ANTEBELLUM: XII

PETER PARKER

A GENTLE KNOCK ALERTED DR. CONNOR OF MY PRESENCE HIS PALE BLUE EYES MET MY WARM BROWN ONES, I OFFERED HIM A SMILE AND SUBTLE WAVE. Dr. Connor return the smile and wave me over, I pushed open the glass door that leads inside his office. The lab was half empty, and the majority of the cubicles that belonged to each scientist were empty with the exception of a few who seemed to be too engrossed in their work to even notice it was time to leave.

Dr. Connor place the papers he was reading on his desk before extending his hand for a handshake, I immediately reacted and took his palm on mine. "Nice seeing you again, Peter."

I chuckle nervously, his hand falling to his side once again. "Yeah, I would be a fool not to come. My aunt always told me to be polite."

Dr. Connor smiled brighter, "Wise words. Always listen to your folks."

We shared a laugh, my mind taking me to the times when I did the exact opposite of what Dr. Connor just told me. I scratch the back of my neck as I waited for him to gather his things, my eyes venture around his office taking in the many diplomas that hang on the left side of the wall, a bulletin board filled to the brim with pictures and pieces of information along with sticky notes here and there.

"Alright, all set." My eyes meet his, he nods his head at the door. "Follow me, the sooner we figure this out; the sooner we'll save lives."

I follow Dr. Connor further to the east side of the laboratory, when we arrived there I notice it was empty which for a reason made me feel relieved. Dr. Connor moves toward a large desk and places his folder on it before beginning to spread the papers, I approach him while simultaneously taking off my jacket and setting it aside along with my backpack. 

I pushed the bridge of my father's glasses up as I took a cautious look at the old research before me, some were crossed out but what caught my attention was the half-finished formula. I place my finger on it and drag it toward me, my eyebrows knit together as I analyze the paper, the familiar handwriting sparking some sort of excitement as I read it.

Dr. Connor's soft hum stopped as he glances at what had caught my attention, "Your father's making, one of the few things he left behind. All crap but, maybe with your help, we'll stir it in the right direction."

I nod, "Why not take this with him?"

My eyes meet him; his eyes were trained on the paper in my hands. "This was all trial and error. The start of something, a possibility, a cure." He turns to meet my eyes, his gaze was hopeful and vulnerable. "To this day I don't know what got into your dad, he was equally invested in this as I was but out of the blue," He snaps his fingers. "he was gone and later on, dead."

Silence followed as his words hung heavily in the air, I could tell how affected he was by my father's betrayal and despite what he said, I still believe he must've had a reason. I wanted to laugh, as if this was a big joke. Why was I giving Richard Parker the benefit of the doubt, when I barely knew him? Why was I doing this, again?

"I'm sorry." 

"No, it's fine."

"I didn't want to be such a mood damper, just... ignore I ever said that, and how about we get to work?" Dr. Connor gesture to the lab.

I nod, completely ignoring what happens and focusing on righting my father's wrongdoings. "Let's do this."

Hours turn into seconds as I worked alongside Dr. Connor, surprisingly enough I felt at ease here and now I understood why my father was barely home. This lab, all these experiments— are like a new world, it teleports you to a whole new dimension and in this precise place, you feel invincible. Just imagine being surrounded with elements that if they were fused together— correctly of course— you could either create a weapon, a virus, a solution... a cure.

I took in a deep breath; I stretch my limbs while taking a step back from the 3D computer. I fixed my shirt before deciding to look around the lab while Dr. Connor finished his part. My eyes skim over the various equipment until a familiar device caught my attention. The memory came to me like a flash as I remember my father had a picture of the same device, I walked toward it eagerly.

"I remember that," I glance at Dr. Connor. "I've seen that before."

"The Ganali device." He tells me.

"Yeah, Dad had a picture of it in his office," I tell him with a smirk.

"The idea was so simple, you load it with an antigen, it creates a cloud which can be dispersed over a neighborhood, even an entire city. Theoretically, you could cure Polio in an afternoon." Dr. Connor nodded with an amused smirk.

My eyes widen in shock. "That's amazing."

Dr. Connor shrugged, "Yeah well, others disagreed. You know, what if the device were loaded with a toxin?" He retorts, eyes filled with bitterness and sarcasm. "What if you want to opt-out? You can't run away from a cloud, after all, so here it lies, gathering dust." He glances at it melancholically. 

I followed his gaze, forming my own critique of the device. A powerful weapon can be corrupted by the wrong people; I learn my own lesson after I abused my power. The difference is, that I learned from my mistake. What happens to does who make a mistake and instead of learning, like it? Perhaps this device shouldn't have been built, but then again, this is science. Either it's a success or a catastrophe.

"What you see here is a computer model of a lizard. Many of these wonderful creatures are so brilliantly adaptive that they can regenerate entire limbs at will. You can imagine my envy." He chuckles. "We're trying to harness this capability in transferring into our host subject, Freddie, the three-legged mouse." A hologram of the mouse appears and below it is its vitals. "Enter the algorithm now."

My fingers hover on the screen below, ready to type down the algorithm when my phone started to buzz in my right pocket. I quickly fetch my phone and glance at the ID caller, pursing my lips, I reject the call and put it away.

I type down the algorithm. "Okay. Check. See what I'm trying to do?"

Dr. Connor analyzes the display, a preview of what the algorithm will be doing to the host once the serum is complete. "Preempt the protein."

"Preempt the immune response." Our eyes meet the display of the mouse, after several failed attempts, the mouse grows its missing limp and the computer declares that the regeneration was a success.

I smile at the result, Dr. Connor stares at the hologram in awe as he gasps one word. "Extraordinary."

"Yeah." I agree.

Dr. Connor turns to me with a smile, "And thank you." I answer him with a nod. "Let me show you something."

I follow Dr. Connor; we enter another section of the lab where the animal resides. "Meet Fred and Wilma, our three-legged mice."

He hands me one of the test subjects, Wilma. I smile softly at the beautiful white mouse as it sniffs my fingers as I held her. "Hey, buddy, what a nice fur you have."

Dr. Connor returns next to me, a syringe in his hand filled with the serum as he positions the needle. "Okay. Careful, wouldn't want to inject you by mistake. Human trials aren't until next week." He jokes, I chuckle as I focus to hold the mouse in place. "There."

I set the mouse back in its cage along with her partner, Freddie.

"We're about to change a lot of lives, Peter." I turn to him, "Mine included."

The night was surprisingly chilly, the sky was dark and the streetlamps made it impossible to see the hidden stars that decorated the sky. After taking a shortcut, I arrived home fairly quickly, my steps were quick and determined but after spotting Uncle Ben outside the house with a stern look, my steps falter follow by a long defeated sigh.

I climb the stairs of the porch cautiously, Uncle Ben's glare made me want to turn around and say 'Nope, I'm not dealing with this'. But that would result in him smacking my head and yelling, which is ten times worse, nobody wants to deal with a headache.

"You owe your aunt an apology. Big time! Be a man, get in there, and apologize." He scolds, my mind quickly ties the knot as I remember I was supposed to pick her up at seven.

Entering the house with defeat and shame, I found her pacing worriedly in the living room but stop once she spotted me. "I'm so sorry, Aunt May. I—"

She shook her head, "Honestly, you don't have to apologize to me."

Uncle Ben threw his hand in the air and snapped angrily, "The hell he doesn't!"

Sighing once again I turn to face him.

"Ben." Aunt May warns him.

"Look, I'm sorry, Uncle Ben. I... I got distracted. I was at OsCorp—"

Uncle Ben nodded dramatically, "Oh! Did you get distracted? Pfft, that's so unlike you."

"Yeah –I mean no... well sometimes."

Uncle Ben looks like he's fuming as I stutter. "You're Aunt, my wife, had to walk twelve blocks, alone in the middle of the night and then wait in a deserted subway station, because you got distracted."

"Ben, sweetheart, honestly, I am completely capable of walking home by myself—"

Uncle Ben turned to his wife, eyes flashing with anger. "You will not defend this boy!"

Aunt May's eyes widen; she crosses her arms in front of her defensively. "I'm not defending him!"

I ran a hand over my hair stressfully, so much yelling triggers something inside of me every time. This newfound anger and sensibility to everything makes me act recklessly, I have no idea if it has to do with my powers but every time I tense but body automatically adopts a defensive stance.

"You are!" Uncle Ben shouts back, he turns to me. "Listen to me, son."

I nod, "Yeah, go ahead."

"You're a lot like your father." Trigger. "You really are, Peter, and that's a good thing. But your father lived by a philosophy, a principle really. He believed... that if you could do good things for other people, you had a moral obligation to do those things. That's what is at stake here. Not a choice, a responsibility."

I purse my lips together, nodding my head slowly as my brain registers only one word: responsibility. "That is nice. That's really... that's great. That's all well and good, so where is he?"

Uncle Ben's angry face falters, and Aunt May looks down as my question physically suffocates them. My eyes water as the hole inside my chest opens and bleeds, suddenly I wasn't seventeen years old but six as I watch my parents leave me behind with just a kiss and a broken promise. The pain and betrayal were well reflected on my face as I stare at them, begging them for some sort of answer or something to close this wound permanently.

"What?" Uncle Ben deflected the question.

"Where is he? Where's my dad? He didn't think it was his responsibility to be here and tell me this himself?" I ask, bomb after bomb.

"Oh, come on! How dare you?" Uncle Ben snaps, his anger blinding him.

My eyes widen incredulously, "How dare I? How dare you?"

Unable to contain the anger bubbling inside me, I swivel on my heel and made my way out of the house. The door slammed so hard that the glass broke, my steps falter as I flinch from the sound before taking off quickly. The anger turns into adrenaline as my feet pound against the concrete, propelling my body forward with an incredible speed. 

Tears flow down my eyes as I ran, the pain in my chest was unbearable as my heart pounded against my ribcage. Each beat was like a memory that involved my parents, the happy ones, and the last one I have of them. Heavy pants filled my ears, its purpose being to fill my lungs with air so my brain would realize that I was not suffocating. But the anger and the pain in my chest was something I had a hard time taming, my mind was once again caging me. The bars are made of all the unanswered questions my father left me with.

He left me.

Why was that so hard to assimilate?

Why can't I move on?

Why am I doing this to myself?!

Did he not love me enough?

🅷🅾🅻🅰

I FEEL SO BORED.

Seriously, my head hurts from
Doing nothing. HOW IS THAT
POSSIBLE?

All I know is that I'm hungry
And I want something sweet.

Idk what to do.

Stay safe, kids💞