop at a hotel to rest for the night but otherwise they made few stops. Once they were in D.C. Jessica took him to what she said was a top secret location that few knew about. Inside he saw several circular disks on the floor and ceiling. Looking at Jessica he asked, "What is this?"
"This is the hub for the new witness protection program," Jessica said with a smile. "What you see here are actually transporters engineered from the Roswell crash."
"I knew the government knew about UFOs," Rick said almost crowing.
"Transporting isn't the only function they have," Jessica continued ignoring Rick's comment. "They can manipulate the atoms of a subject during transport and can alter reality a bit in a limited area. Using this technology we can hide a person pretty effectively. We have only had to relocate someone a couple times before due to the nature of the crime witnessed. Now we don't foresee having to relocate you since you seem to have gotten away from the scene without being noticed."
"What about my family?" Rick asked concerned about them. "If they find out about me won't they go after my family?"
"They'll be safe," Jessica said as another man came in and stood on one of the transporters. "We'll be altering the reality in that area so it will seem as if you never existed. And we know that you don't have any kids or a girlfriend so you don't have to worry about who your wife or girlfriend is with while you're gone."
"Is he in the program too?" Rick asked indicating the guy on the transporter.
"He's an FBI agent," Jessica said nodding at the man. "We'll be transporting him to your town. The technology can only alter reality when it transports someone."
"Couldn't you have transported me here instead of us driving?" Rick asked thinking something was wrong.
"The transporter will only transport someone back here if they have been transported previously," a man said coming up behind them. "It seems to have been a safety feature of the original to ensure that no unauthorized subjects could be transported along with authorized subjects."
"This is Dr. Woods," Jessica said introducing the man. "He's one of the scientists that really understands what this can do."
"I would have thought this would be in Area 51," Rick said shaking his head.
"Classic misdirection," Dr. Woods said with a smile. "There is a base there and there have been some top secret projects that were worked on there but the extraterrestrial stuff is either here or in another location that I can't disclose. Now back to business. You know that we'll be changing you. We have thousands of profiles stored in the system. The computer will pick one of them at random when we transport you. Due to the reality changes your memory will be mostly suppressed and memories of your temporary life, we hope, will be dominant."
"What do you mean you hope?" Rick feeling like he was missing something.
"It could be years before you need to testify and a lot can happen in that time," Jessica said with a little sigh. "There is always the chance that you will die somehow no matter what we do. That's just life in general. Also you could decide that you like that life and so wish to continue with it after you testify."
"I see," Rick said nodding. "But if my memories are going to be suppressed and my new life will be random how will I be able to testify?"
"We'll just transport you back here when it's time," Dr. Woods said in a mater if fact voice. "The system keeps track of you so we won't lose you even though we won't know who or where you are. I should also mention that the profiles are not limited to the United States so you could end up anywhere in the world. Now if you'll be so kind as to step onto the transporter we'll begin."
Rick did as he was asked and stepped onto the transporter. Dr. Woods went to a control panel and began typing in a few things. Once he hit one button the scene changed in the blink of an eye and Rick found himself looking out of the eyes of his new body. Who did he become though?