Chapter 2
_______________***MEANWHILE***___________
MJ and Ned quickly made their way to the back of the bus in an attempt to avoid flash and his antics. They had already begun when Mr Turner had instructed them to make their way to the bus as “it seems everyone is here now”. Flash, upon hearing that and not seeing Peter anywhere, had made a B line directly to the pair who were usually a trio.
“Where’s penis huh? Decided he couldn’t face the truth?”
“I always knew it was small, but if you actually can’t find your penis I suggest you go to a doctor, Eugene, however, if you are talking about PETER, he is meeting us at the tower.” MJ was quick to quip back, leaving Ned highly impressed, Flash full of rage but with no comeback, and Mr Turner acting like he never heard anything
Once settled on the bus MJ tried her best to settle into her book and ignore the outside world, however, with Peter not there, she was the only one left for Ned to unload all of his excitement onto…
“Oh my god, do you think we’ll get to see the labs? Like will it just be the intern labs, or do you think we’ll go any higher? Do you think we’ll get to see any of your work, like the business/legal side? Do you think Peter will be waiting for us in the lobby? Oh my god, when do you think Flash will realise he’s wrong? Do you think it’ll be at security? What about….”
“Dear lord please stop!” MJ dramatically sighed “You literally get to see the labs every day, no we won’t see my stuff, this is a science trip. I don’t know when we’ll see Peter and we both know it’s going to take more than the security checkpoint for Flash to believe. Now will you please calm down loser, as I said, we’re here every day”
Although MJ’s words sounded a bit harsh, she truly did love the two losers she had started tagging along with, and Ned knew her exasperated tone and use of the word “loser” wasn’t actually a negative thing. He did take his cue to be quiet though.
The trip was over sooner than expected as traffic seemed to be light. As the bus pulled up to the tower most the class let out a gasp and rushed to the side of the vehicle to get a better look. Mr Turner began going over the rules before he would let them disembark, but most the teens paid no attention as he ran off the usual “don’t wander away” and “listen to the guide”
When everyone was finally allowed off the bus, it took a frustrating amount of time to get them inside as they all wanted to stop and look up and the multi-million dollar building towering above. Once inside the group congregated over to the side and were asked to wait as the teacher went up to the front desk.
“Midtown high, here for a 10 am tour?” he introduced.
“One moment please” the young woman behind the desk, only around 25 years old, began typing.
“ah yes, your tour guide will be down in just a minute, if you could keep to the side whilst you wait to avoid causing an obstruction, thank you”
and with that, Mr Turner just gave a nod and headed back to their class.
There was a low level of chatter amongst the group as the teens kept themselves occupied. That was until a portion of what had been assumed to be a wall opened up revealing a large elevator. The whole class fell silent as one Peter Parker exited said elevator and confidently pushed his way through the crowd of workers, out of the security checkpoint and headed straight up to the desk to hand over a towel. And from where they were stood, they could just about hear to exchange that took place.
“Morning Rachel! Could you arrange for the towel to be taken back up to penthouse? It’ll be a bit weird if I’m carrying it around when my class arrive!”
“Of course, Jr, but….”
It was at that point that peter turned to finally see his class.
As the class began to come out of their shock, all turning and whispering about the secret elevator and “Junior” Mr Turner marched straight up to Peter, roughly grabbed his arm and began pulling him towards the class.
“Why did you come out of an elevator? Do you know how serious of a crime it is to sneak into a place like this? And why are you wearing headphones, take them out!” The man began to reprimand in a hushed tone
“Mr Turner, I need them in the tower, and I didn’t sneak-”
“Stop! You do not need music on a tour, that is the most ludicrous thing I have heard. Take them out or I will confiscate them!”
The pair reached the rest of the teens as peter reluctantly removed his noise cancellers and instantly cringed at the volume of everything around him before then heading straight towards his friends. The trio remained silent as not to cause further distress to the enhanced boy who was currently really hating his powers.
Just a moment later, Peters knees almost gave out as a sudden booming voice greeted them.
“Good morning midtown! My name is Emily and I will be leading your class today in a brief showcase of what Stark industries has to offer!”
Peter closed his eyes and forced himself to focus on his breathing. Without his noise cancellers, today was going to be utter hell! He already felt light-headed and like he was about to puke.
“When I call your name please come up and collect your badges, these are personalised, however, will deactivate at 4 p.m. sharp today, so please do not try to reuse them. You can, however, keep them as souvenirs” Whilst speaking, Emily made a quick scan of the class to ensure she had all the badges needed, but just as she realised she was 3 short, her eyes landed on Peter.
“Peter! Oh my god, I didn’t know this was your school!”
Peter forced his eyes open and gave a weak smile towards the guide who he worked with, in the intern labs. His clearly pale appearance just brought more concern to the young woman who stood in front of them
“Are you okay? You don’t look too hot? You actually look kind of different? Oh my god, headphones!” just as Emily realised what was different, she also realised that her rather loud introduction and questioning hadn’t helped the situation. She cleared her throat before repeating at a drastically lower volume…. “Headphones… Why aren’t you wearing your headphones, Junior?
Peter’s peers had been gobsmacked at the whole interaction, well, the whole morning to be precise, but their utter confusion only increased at the nickname being said again.
Peter pulled his headphones out of his pocket to show the tour guide before whispering “was told take them out” whilst giving a head nod towards his teacher, who also looked to be in a state of utter disbelief at the interaction.
“Put them back in!” she whisper-shouted before turning to the older gentleman on her right and adjusting her volume and tone of voice “Peter will wear his headphones throughout his time in the tower. They do not serve as a distraction, but rather to aid him. This is not something you can overrule.”
The whole group, including Peter and Mr Turner, were left astonished at the sudden change in demeanour of Emily.
“Right, back to badges…. Abe Brown?”
The tour guide began to read out names as one by one the kids collected their passes. Peter, MJ, & Ned each stayed to the back of the group as they retrieved their security passes from their bags and pockets.
Each badge looked the same from afar. It was only on closer inspection the differences could be spotted. Each plastic card was grey, with a Greek letter in the middle in just a slightly darker shade. Each name was also printed at the bottom of the card in the same darkened tone, and finally thin coloured strips up the side.
Flash, upon noticing the three pulling out their own badges, (and fully ignoring the previous conversation between Emily and Peter) decided now was as good a time as any to call them out…
“Uh, Miss Emily! Excuse me, Miss Emily!” his hand shot up in the air and started waving to gain the woman's attention “You didn’t give these three their badges! They pulled out their own and they are clearly fake! This one…” (He pointed straight to Peter) “Has been lying about having an internship here! They have the wrong colours on them and everything!” as soon as he finished speaking, his head whipped around to Peter to give an intense smug smirk…
…Which lasted all of 3 seconds before Emily could reply “Actually, I think you’ll find these badges are legitimate, and the colours simply represent the different roles within the tower they have, as in fact, all three of your fellow classmates have internships here. Which I am aware of, not only by seeing their badges but by the fact I have worked alongside each of them at different points.”
Flashes expression twisted with the rage building up inside him at hearing this information, clearly still not believing them. Mr Turner, apparently also not believing them, instantly gave pointed stares to the trio whilst blatantly ignoring how rude Flash had been acting. The rest of the group, however, simply gave apologetic looks as they were able as they were finally gain an understanding of the situation.
“Anyway, let's get through security now, before we waste any more time which would be better spent appreciating what you are here to see… If you just swipe your badge across this panel, FRIDAY, the tower’s AI, will read out your name and clearance. Once the light goes green, pass through the gate and head to the bag check section just beyond, I’ll go through first to demonstrate, then please follow one at a time”
“Emily Walker, Delta Green-Yellow, Floor 23, all items authorised”
As most of the class gasped in amazement, Flash shoved his way to the front to go next.
“Eugene Thompson, Omega White, Bag check required”
While waiting on the class to trickle through and get their possessions searched, Betty decided to ask how the security codes worked, which the tour guide was happy to explain.
“So each individual is given a Greek letter which symbolises the level of access they have, whilst the colours signify their roles. While someone can have multiple colours to better identify their role, each person can only have one access level. There is quite a few of each, so I’ll just list them off, for Greek letters of access, we have…
- Omega - which is lowest and require a person of a higher level with them at all times, this is what you guys have.
- Theta – for our cleaners, cooks, and servers
- Eta – security
- Zeta – Minimal labs, usually for interns
- Epsilon – Most labs
- Delta – All labs
- Gamma – all labs, plus additional areas for directors only
- Beta – All area including the penthouse, the only exception is private labs for the likes of Mr Stark, Mr Banner and a few others
- Alpha – completely unlimited access to anything and everything in the building.
Now for colours, we have White for tours and black for the press, then the sectors are
- Green - science
- Navy – Legal/business
- Blue – Labour work
Then for levels, we have
- Yellow – intern
- Purple – Tier 2
- Orange– Tier 1
- Red – Director
And then finally
- Silver – Family and Friends of Residents
- Gold – Avengers/residents”
As Emily finished her spiel of security clearances, the only ones left to pass through the gates were the three younger interns and Mr Turner.
“Edward ‘Ned, Ted’ Leeds, Beta Green-Yellow-Silver, Floor 67, All items authorised”
The class fell silent and stared at their classmate who was now revealed as not only having an internship but a higher level of clearance than their tour guide. Before they had time to respond, however…
“Michelle ‘MJ’ Jones, Beta Navy-Yellow-Silver, Floor 40, All items Authorised”
Suddenly the group burst into questions, 30 mouths all running wild, making it completely impossible to understand a single word.
As Peter witnessed the class reaction to the pair before him, he understandably hesitated before passing through the gate. In his period of uncertainty, Mr Turner barged in front of him, swiping his own pass…
“Roger Turner, Omega White, Bag check required”
…Before turning around, grabbing peters sleeve and yanking him through the gate
“Peter ‘Junior’ Parker, Alpha Green-Yellow-Red-Gold, Classified, All items authorised”
His peers were just about to shift their interrogations to the third intern before FRIDAY spoke again, this time, her voice more humanlike
“Mr Turner, you are not authorised to initiate physical contact with Mr Parker, Please release your hold.”
Everybody froze. Even those not in the tour. The hustle and bustle of the usually loud and busy lobby ground to a halt. The chatter amongst friends and colleagues silenced. The lively atmosphere of the grand foyer became cold and stale as all heads turned to face the fiend who dares lay hands on peter. (Okay, so, their thoughts might not have been quite so dramatic, but everything definitely came to a standstill and people were shocked at the announcement)
Mr Turner, who had become frozen still in a mixture of surprise, anger, and embarrassment, still did not let go to the kid.
“Mr Turner, you will be removed from the building, by force if required, if you do no let go in 5 seconds”
Slowly but surely, the grip on Peters clothing released as the man lifted his hands to show surrender. The AI did not respond.
“Right!” Emily exclaimed with a clap, bringing the attention back to herself, as the employees around them returned to their previous behaviours “Now seems as good a time as any to inform you all that Stark Industries treats bullying with the utmost seriousness. Anyone who is seen to be bullying, berating, tormenting, or teasing ANYONE in the building, whether it be verbal or physical, to staff or not, will only be given only one warning before being removed from the premises. We are extremely strict about this policy and the rules will not be bent to accommodate anyone. Is that understood?”
A chorus of “yes, Miss Emily” quickly followed as the class seemed to be split into 4 sets of people. First, those who looked awkward and embarrassed, staring at their shoes. Second, those who happily looked up at their tour guide in content acceptance. Third, the three interns hiding at the back – Peter wanting to be swallowed by the floor, Ned, thrilled with the warning, and MJ not really caring. And finally fourth, Flash and Mr Turner who were both filled with a burning rage at being called out for behaviours that they personally seen nothing wrong with.
“Great, now I do not like being this serious with our tour groups, especially not this early on in your adventure, so if we can all keep our actions in check for the rest of the day, I’d really love to get going with all the exciting stuff we have lined up for you guys!” as Emily finished speaking, she gave a come hither gesture for the class to follow her up to the elevator.