Welcome to my first Spiderman story! Hope you enjoy and find interesting - reviews would be amazing :P
Italics = thoughts or emphasis
*Asterisk italics* = thoughts between Venom and host
Project Symbiosis – Phase 3
Subject 16 – Subject A122
Subjects will be exposed to each other to trigger a symbiotic connection and possible stabilized bond.
Doctor Vina lowered her clipboard with a sigh of subdued curiosity. She watched behind layers of thick, reinforced glass as Subject A122 was released into the room – perhaps more so pushed into it and closed off from escape, but the minor details were not important. That was usually how the subjects went into the experimental chamber anyway. She remained against the wall and kept otherwise silent, the only sound her restless breathing, picked up by the sophisticated audio recorders within the chamber and transmitted through to the monitoring room.
Doctor Roxton entered the room and gave his associate a knowing smile. "Another experiment for Project Symbiosis," he said as he leafed through his own papers, then turned to face the glass paneling as well. "Our first child subject."
"I can't wait to see how the symbiote will react to the younger DNA," Dr. Vina let out in a small burst of excitement. She quickly recovered her composure, to a certain degree, before speaking again. "All of the other subjects were too incohesive; too defined."
"Indeed. We should hope a more malleable specimen will appear less of a threat to Subject 16." Dr. Roxton began running through a list with careful consideration when the door at the other end of the chamber was unsealed. Dr. Vina clutched her clipboard subconsciously as one of the containment officers carried a metal box into the centre of the room and deposited it before leaving. The little girl across from the box watched it with large, frightened eyes.
Once the officer was clear and the door resealed, Dr. Roxton pulled a remote from his coat and pressed down on one of the buttons. The box let out a quiet hiss and opened.
Vina had seen the black substance of Subject 16 several times before, yet the wonder of it never failed to seize her mind and steal it away. She stared with the blueprints of a dreamy grin mapped onto her expression as it crawled out of the box, jerky and curious like a newborn, stretching itself over the metal casing to reach the floor. Across from it a terrified Subject A122 sat stunned against the wall, her bloodshot eyes the only muscles moving as they followed it. The creature paused for a moment when it collected itself into a pile on the floor. Slowly, cautiously, it began to move towards her.
With every nudge of her legs further to her chest the symbiote paused and waited, then resumed its approach. The girl's back was entirely pressed up against the wall, as much distance as she could gain between her and the creature already achieved. Dr. Roxton recorded the behaviour and occasionally glanced over to his associate, worried that her clipboard may snap from her passionate anticipation. And then, much to both doctors' surprise Subject A122 stood and ran around the symbiote, whom compressed to the floor at her sudden and extensive movement.
She sat back down against the opposite wall, sweaty and scared for her life, paler than a person about to chuck up their breakfast. The symbiote remained unmoving for a while before seemingly gaining a new confidence as it went to approach again. Dr. Vina jumped when it reached out and made contact with the other subject's skin. It travelled up her foot like a soul trying to grasp onto life – and perhaps it indeed was. Spreading like a plague, stretching like living black gum. A122 tried to pry it off in vain, the substance attaching to her hands and quickly moving up her arms.
Both doctors watched intently as the girl stood, bent over and clawing at the symbiote that'd stuck itself to her body. She raised her head to the heavens to let out a desperate scream that transformed into a shrill alien roar as Subject 16 completed its fusion.
The doctors waited with bated breath as the subjects stood limply in the room, breathing harsh. A122 could no longer be seen; the only evidence of her existence (quite literally) lying in the small thin form that the alien had assumed. Dr. Vina's eyes never left them, never so much as blinked should she miss anything that happened between them. Roxton looked at her for a moment before turning his attention to the matter at hand. He activated the comm link and leaned towards the microphone.
"Alright – Agent One, enter the chamber." He paused and pressed the button again. "Be careful Ed."
The chamber door hissed and slid open slowly. Agent One was donned in full armour, one hand close to but not touching the firearm at his hip while the other held on to the closing door. The two subjects remained in their relatively motionless state – the noticeable rise and fall of their chest all that shifted. Ed approached carefully, one heavy booted foot after the other. Though he knew he was under the full speculation of quite a lot of staff in the facility this fact seemed unimportant while he took his time.
He'd made it within several metres of the two subjects when its head snapped upwards in his direction, body dropping into a slight crouch and backing away. Ed froze up entirely despite his extensive training. Come on… It can probably smell fear or something… Agent One relaxed his breathing and muscles, calmly standing and lifting his arms in a peaceful gesture.
"Try speaking to it," Dr. Roxton's voice flowed across the comm.
Agent One locked himself into a calm stance as he found some words. "Hello?" The thing simply watched him from its crouch. "My name is Ed." Another pause. No response. "May I come closer?"
The creature human thing looked as though its head had moved down in thought when it heard this. Ed could've sworn he saw the flicker of a frown in those enormous, oddly shaped white eyes – if you could call them that. He hadn't even realised he was leaning a little during his inspection of the thing until he lost his balance and took a quick step forward to stop from falling.
The creature lashed out immediately in response to his action. Ed had frozen up again once he regained balance, and now stood staring at the razor claws inches from his face, stuck in a malicious clenched pose and miraculously not slicing his throat open. Yet. It seemed to want to move, but in the same instance couldn't. As though something was preventing it. Could the scientists control this thing?
Ed's hand was trapped on the gun about a centimetre out of its holster, and the alien's eyes shifted down to this threatening reaction with a quiet hiss. It's arm moved slightly but then… Morphed? Out of shape, and the creature staggered backwards releasing an angry shriek as it's body began to change. Agent One turned and bolted for the door, then spun back around and watched as the back substance that'd overtaken the girl began to push away from her body, glimpses of pale flesh visible for a second when it lifted and then leached back onto the skin. What in the hell?
Dr. Roxton was hailing all comm frequencies as he spoke. "Get Agent One out. Release the gas. Now!" We can't lose all these years of experimentation. We're so close!
Beside him Dr. Vina was staring at the spectacle with a horrified expression, apparently entranced into being useless as the others worked at maintaining symbiosis. Subject 16 appeared to be rejecting the human, but not in the same manner it had with the others. They'd all been killed quite quickly; that or left somewhat schizophrenic. No, it wasn't the one rejecting… She was. The human girl.
Gas began gushing into the chamber once Agent One was evacuated and the door resealed behind him. The subjects were still one entity, though pieces of the black substance lay scattered across the chamber floor where it fell when the gas surrounded it's body. Subject 16 slowly dragged itself away from the girl and towards the rest of its being, tendrils leaving her skin reluctantly.
Dr. Roxton breathed a sigh of relief. There is still hope. The bond can be formed… It just needs to be maintained.
Venom moved about in the cold prison, the rocking motion a telltale sign that it was being carried somewhere. It could sense the presence outside of the metal casing; it sunk down to steady itself as the box was placed onto the ground, and a few moments later, the seal unlocked.
The human had backed away and shielded itself behind a metal wall as Venom crawled from its container to the floor. Another presence lingered nearby, motionless and weak lying on a structure that raised it above ground. A familiar, identifiable presence… The small one.
Venom recalled the bond with that one. They were the closest it'd come to finding a host, yet like all the others they had rejected it. Venom had only wanted to defend them both from the other human, realising the threat posed. But its host had stopped it from attacking. Had torn the bond apart with its refusal to embrace and accept… Venom was frustrated, tired and in need of a host for revival. It wanted to scream but had no body to do so. And then its attention shifted to the presence again. Weak.
It was in some sort of paralysis – the heartbeat far too slow compared to their last encounter. Venom dragged itself across the ground quickly. This paralysis may only last so long. It stemmed up the metal structure and paused before its uncooperative host. There was no change in the human's state.
This time Venom was going to be careful; gentle. This time it needed the bond to sustain. From the brief moments spent connected to this human it understood several of their thoughts and emotions. It was frightened. Abused. It would keep fighting if something attacked. But in the same instance it also needed warmth and strength. And something to hold on to.
Reaching out Venom attached a tendril to its skin softly. It spread forward, emitting soothing emotions as it went, fusing together at a calm, relaxed pace along the human's skin. There was no struggle like before; no fear and hatred. Venom kept the fusion under the utmost control as it moved across its host's face, relishing in the notion of a peaceful, mutual bond.
Subject A122 woke to complete and vaguely familiar darkness. She knew this darkness… The experiment. Her automatic response was panic, but a sudden wash of tranquillity turned her thoughts to warm honey and she relaxed into the bed of her cell.
*Don't be sssscared of me.* She didn't know how to react to the voice that channelled into her mind. Somewhere in the recesses it put her on edge, but this was overcome by a peaceful cultivation that flowed through her veins. *I am Venom.*
A122 flexed her fingers and shifted a little on the bed as it spoke to her. Venom… Was that a name given by the scientists? It was reaching out to her mentally, trying to coax a reply. *What are you?*
There was a slight pause and A122 could feel indecision as it searched for an answer. *Ssssymbiote.*
*The hell is that?*
*It is what they call me,* Venom responded, carefully monitoring its host's emotions. The longer they remained bonded, the easier it would be to control its host – and the harder for them to detach.
*They… the scientists?* Venom didn't have an answer to this question, but instilled encouragement regardless. *They call me A122.*
*That doesn't sssound like a name…*
*It probably isn't.* Venom could feel hatred surfacing as the human thought of this, and delved into it at the opportunity. *They don't like to give their experiments proper names.*
*They are cruel?*
*Evil.*
*Monsters,* Venom agreed, slowly taking over its host's thoughts as it uprooted their hatred and spread it through their mind. *They don't deserve namesss.* The symbiote grinned inwardly as it began to poison the hatred with dark imagination. *But we do.* It could feel its host slipping out of control, feel the muscles of its body begin to move at Venom's will now. *Let us show them how dessserving we can be.*