ANTEBELLUM: VIย
PETER PARKER
I STARE AT THE HUGE BUILDING, OSCORP LABORATORIES IS ONE OF THE MOST EXPENSIVE BUILDINGS IN MANHATTAN, SECOND TO THE STARK TOWER. With a deep breath, I push past the door and I am greeted by the air conditioner along with the unique scent that all labs have. I look around the place, feeling flabbergasted by the modernity and the use of technology inside this place. I've never been to such elegant and expensive-looking place, my lips parted open in a slight smile as I stare at the hologram of cell in the stage of mitosis before it was replaced by a hologram of a woman who further on explained what was happening.
"Excuse me?" A new voice calls my attention, I turn around and I'm greeted by the receptionists who waves me over. "Can I help you?"
I open my mouth to say something but nothing comes out as I struggle to formulate something, I had planned in sneaking in but I did not plan on what to do if I encounter someone. "Oh, uh... I don't know. I'm here... to see Dr. Connors? Is he available?"
The receptionist smiles, "Right. You'll find yourself on the left."
I stare at her, confusion edging itself on my face as I felt how my mind went blank in pure uncertainty. The receptionist seems to notice my hesitation and she looks at me with questioning eyes, "You are here for the internship?"
I nod, "Yeah, yeah."
She nods slowly before gesturing to my left where I could see there were name badges. "You'll find your name badge on your left."
"Oh!" I exclaim, I let out a nervous chuckle as I stood in front of several name badges. My heart beat wildly as I struggle to pic one, I was trying to find one that had a similar resemblance with me just in case something happens.
"Are you having trouble finding yourself?" The receptionist asks, her eyes squinting with suspicion.
Without thinking I grab the first badge my hand came in contact with, "Nope, I got it."
The receptionist glances at the name badge before nodding, "Okay, Mr. Guevara."
"Gracias." I say before swiveling on my shoe heels and moving toward the elevator, once inside I press the third floor and the metal doors shut close before the elevator pulls me up.
I brush my sweaty hands against my trousers, trying to get rid of any sign of nervousness or negative thoughts. After researching enough about the topic I was confident I could gain his attention, I was positive that this man could tell me something about my father. They worked together before he died, perhaps he knows something, I have no clue why I need that information. I just want to know something, my aunt and uncle barely speak about him and it drives me insane because I feel like they are keeping something from me. I don't believe my parents just spontaneously died in that plane crash, when they left me with Aunt May and Uncle Ben they both seemed pretty scared and reluctant. Something was up, I could feel it in the way they said their goodbyes. I at least deserve the truth and I was going to find it.
Furthermore, I was standing on the back of the group of interns. They all held notebooks and seem ready for battle, all I brought was my geeky glasses and cellphone. Talking about unfitting.
Soon a familiar blonde approach the group, she wore a formal attire and on top of that she had a lab coat. My eyes widen and I quickly bow my head and tried to hide behind the rest of the inters. I squeeze my eyes as if scolding myself, the tour was being led by none other than Gwen Stacey. She scans the crowd of dreamy looking teenagers, I don't blame them, I had a crush on Gwen Stacey from eight to ninth grade before I realize she was out of my league. I blink as I imagine a girl with dark long hair and a fearless attitude, I shook my head as I realize I was starting to look like a lovesick puppy as I thought about that someone.
"Welcome to OsCorp. My name is Gwen Stacey, I'm a senior at Midtown Science and I'm also head intern to Dr. Connors, so I'll be with you for the duration of your visit. Where I go, you go. That's the basic rule. If you remember that, all will be fine. If you forget that, then- "Gwen stops talking at the sound of some yelling, we all glance down at the first floor through the floor length window as a man is being dragged by two security guards. The man yelled over and over again that he was the real Roberto Guevara but none listen, we all glance at Gwen, she wore a sarcastic smile.
"Well, I guess I don't need to tell you what happens if you forget that." I watch as the interns share looks before Gwen gestures ahead, "Shall we?"
The interns excitedly follow Gwen as she gives them a tour around the huge laboratory, explaining what they are doing and the purpose of that experiment. I remain hidden from Gwen's line of sight, knowing fully well she could have my butt kick out of the building and I really needed to speak with Dr. Curtis.
I notice how the interns start to straighten their postures while some just stare in awe ahead, I look over and standing next to Gwen is Dr. Curtis Connors.
"Welcome, my name is Dr. Curtis Connors. And yes, in case you're wondering, I'm a southpaw." The interns chuckle as he jokes about his incapacity. "I'm not a cripple, I'm a former scientist and I'm the world's foremost authority in herpetology. In case you don't know, that's reptiles. But like the Parkinson's patient who watches on in horror as her body slowly betrays her, or the man with macular degeneration whose eyes grow dimer each day, I long to fix myself." He addresses the crowd with a melancholic expression, "I want to create a world without weakness. Anyone care to venture a guess just how to?"
The Interns share a glance to see who would be the first to prove themselves before the great Dr. Curtis Connor, a blonde boy with green eyes raises his hand.
"Yes?" Dr. Connors calls out.
The boy lowers his hand as he guesses, "Stem cells?"
Dr. Connors nods, squinting his left eye as if he is picturing the solution. "Promising, but the solution I'm thinking of is more radical." The scientist smiles before waiting for another volunteer. "No one?"
With a deep inhale I offer without raising my hand, "Cross-species genetics?"
Absolutely everyone turns around to look at me, they even move aside giving Dr. Connors and Gwen a better look of me. Realizing there was no turning back I kept going, "A person gets Parkinson's when the brain cells that produce dopamine start to disappear. But the zebrafish has the ability to regenerate cells on command, if you can somehow give this ability to the woman you're speaking of, that's that. She's... she's curing herself." I finish with a gulp.
Dr. Connors stares at me in astonishment, the interns have deep frown on their faces as they think about what I said before staring at the captain of the ship. Dr. Connors snap out of his own world before saying, "Yeah, you just have to look past the gills on her neck."
The interns share another laugh, "And you are?"
I freeze, my mouth falls open as I struggle to answer once again. Who am I? I am Peter Parker, son of Dr. Benjamin Parker whom you work with before he disappeared and died later on in a plane crash. But who I am now? Roberto Guevara, a Mexican kid who wants to have a shot at being a scientist like you. Gwen seems to notice my hesitation to answer so she jumps right in, "He's one of Midtown Science's best and brightest."
Dr. Connors face morphs into one of surprise, "Oh really?"
Gwen nods as she hugs her clipboard close to her chest, "He's second in his class."
"Oh." Dr. Connors nods.
"Second?" I ask her, I felt myself smirk knowing Gwen has always been competitive.
She sends me a playful smile, "Yeah."
"You sure about that?" I press.
She nods, her eyebrows furrowing slightly. "Oh, I'm pretty sure."
All of a sudden Dr. Connors phone rings, he checks the ID before glancing at the group of interns. "Sorry pals, duty calls."
Without much being said afterwards, Dr. Connors leaves the group to much of my dismay. I begin to walk away of the group of interns, when a mocking voice said from behind me, "Hi, how you doin' Rodrigo?"
I stop on my tracks, turning around in confusion when I realize Gwen was calling me by my badge name. "Oh, yeah."
Gwen nods slowly before crossing her arms across her clipboard, "So, what are you doing here?"
Instantaneously the words spur out of my mouth, "I work here... I don't work here. I was gonna say... I was gonna say I work here but, it seems like in fact you work in here, which it's pretty amazing by the way. So you know I don't work in here, in fact."
Gwen stares at me with an amused expression, "Are you stalking me?"
My eyes widen in horror before quickly shaking my head, "No, no that's not it. I'm not stalking... no, of course not. I don't stalk... ever, never."
"You sure do ramble a lot, Mr. Guevara. Just needed to get that out of the equation." She tells me, leaving me dumbfounded.
"Equation?"
Gwen just shakes her head in response, "Nothing, girl's code." She waves her hand in dismissal. "But really, why are you here?"
I straighten my shoulders, before just shrugging. "I love science... I-I'm passionate about it."
Gwen narrows her eyes, "Sure. Anyway, this talk isn't over. Also do not get me in trouble, stay with the group. Are we clear?"
I nod, "Clear."
Gwen stares at me before backing away, she turns around and walks toward the interns who are watching a video of spiders. As I watch Gwen leave, making sure she isn't seeing me, I turn around only to blindly walk into a man causing him to drop his folders. I immediately crouch down and begin to gather the papers that flew out of the folder, I did all this while mumbling a quick apology. I reach over to the remaining folder only to be taken aback by the familiar symbol of two zeros crossed with a diagonal line.
The folder is harshly pluck off my grasp, I snap back to reality and stand up. I apologize for prying but the man is having none of it as he glares at me, I back away as he resumes his walking, never looking back. Well, that was strange, what is that man doing with my father's equation? Having a bad feeling I disregard Gwen's advice before I do the unthinkable, I follow the man. The lab fades behind me as I'm walking down a hall, scientists pass by me, all of them too engrossed in their own discussions to notice me. I see the man take a left, I slow to a halt before peaking over the wall. The man's hand hover over the keypad before he turns my direction.
I quickly hid behind the wall, I count to three before slowly peaking over and trying to remember the code. The door slides open and the man is about to step in when two persons emerges from the room, sporting protective gear. I notice they walk down the other side of the hall, once their shadows faded I walk toward the keypad. I tug my finger under the fabric, leaving no fingerprints on the keypad, before punching in the code. The door slides open; the room is dark only illuminated by a dim dark blue light. I walk in the room, noticing how everything screams 'don't touch me' which makes me uneasy, I walk around the lab until I reach the far end of the wall.
"Spiders?" I think out loud, I notice lots of spiders hanging from their spider webs. Leaning over I notice a glowing thread that is connected with the tube that's supporting the spiders web.
I pull the cord and it makes a sound as expected, what I didn't expect was the spider's raining down on me. I freeze for a second before I felt them crawling over my body, I begin to panic and shake my body trying to get rid of them. I hurriedly exit the lab and make my way toward the group of interns, hoping Gwen didn't notice my absence.
As I reach the group Gwen turns to face me just as I'm sneaking right back in, with a scolding face she approaches me and sticks out her hand. "I..."
Gwen just shook her head, silencing me. "Give me the badge." I was about to protest but she beat me to it. "The badge. Give it to me."
I rip the badge off my green jacket and handed it to her in defeat, "Thank you."
"Sorry." I apologize for acting immaturely, Gwen just sigh and leaves me behind.
As I watch her leave I felt a pinprick sensation on the back of my neck, I hiss loudly as my hand flew behind me. Gwen sends me a look before continuing her walk. "Ah..." I groan in pain; out of the blue the pain had subsided. I could faintly feel some pain and warmth sensation on the back of my neck before it was gone, shrugging I turn around and left.
Hopefully, it's nothing.ย
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QUEJESO RAZA? TWO UPDATES IN ONE DAY?? UFF, someone's been burning their neurons this quarantine.
So yes, now that Peter has become spiderman things will get more complicated between Ramsey and him.
Both of my smol beans will be revisiting their dark past.
So lets hope nobody gets killed.
Don't forget to comment and give some love!!
Stay safe, lots of love๐