Chapter 12 The Truth Behind Andrias Industries:
Terri was on her computer and Sasha was reading a magazine when Marcy walked in. Sasha looked at her.
"Hey Marce, how was the date?" she asked.
Marcy smiled.
"It actually went well," Marcy said.
She left out the part about how she had to fight some creeps last night in order to save Anne.
"Did she kiss you?" Sasha asked.
Marcy blushed but didn't say anything. Sasha grinned.
"She did! Lips or cheeks?" she asked.
Marcy looked away from her.
"Both" she mumbled.
Sasha punched her in the arm two times.
"I told you Terri, Mar-Mar's got game," she said.
Marcy rolled her eyes as she turned to Terri.
"You said you found something on Andrias Industries?" she asked.
Sasha raised an eyebrow.
"Wait, what does Andrias Industries have to do with this?" Sasha questioned.
Marcy turned to her.
"That day on the tour, I was bitten by a spider that was genetically modified by Andrias which gave me powers. It turns out he's the boss of the Red Assassin," Marcy said.
Sasha nodded.
"So, what did you find?" Marcy asked.
Terri clicked on a news article.
"Remember when Andrias made a scientific discovery 7 years ago?" She asked Marcy.
When Marcy nodded, she continued.
"Well, it turns out that "discovery" was a matter called symbiote," Terri said.
Sasha pointed to a video link.
"There's a video," she said.
Terri clicked on it. The video showed a black substance moving around in a jar. Sasha made a face.
"Is that it?" she asked.
"Yep, according to Andrias, it's a living organism that can make a symbiotic bond with a subject," Terri said.
Sasha blinked in confusion.
"In english?" she asked.
"It means that it can fuse itself to a person and make them become some sort of entity," Marcy explained.
Terri was looking through the article when she landed on something that made her blood run cold.
"Marcy, look at this," she said.
Marcy walked towards her. She skimmed over it and her face went pale. Sasha nudged her.
"What does it say?" she asked.
Marcy began to read it out loud.
"In 2011 a scientist named Kevin Lee, who worked at Andrias Industries went on a rampage after being exposed to symbiote which was discovered by Andrias in 2007. While studying the strange matter, the living organism had escaped from the jar and fuse itself to Lee turning him into an entity. The scientist started going on a rampage, attacking the other scientists. Fortunately, scientists were able to get the symbiote off the scientist. In order to keep it under control, Andrias had some employees send the symbiote off to the military for further research"
Marcy ran a hand through her hair as she finished reading.
"So, that symbiote stuff caused that scientist to go berserk?" Sasha asked.
Terri nodded as she clicked on another article.
"And this article says that the military base was broken into on September 19th which was 4 days ago. Some sort of suit and the symbiote was stolen," she said.
Sasha looked at Marcy.
"You don't think Andrias stole them do you?" she asked.
Marcy's face darkened.
"It's possible but we don't know for sure," she said.
Terri turned to the black haired girl.
"Still, you should be careful when fighting Red. He might be coming back twice as hard after that whole fiasco," Terri told her.
Sasha raised an eyebrow but decided not to ask when she noticed something.
"Is that a video from the security cameras?" Sasha asked.
Terri moved to click on it. A beeping sound was heard as the files on Terri's computer began to disappear.
"No,no,no,no,no!" she said, typing on her computer.
The beeping noise stopped.
"All files have been erased"
Terri leaned back in her chair, her eyes wide.
"It's gone," she whispered.
"What's gone?" Sasha asked.
"The files. The articles, the video footage. They're gone," Terri said.
Sasha looked at her.
"Then get them back," she said.
"It's not possible. Whoever did this has erased them permanently. You can't even go on google to look it up," Terri said.
Marcy placed a hand on her shoulder.
"At least we got some info but for now we have to be careful. Whoever managed to hack Terri's computer might know what we're up to, so be careful who you encounter," Marcy said.
Sasha and Terri nodded. Marcy sat down on Terri's bed and sighed. This was getting harder and harder. She looked at her two friends. She was grateful that they were helping her through this but she wonders if she's putting them in danger. Marcy closed her eyes tightly.
'Don't think like that. They chose to help you and they are,' Marcy thought to herself.
She leaned back on the backboard. Whoever thought being a hero was easy, they were dead wrong. Marcy's phone vibrated and she pulled it out to see a message from her mom.
"Terri, is it okay that I spend the night? My moms are caught up in some meeting and Mark is stuck at work " she asked the older girl.
Terri turned to her.
"Yeah, sure," she said.
Marcy gave her a grateful smile as Sasha stood up.
"I'm heading home. See y'all in science class tomorrow," She said, walking out of the room.
Marcy waved at her. She sighed as she looked at the ceiling. Terri noticed and lowered her eyebrows in concern.
"You okay?" she asked.
Marcy shrugged.
"I don't know. I guess?" she said uncertainty.
Terri sat down next to her.
"What's on your mind?" she asked.
Marcy sat up.
"I'm worried. The person who hacked your computer probably knows who you and Sasha are, where you both live, hell, they probably know that I'm the Calamity Spider and might come after our families and I won't be able to do anything," Marcy ranted, eyes glowing green the more emotional she got.
Terri placed her hands on her shoulders.
"Marce, breathe," she said.
Marcy took a breath and calmed down.
"Sorry," she mumbled.
Terri shook her head.
"You don't have to apologize. I know this "being the city's protector" is hard but you have me and Sasha to help you. As for our families, your mom's a cop, your godfather is a retired general and HP is on the city council. They have people looking out for them just like me and Sasha have your back. Never forget that," she said.
Marcy smiled at Terri.
"Thanks Ter," she said.
Terri smiled back.
"Don't mention it," she said.
Terri stood up and walked to the door.
"I'm ordering pizza. What kind do you want?" she asked.
"Just pepperoni," Marcy said.
Terri nodded and walked out of the room.
Marcy looked out the window. She's going to get through this. She doesn't know how but she will.
