Warning Bells
Riley had stumbled back into the schmooze fest after not being able to track down the Green Goblin, sending out more of the spider-bots to keep an eye on things just in case. They had already been gone for a few hours, so it was time to return. When Riley had joined again, they had run right into their parents, both chatting someone up.
“Riley!” Their mother chirped, chipper with a drink in hand. “Come over here.” She wrapped an arm around Riley’s shoulders, ignoring the small flinch from them, dragging them between her and their father. “Riley, this is Mr. Osborn, he owns this building and is quite the scientist. And Mr. Osborn, this is our child Riley. They’re a talented technology whiz and engineer.”
Osborn… here? He was usually in New York, wasn’t he? He may have owned the building, but that didn’t explain his presence in Riley’s city.
Mr. Osborn’s emerald eyes studied Riley, sizing them up. And warning bells screamed inside Riley’s head at the little gestures, swallowing that fear up as Mr. Osborn spoke. “They look quite promising. Reminds me of a scientist I know back home. They’re friends with my son, I think you two would get along swimmingly, if you can deal with a tired dad.”
“Riley’s workplace is filled with tired scientists, which might as well be like tired parents sometimes. So protective of their work,” their father laughed. Always an opportunity to schmooze, now wasn’t there. “Riley had made leaps and bounds with their work with robotics, I couldn’t be more proud that all my children have such high aspirations.”
“Well, if you’re interested, you can visit our labs at our main headquarters in New York. I’m sure you’d see so many things to expand your mind,” he offered lightly. “Maybe you’ll see our own Spider-Man. I heard your city has one of those as well.”
“You heard?” Riley’s mother cooed. “They’ve been making rounds for over a decade now. They have quite the cult following. Riley is a huge fan as well.”
Their father agreed. “Dressed up like them all the time. It’s so nice. Riley’s always loved Spider’s so it only makes sense.”
The warning bells were ringing even louder in Riley’s skull, watching Mr. Osborne with a tense unease. Something wasn’t right with the man standing there, and Riley couldn’t shake the feeling that nestled underneath their skin. What’s worse, they couldn’t pinpoint why they were sensing danger.
“All the more of a reason to come to New York! I imagine like you both, they can work remotely?”
Riley’s parents nodded, and it seemed as if their fate had been sealed.
“Then I’ll pay for the ticket myself. We’d be happy to have you. I’ll call some contacts and find the best place for you to stay! Now, my son is wandering around here somewhere, so I must be off, have a nice night you three.”
The moment he left, all the screaming in Riley’s head stopped. What was that? Why was Mr. Osborne so dangerous? It left Riley utterly rattled, wanting nothing more to return home.
“Oh, that sounds absolutely exciting!” Their mother happily chirped. Her gaze fluttering to her child. “Aren’t you excited? A chance to see more than this state and more scientists!”
“I’m elated.” Their parents couldn’t hear Riley’s monotone, happily chatting to themselves as if Riley wasn’t there anymore.
Truly… could they go home yet?
Their parents weren’t paying attention, so they just left out the front, finding a nice curb to sit on to see how long it would take to be noticed, enjoying the crisp air once more.
A few years back, Riley was still enthusiastic about these things, happy to talk about different theories and sharing findings with other scientists. It just didn’t feel the same anymore.
Nothing did.
Well, despite the warning bells emanating from Mr. Osborn, going to New York will let Riley finally meet someone like them. And they could use a change of scenery. They’d just have to make sure they left behind enough spider-bots to keep an eye on everything. Many of the crooks in their city had extreme cases of arachnophobia, so it worked out well enough.
They’d always been enough when Riley had gotten busy with work. So they’d have to be enough for now.
“Shouldn’t you be inside with all the other scientists?”
Riley lazily looked up, seeing amused sapphire eyes staring at them. The warning bells were ringing again. A more dull ring, enough to unsettle them. “I’m not really in the mood to schmooze,” they muttered, glancing away.
The intruder to the quiet moment chuckled, and sat next to them on the curb. Riley could hear their knees pop. Hilarious. “My father dragged me to this, so I can see where you’re coming from. Same with you?”
Riley sighed, nodding a bit. They didn’t feel really up to conversation with whoever this was.
“The name’s Harry, by the way.”
“Riley.” They returned. “What’s a Forty something year old man doing being dragged around by his dad?”
Harry paused at Riley’s sneering jab, detective they were in a bitter mood. For whatever reason. “Business I suppose…”
Business? Another schmoozer. Riley sighed again, remorseful at their own nihilism. “Always business at events like these.”
“Then… let’s talk about something more exciting.”
“Unless you’re eager to discuss spiders, I’m pretty tapped out when it comes to discussions.”
“You like spiders?” Harry pressed curiously. “I have a friend back home who’s pretty fond of them too.”
“Probably not in the same way as me,” Riley snorted, and as if proving their point, the same jumping spider from the roof crawled onto their hand again. Likely having somehow made its way down, or hitched a ride without Riley knowing. Riley brought their hand up, as the small jumping spider crawled on their hands. “Spiders like me. And I’m fascinated by them.”
Harry could easily agree, seeing the soft fondness Riley had for the small arachnid. He could see how the spider rested comfortably on Riley’s fingertips. Hey didn’t exactly express the same affection for arachnids, but it was a little sweet to witness.
“I guess you’re a fan of the spider that roams your city?”
“You’re talking about Mega-Byte, right?” Riley hummed in response, resting the jumping spider on the ground besides them. “You could say that.”
“They call themselves Mega-Byte?”
Riley nodded. The warning bells seemed to truly die down, their body relaxing a bit. “They’re tech based. Hence the pun.”
“Wouldn’t spider-byte work as well?” Harry offered. To which Riley merely shrugged. “I wouldn’t know. I like the name they chose though.”
“That’s… fair. A lot more creative than Spider-Man at least.” Harry joked.
Riley thought the guy was a bit weird, but whatever. It’s not like they were particularly worried. Besides the initial warning bells, Harry seemed like a harmless guy. Well, as harmless as the average scientist could be.
Before Riley could respond to him, Riley’s parent’s walked out, eyes snagging on them. “There you are! We’re heading home, so come on.”
Harry watched as Riley got their feet, and watched their parents start to walk without them. Riley waved a half-hearted goodbye before following behind their parents.
After they left, they glanced down to where the spider was placed, noticing it gone. Perhaps it scampered off after Riley set it down, but it felt fitting in a way.
What an odd person.
Unbeknownst to him, that little jumping spider had hitched a ride with Riley. They weren’t lying. Spider’s had quite the fondness for them.