NOTE: I must apologize once more for the slow updates but Cosgrove bosses extended his construction job much longer for another week so you will still be receiving slow updates. Again sorry.
[Peter Parker Quest]
CHAPTER 53
Science Montage
Before we begin today, let's take a step back into the past.
Let's say... Several years. At least ten.
Today we are looking at a tiny lizard, in a pet shop. This is a normal lizard, in a normal petshop. But goddamn is this lizard happy. It is seriously happy. Jesus Christ why is it so happy?
This lizard has been happy because one day it will find its destined owner. It knows this fate will come to pass, so why is there any reason not to be happy?
However, because it is so happy, the people who looked at it were unnerved. "Why is it so happy?" they would ask. And, with no answer, they'd leave it be not wanting the creepy lizard.
And so time passed and one day, the lizard found its owner. It was a boy, and the two of them were so, so excited. Unfortunately, the boy was made to go see a certain terrible movie about a certain tuna-eating monster, and so when he returned, he didn't want a lizard anymore.
Naturally, this broke the lizard's heart and it went from unnaturally happy to unnaturally sad. And, for the shop owner, the only thing worse than an unnaturally happy lizard was an unnaturally sad lizard. So he did the only right thing he could think of.
He took the lizard to the heights of a bridge and dropped it off the side to the waters below and went home to have dinner with his family, relieved of all burdens.
Since then, that pet shop has since gone out of business and since then, the lizard was not seen since it was dropped to its watery new home. Ultimately, this was a story that has no bearing
The End
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OO
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Resuming PPQ
Thursday
8 Days remain until the meeting at Stark Industries, NY
"Where do you go and what do you do when you sneak off with a stuffed backpack in the evenings or on your days off?"
You stare at your neighbor, your mouth suddenly dry, and your heart pounding in your chest. Involuntarily swallowing, you try to think about how you should answer your neighbor when she looks behind you. Turning, you see a blonde man in a coat whistling as he walks down the street, a bag from the nearby convenience store in one arm and a chimichanga in the other hand.
He's headed down the street your way as you turn back towards Mary Jane. She glances at you before her phone vibrates. Pulling it out, her expression turn deathly pale. "The Raid!"
Yelping, she moves to run towards her house before pausing and looking at you, hopping on one foot. Conflicted, she takes a deep breath before looking back at the phone.
"Later."
And runs back towards her house at the fastest you've seen her run. The man passes you and heads down the street humming to himself between bites of his food, giving you a wave as he goes. A moment later and you're alone, feeling drained from what just happened.
…yeah, no. you need something to calm you down. Something soothing and familiar.
Like SCIENCE!
Heading down to your basement, you try to decide what to do. You've got a number of projects you could work on, but not all of them could be done quickly- some will take a measure of time to finish. Most of them, honestly.
You pull out the ideas you had for the bio-electric battery. Concepts- theory on how to make it work- nothing more. You'll have to flesh this out into a whole, actual, blueprint and design before making it. It also requires a rather extensive amount of knowledge on biology to make sure there's no mistakes, as such it'll take you a while to finish alone.
Probably about two weeks.
Pulling out your phone, you quickly find Gwen's number and call it. Waiting a few rings, she answers. "What's up Peter? And, no, I haven't had the chance to look into that thing you wanted."
"Well, I was working on a project for that Stark thing and was wondering if you'd like to help me out? It's not entirely in my field of expertise."
You're a bit embarrassed but its true, she could really lend you a hand. You hear Gwen take a deep breathe that she does when she's thinking about something.
"Well, I could, but I wouldn't be able to look into that thing if I did you know. Would you rather me help you find that info, or would you rather me help you with the project?"
"Honestly, the info is probably more important, so I'd prefer it if you'd look into that, Gwen. Thanks, sorry for bothering you."
She chuckles and sounds amused. "Yeah, its no problem, Peter. I'll call you when I get it. Later."
She hangs up as you let out a groan as you look at the ideas and groan. There's potentially Doctor Spyral, but that'd mean you'd need to trust her, and hopefully she isn't busy or refusing to help.
You can work on it yourself, but then you'd have nothing solid by the time of the expo except some theoretical blueprints.
Pulling out the card with her number, you pull out your untraceable phone and dial. It rings for a few moments before finally, someone answers.
"Ah…. Hello?"
The voice of Doctor Spyral, though a bit frazzled comes over the line. "Hey, it's me, um- Spider-man, I was curious if you'd be interested in working with me on a project."
There's silence on the other end of the line as you hear several metal things banging around, a loud thump, and then muttered cursing. "I'm Alright! I'm alright! …Probably!"
She clears her throat before trying to sound more professional. "Sure I'd be willing to look at what you've got to see if it might interest me, but there's some restrictions! First: I don't work with criminals, so whoever you really are is who I have to work with. Two: I get credit for anything I'm involved with! Three: Betrayal of my trust is something I won't forgive!"
In the background, you hear something metallic hit something else. "Nonononono, not that! Not that! I need that!"
She clears her throat. "So, come and visit. If you're concerned about privacy don't be! I'll have security turned off! I'll be here… until I don't feel like being here, really!"
She hangs up as you hear something else break.
You grab up the Bio-battery concepts and pack them up before heading over to where Doctor Spyral is residing. It takes you about an hour to get there on foot, but when you arrive there, you notice that the gates are closed with a buzzer next to them.
Pressing the buzzer, you hear a voice- a familiar voice. "Who is it?"
"I'm here to meet with you Doctor Spyral."
There's a pause as the gates open enough for you to get through. Walking up, you open the door and head in- the receptionist's desk is empty as you navigate back to where you met the doctor before and knock on the door.
When you hear her beckon you, you open the door to see a strange situation. There's a large four-octopus-limb-looking device laying on the table and Doctor Spyral laying back in a chair which is covered in ice-packs, along with one on her head.
As you enter, she shifts the icepack to stare at you, slightly surprised. "You actually came."
You can't help but notice that she actually sounds rather shocked that you -did- come. Grinning like a child she gets up before hissing and sliding back into the chair with a groan and then, a few moments later, getting up much slower. As she puts on a lab coat over her white t-shirt, you see that there's a series of red spots bleeding through the back of her shirt- right where her spine would be.
Noticing your stare, she looks rather awkward before pulling you over to a desk as she waits for you to take out the ideas and concepts. It takes her a few minutes to page through the notes as her brow furrows as she takes out a notebook and does some math as she goes through your concept. Eventually, she's writing more frantically before she slams the pen on the notebook.
Turning to you, she truly seems impressed. "This… this could work. It could honestly work. I'd love to work with you on this Mister?"
You grab her hand and shake it. "Peter Parker"
"Natasha Spyral. It's a pleasure to work with you."
The two of you begin working, discussing ideals and practicality into the late evening before the two of you decide to call it a night. Heading home, you enjoy the crisp, chilly night air.
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OO
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Friday- 7 days until the expo
The next day, you head back over and continue to work- taking a break only to answer a call from Gwen. "Peter, I've got news. Seems like the 'Crime Master' talked, apparently the Kingpin's planning something in two weeks' time. If you want to grab him, that'll be the place. I'm following up any leads I can when I can spare the time from something I'm working on- I'll see you at the Stark Industries event and fill you in on anything. If anything changes before then… I'll let you know."
She hangs up, leaving you to mull it over. Two weeks- plenty of time to resolve things with the Stark Expo and deal with the Kingpin- who you've finally got a lead on. Good.
The rest of the time, you and Spyral work on the battery.
"Hey, just as a formality, but you know to keep my… other identity a secret, right?"
The Doctor finishes her mouthful of food before glowering at you. "It was something that I believed to be understood when this partnership began."
There's a bit of an awkward air as you try to change the subject.
"So… um, Doctor Spyral, what's with those arms?"
The two of you are breaking to enjoy food and eat Chinese food- Spyral's had to step out- you've noticed that there's a small bag of medical supplies that've lowered since you've begun working with her. The two of you are nearly out of the concepts and early blueprints phase. She pauses eating again- plain fried rice was the only thing she ordered- and glances over at them.
"It was something Octavius and I came up with the idea on before he stole the credit and left me as a washed up hack, the giant walrus. Basically, it attaches to the nervous system and then acts like new limbs. I ran a test but it didn't turn out too well…"
She seems kinda glum, picking at her rice. "Was that the thing you were working on before?"
She shakes her head. "No, I've given up on that until its safer. Apparently… I did a lot of things that I don't approve of, so I think I want to start off fresh and give myself a new future. Maybe someday, but not today."
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OO
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The two of you have entered the prototyping phase- having converted an empty room into a workplace- as the two of you continue working, once more on break. "So, do you think you'll be moving out of this place?"
Spyral doesn't pause as she continues working. "I don't see the point. Nobody really cares who I am, nor does anyone really come see me. Why would I?"
"You don't know anyone else?"
She pauses. "Well, there's Pym. He stops by, if he remembers, once a year. But he's a bit of a weirdo in his own way you know. He and I never really got on, but I think he pitied me after… all that. I probably have his number somewhere around here, if its any good still."
She shrugs as she continues assembly.
"Would he work with us?"
She pauses and looks back over at you, uncertainty on her face. "…I don't know. Let's get back to it, we have a deadline."
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OO
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Thursday: one day until Stark Industries meeting.
Evening
You and Spyral sit, staring at the proof of concept prototype. It sits there, fully functional. You've done it. The two of you have actually done it!
She smiles at you as she hands you over the battery along with a copy of the patent and design process attributed to the both of you. "Well there you are, Mister Parker. Your invention is complete. It was fun, working with you, you know."
She looks a bit wistful as she leads you to the door. "I guess, if you've got any more projects, give me a call sometime."
"You alright?"
An eyebrow quirks as she looks at you as the wistfulness fades. "I'll be fine."
"So, in terms of funding, how much would this cost?"
Doctor Spyral looks a bit confused. "In terms of production, large scale? I don't know, that's not been my field. We barely got buy between the two of us, though. "
She crosses her arms. "After patenting it, it'd be better to probably just license it out to a manufacturer, honestly. Still, if this was a company it'd be easier to get that sort of deal in a way that's beneficial."
"If you ever need some help, some lab space, someone to bounce ideas off of, or just talk I'm probably gonna make a start up and your welcome to swing by. You get it? Swing by, ah I'm adorable."
She gives you a flat stare, but when she looks away, you swear you see her shoulders shaking in mirth. "Ah, I'll be sure to keep that in mind, Mister Parker."
The two of you walk to the door as she opens it for you as you realize that this is the first time you've seen her by the door- every other time has been you grabbing food for the two of them.
"We'll work out a way to farm it out that you get the credit for it too. I promise you."
Spyral shakes her head. "That's enough for me, which someone actually believes in me. Thank you."
Giving you a wave, she closes the door behind her as you head on home. When you get home, you stew on ideas fermenting in your head and on tomorrow.
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OO
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Friday- The day of the Meeting at Stark Industries
The morning comes too early as Aunt May makes sure you're 'dressed for success' as you make sure you've got everything. Your Uncle Ben gives you a ride there, stopping a short distance away. "Here, you probably don't want to show up dropped off by your Uncle. Give me a call when you're done and I'll come pick you up alright?"
Nodding, you unbuckle, and then feel a hand on your shoulder. Your uncle smiles at you. "I'm proud of you, Pete. You're a great kid and finally other people will be able to see it, too. Knock them dead, kiddo."
Patting you on the arm supportively, he waves as he drives off- it takes but a moment to get to the front doors and into the lobby- your ticket in hand getting you access and a visitor's pass- as you see a group of other people gathered around- everyone holding something that looks like a science project- and you see Gwen, dressed in a button up shirt and pants with a tie, her hair pulled back into a ponytail.
Waving at her, she waves back but then, suddenly, the doors of Stark Industry open as a redheaded woman and a large man following behind her step out.
"Greetings. Let's begin. If you'd all follow me?"
To Be Continued…
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Peter's Invention concepts:
WEBBING UPGRADES
Specialized Webbing-
Pepper spray webbing-
Impact Webbing- (requires Webshooters to be upgraded to be capable of using it)
Taser Webbing-
Extinguisher Webbing-
Acidic Webbing-
Coagulating Webbing-
WEBSHOOTER UPGRADES
Impact Webbing- (Increases Webshooter size)
Larger Web Fluid Cartridges- (required for Impact Webbing)
Spider-tracer launcher-
Miniaturize Webshooter (cannot be taken with Impact Webbing)
OTHER-
Web Grenade-
Bio-electric batter miniaturization I
Bio-electic force boosting gauntlet
Increase Spider-tracer range-
Bio-electic spider-tracer signal booster- requires Bio-electric batter miniaturization I,II,III
Upgrade Anti-Sonic suit for hearing- ?
Bioelectricity-rechargeable Battery concept ? time
Taser variant tracer application for webshooter concept ? Time
super efficient battery concept ? time
Electricity based disguise material concept ? time
miniaturized Railgun concept ? Time