ARACHNE
A WORM/Spiderverse story
by Tangent
"Fascinating. Utterly fascinating," Norman Osborn, C.E.O. of Oscorp, stated as he looked over the formulas and designs provided by one of Brockton Bay's newest heroes, Arachne.
The arrangement they had come to was fairly typical for Oscorp policy regarding new Tinkers with no known (well, publicly known anyway) criminal tendencies: The use of a laboratory and a resource budget for supplies in exchange for the rights to study samples of anything actually produced in said lab. Any resulting patents were to be held in trust, either feeding unto a larger Tinker budget or, upon Oscorp signing nondisclosure papers to preserve the Tinker's privacy, paid directly into an account tied directly into the Tinker's civilian identity.
Unsurprisingly, given that Norman got the impression that Arachne was still underage despite her height, the hero in question had opted for the former for the time being.
Normally, at this point, Oscorp scientists and technicians would be studying the resulting samples for months or even years before making any headway at all, with only the rare occasion where new technological breakthroughs happening within the first few weeks of the process. For Arachne...
Doctor Curt Conners had successfully replicated all three of the formulas Arachne had provided before she had even left the building. Without her direct assistance. Just using his thorough understanding of chemistry and following the directions provided by her notes. Contrary to what most Tinker's thought, their notes often proved to be less helpful in reverse engineering their Tinkertech than they believed. So a Tinker that actually provided concise and comprehensible notes was a damned rare find indeed, suggesting that Arachne might be a Thinker/Tinker amalgamation.
Which wouldn't surprise Norman in the least at this point, as it was readily apparent that Arachne was what was frequently referred to as a "grab-bag" cape. Increased strength, agility, and reflexes, the ability to traverse vertical and even inverted surfaces with ease, and a Tinker specialty apparently involving various forms of webfluid and how to dispense it.
Naturally it was the Tinker abilities that interested Oscorp the most, and Arachne's webfluid formulas were a good first prize right out of the gate.
Sure, some people were bound to deride it as a sort of poor man's knock off of the containment foam used by the PRT, but Norman could see the potential for Arachne's product to be far more versatile than confoam could ever hope to be.
Just one example, brought about by Arachne coming up with a new formula within fifteen minutes of Dr. Conners asking if she knew how fire resistant her webbing was, was the fire retardant webbing. Which had most of the same properties as her original formula, plus the added bonus of actually suppressing open flames when applied, while still being strong, breathable, and resiliant. Safe for use against normal, chemical, and electrical fires, capable of providing temporary structural support for damaged ceilings, walls, and floors, or emergency netting for otherwise trapped victims to climb up or down, or safety nets to jump down onto...
Hell, even the possibilities with just the regular webbing were just as varied, and it was still at least fire resistant if not quite as much as the formula Arachne specifically designed for actually fighting fires.
And a specifically hypoallergenic formula that promoted wound healing, apparently thought up by Arachne before she came in, that could be potentially be used as temporary bandages by even the most sensitive patients. A claim that would be thoroughly tested before being marketed as such of course. Assumptions lead to lawsuits after all. And the regular webbing without the added benefits was still biologically inert and therefore safe to use as temporary bandages. Still, Norman could see Oscorp's profits soar once Arachne's Medical Webbing hit the market.
Norman could also imagine the expression on Max Ander's face, when Oscorp took the lead in medical research for a change. Norman had wanted to punch the insufferable prick ever since first meeting the man. Charming, yes, but something just felt off about the man, and Norman had taken an instant disliking to him.
Norman envisioned a future not long from now where firefighters, rescue crews, E.M.T.s, and police officers were all equipped with varients of Arachne's Weave, a product of Oscorp.
Yes. Arachne's Weave would be a good name for the product line. Very fitting and definitely marketable.
The fact that all three current formulas supposedly broke down in an environmentally friendly manner was just a bonus really. A good selling point, especially if it proved to be even more environmentally friendly than confoam, but even without that, they would still be valuable future products.
Norman Osborn's thoughts were interrupted when his cell phone rang. It was his son's number, and checking the time revealed that it was both after normal business hours and after Harry's shift had ended. "Hello, Harry," he answered with some slight concern in his voice as normally it was he who called his son rather than the other way around.
"Hi, Dad," Harry's voice was almost normal, but Norman could tell that something had happened.
"What's wrong?"
"I nearly got hit by a car today, and it got me thinking... I didn't want our last words to each other to be us fighting again."
"I'll pick you up for dinner tonight. Ask your wife where she wants us to eat. It'll be my treat. No arguments, no fighting, not even any business talk. Let's just... catch up, okay?"
"That'd be great, Dad. We'll be ready. See you at seven?"
"Seven's fine. See you then."
Norman Osborn, C.E.O. of Oscorp, set aside all thoughts of the potential for Arachne's Weave for the night. Norman Osborn, father, had a son who desperately needed him.