Part IIa: The U.S.S. Reed

The U.S.S. Reed was, like the Gould, a Conestoga-class starship and an altogether intimidating structure. At a height of just under three-hundred feet, the Reed was a colossal and dark beast, with a surprisingly stream-line interior. However, its true contents reflected its outward appearance as a light-assault carrier which could accommodate for over ninety passengers and two thousand hibernation pods, as well as space for eight Cheyenne dropships.

It was not a ship that one would lightly engage in war-fare.

But while its security should have brought comfort to the young son of Norman Osborn, it did quite the opposite as the boy realised that the mysterious U.S.S. Gould would be almost equally intimidating when they came across it. Heaven forbid if scavengers had taken it and worked out the controls!

He took some comfort in that the crew were a strong-hearted bunch. The captain, Steve Rogers, and his crew were undoubtedly a good sort, and undoubtedly a strange bunch of people to be hired by Oscorp at such a level. The effect of power and corruption usually seeped into their kind but the crew could not have been the least affected by it.

What surprised Harry the most, however, were the remaining two crew members.

The warrant officer, Natasha Romanoff, was a quiet woman with a coy smile and judgmental gaze. She sized up each and every person she encountered and could determine their nature from that look.

The other one, Loki Laufeyson, was a quiet soul who barely spoke but when he did could soothe even the angriest voice. Harry had the sneaking suspicion, that the science officer could just as easily nurture that anger into something else. A dangerous gift.

But the sly nature of these beings was not what had enraptured him.

No, it was the fact that both Natasha and Loki were androids.

The crew didn't seem to mind either, and interacted with the pair as smoothly as one would a friend, or co-worker.

Perhaps there was some hope for him too.

Unfortunately, the presence of the Oscorp businessmen and the colonial marines was enough to keep Harry on edge. Most of the businessmen were toxic throughout, whilst the marines were large, stocky and thoroughly grumpy. Harry did not trust them not to hate androids or Replicants.

As they boarded the Reed, Harry had felt the eyes of the marines on him. It had sent a chill down his spine. Were they hoping to catch a glimpse of the infamous Harry Osborn? Or had they figured him out so quickly? Norman certainly had.

He sorely wished that Norman had sent a battalion of combat androids instead. Despite their streak of violence, the combat androids were his 'kind' really so Harry would have felt safer surrounded by his fellow androids than by this rabble of colonial marines. Never mind how deeply they resided in Norman's pocket.

Unfortunately, combat androids were still condemned by the Geneva Convention. Although, Harry knew that Norman still employed them for his high-security facilities within the Corinth Colony, and on May Outpost.

Oscorp was about testing the bounds of science and expanding humanity's grasp over the universe, after all. It was definitely not about bothering to ask "should" or "why". Never mind what the authorities would think.

That simply wasn't the Osborn way.

Space travel could span the length of months, years, or even decades, thus humans would be put into hypersleep on such journeys to prevent biological aging and deterioration. As reaching the last recorded coordinates of the Gould would take two years at the most, Harry found himself feeling very lonely as all of his ship-mates were put under in the hibernation chambers.

He didn't get to interact with Natasha or Loki very much at all as they had their own duties around the massive spacecraft.

Therefore aside from the occasional recharging, a trait common to the android rather than the Replicant, Harry often found himself wandering the lonely decks of the Reed or watching over his fellow ship-mates as they slept.

Whilst studying the culture of the humans, both off-world colonists and 'Earthies', was interesting what he found infinitely more curious was the dreams of his fellow crew-men. As they slept inside their hibernation pods, Harry found himself poring over their dreaming patterns.

Many of them were colonists and would dream of their home-planets. Harry recognised many of the exotic locations from the memories that had been grafted unto him. However, the youngest marine, Parker, was an Earthie. It was unusual for an Earthie to find work so easily off-world, but the military would take anyone on.

Nevertheless, Harry enjoyed watching his dreams the most. Earth was a dank, miserable rock that was bustling with activity. So unnatural yet alive. Like him, a machine. It was so different from any of the places Harry Osborn had visited in his life.

Man-kind had destroyed Earth and had perverted it beyond recognition. Harry knew what Earth had originally looked like as it was stored in his database – it had been green, growing, thriving, and positively overflowing with life. Only now, all of the animals were gone and their harsh electric counterparts had taken their place. The few organic species left had been transported to the off-world colonies and watched over with unwavering eyes.

Of course, the Osborn family had a variety of animals. Harry had owned a pretty parrot called Greenie, only now Norman took care of it. He did not trust him, the new Harry, with it.

Animals had become a commodity on Earth. Real animals were hard to come by though, so the electric ones had taken their place. They were a status symbol.

So naturally, Harry had been surprised by Peter's memories when a real-live spider had shown up in it. It was black, hairy, and undoubtedly real. Humans would never be able to tell the difference, but Harry could.

Perhaps Peter merely dreamed of owning it, rather than the spider actually belonging to him? That seemed more likely. An electric spider was expensive, but a real spider was priceless.

Thus, Peter Parker had his undivided attention.

When they had been boarding, Peter's stare had puzzled him the most. It was a friendly gaze, but also an admiring one. It was a look of such pure goodness that Harry had stumbled. No one had stared at Harry Osborn like that. Not with an open, friendly gaze that had no thoughts of gain or selfishness. Not when he had been alive at least. Parker was a strange young man.

Harry quickly moved on to the next pod to study the behemoth known as Flash Thompson.

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AN: TermsEarthie – a derogatory term for a resident of Earth; a term coined by Asimov in his book "The Gods Themselves"

Earth – nearly completely devoid of organic life, but still densely populated by humans. Residents have difficult time migrating to off-world colonies specifically if they can't afford it or are burdened with disease/disabilities. Residents are derogatorily referred to as 'Earthies' due to their impugned status as residents of the dying planet. (situation inspired by world of Blade Runner)

U.S.S. Reed – the Conestoga-class starship that the crew embark on (the exact same class of starship as the Sulaco seen in "Aliens")

U.S.S. Gould – a Conestoga-class starship that has been presumed missing after a highly secretive mission gone wrong