Unexpected Assistance
I almost drop the phone in my shock. “Um. Yeah, this is Peter. Parker.” I turn to Mr. Stark and mouth, ‘Norman Osborn’. He frowns. “Just a moment,” I say into the phone. Mr. Stark holds up a finger, and I say, “It’s okay. He wants to help out.” I turn and walk out the door of the workshop, and lean against the wall outside.
“Mr. Parker?” Mr. Osborn says.
“Yeah, sorry, I’m here,” I say, a little breathless. I mean, this is Norman Osborn I’m talking to. “Can I just ask, how’d you know I’m looking for you?”
He chuckles. “I know when people are looking for me. Your search history isn’t private, you know. And when I realized it was Peter Parker, Richard and Mary’s son, who was looking, I figured I’d help and give you a call. So what can I do for you?”
“Well,” I say, and lick my dry lips. “You remember my parents, right?”
“Richard and Mary, of course. They were dear friends. I was sorry when they passed, and I’m sorry for your loss.”
“Oh, thanks. I uh, was wondering if you could tell me something about them.”
“What would you like to know?”
I take a deep breath. “The thing is Mr. Osborn, I don’t remember what happened to them, and neither does my aunt. How they died, I mean. I was wondering if they told you anything before they died? Maybe where they were going?”
Silence reigns for the next few moments. “Mr. Osborn?” I say.
He clears his throat. “Yes, of course. I’m sorry, the question took me off guard a bit.”
“Oh…sorry.”
“No, no need to apologize. I just wasn’t expecting it. Now it’s been…goodness, twelve years since they passed?”
“Yes, sir.”
“I see. Let me think…”
My heart pounds as I wait for his answer. My other hand not holding the phone forms a fist, and I bite my lip. This could be it. This could be my answer.
“I’m sorry, no. They didn’t tell me anything.”
“Oh,” I say, disappointment filling me. “Thank you though, sir.”
“I’m sorry I couldn’t help you. But tell you what, I could help you look, if that would help.”
“Really?” I perk up. “That’d be great.”
“Of course. Until next time, Mr. Parker. Actually, how about you come to Oscorp tower, say, sometime next week after school?”
“That sounds great.”
“How about next Wednesday, at 4?”
“I’ll be there, sir.”
“Excellent. Until then.” The phone beeps as he hangs up.
Moments later, I walk back into the workshop. Mr. Stark immediately looks up and says,
“What did he say?”
“He wants to help me,” I say, still in a daze.
“Really?” Mr. Stark frowns. “I didn’t think he was that kind of a guy.”
I run a hand through my hair. “Well, hopefully he can help.”
Mr. Stark nods, and says, “Yeah, maybe. In the meantime, let’s work on your suit, shall we?”
“Right!”
----
The next Wednesday, I tell MJ that I can’t make it to decathlon practice. We stand in front of the school, me nervously twitching and her with crossed arms and a deadpan expression.
“You’re flaking out on me, huh?”
“It’s important,” I say. “Please? Just for today.”
She sighs. “Okay. Is it spider-man stuff?”
I shake my head.
“Then what is it?”
“It’s…something I need to find out.”
Her brow creases. “You won’t tell me?”
I look around, at all the people passing us. “Not here. Later though, I promise.”
“Good.” She bites her lip, then leans in and kisses me on the cheek. “See you.” She runs back inside before I can respond. Hiding a grin, I turn away and call an Uber for Oscorp tower.
In minutes I’m in front of it, gaping up at its height. This thing is almost as tall as Stark tower was. It has a hexagonal pattern on the outside, with the word OSCORP written in big letter on the top. With a deep breath, I open the doors.
I enter into a huge lobby with glass walls, revealing a bigger atrium beyond. I walk up to a red-haired, burly male receptionist sitting behind a desk.
“Um, hello,” I say. “Peter Parker here for a meeting with Mr. Osborn.”
The man looks me up and down with a quizzical expression. “Are you sure?”
“Can you look me up, please?”
He sighs and turns to his computer, typing a few things in before blinking. “Yes. Um, here you are.” He turns to a set of doors at the end of the lobby and says, “Take the elevator to the 47th floor. Mr. Osborn’s private offices are up there. He should be ready to meet you.”
“Great, thanks,” I say, running, then walking, to the doors. I make my way to the elevator then punch in the button for floor 47, gulping as a slender Asian woman stares me down. She smiles and says,
“What brings you here?”
“Oh, uh, I’m here for a meeting.”
“Really?” she says. “Then good luck.” We stop at the thirtieth floor, and she exits.
I take a deep breath. So far, no one has arrested me for coming in here. Thank god. As soon as the elevator stops at the 47th floor, I rush off, then careen to a halt.
It’s like I’m in a different building entirely. Oak paneling surrounds me, covering every surface. Paintings line the walls, showing scenes of oceans and mountains. Three hallways branch off of the area I stand in, each lined with doors.
“Peter,” a voice shocks me out of my head. I turn to see Norman Osborn standing to my right. “So good of you to come.” He holds out his hand, and I shake it.
“Thank you, sir,” I say, a little breathless. This is kind of blowing my mind. I mean, this is the Norman Osborn, standing right in front of me. “So um…”
He chuckles. “I’m guessing we should get started. Come with me.” He begins walking down the third hall, and opens one of the doors. I follow, and blink at the pristine white room we enter. This building just doesn’t seem to want to be in one style. Filing cabinets stand at attention, and Mr. Osborn walks over to one of them. Using a key from his pocket, he opens the top drawer, pulling out some files. He hands them to me, and soon I have a small pile growing in my arms.
“Um, sir?” I ask. “What are these for?”
“Oh, these? They’re on your parents’ work. Their research, to be precise. I thought you might be interested.”
I nod. “But will this…”
“Help you find them? I thought it might. There are some locations in these files, some labs they’ve worked in. Maybe they were going to one of them when they passed.”
“Oh! That makes sense.” A spark of hope lights inside me. A few minutes later, Mr. Osborn helps me carry the stacks of folders to another room, this time an office, where we spend the next half hour scanning the files in silence. I try and look for locations, and I find a few, mostly labs here in the city, which I put in a stack. There aren’t any out of city locations though, as far as I can tell.
One thing does catch my attention, though.
“Um, sir?” I ask.
“Yes?” Mr. Osborn looks up from his papers, where he’s made a stack of locations as well.
“I keep seeing these words. Cross-species genetics.”
“Yes, that was your parents’ primary research field.”
“What were they doing with it?”
“The title is sort of self-explanatory, actually. They were attempting to give one species’ trait to another.”
“I know. But…”
“What were they doing? Well, take a look at this.” He pulls a file from his pile and hands it to me.
The front is marked with a double zero, both crossed out.
“What?” I say, taking the file.
“This was their best research,” he says softly. “It’s amazing, what they did. They cracked it, Peter. The genetic code. They did it. But…” He sighs. “They never told anyone how they did it. That research is unreadable.”
“Unreadable?” I repeat, opening the file and scanning the papers.
“Yes, unfortunately. Those two were as genius as Stark when it came to biology. They knew genetics like no one else. And they actually did it, once. They engineered a group of organisms that could give their DNA to a human. Can you believe that? Of course, it was never tested. Too dangerous, you know. And the organisms were ultimately destroyed a few months ago, since they never were any use.”
“What organisms?” I say with a frown.
“Oh. Well, spiders.”
My heart skips a beat. “I’m sorry?”
“Yes, they made a group of spiders that could give their genetic information to humans. And just the right amount, too. It was incredible. They—”
“Sorry,” I say, barely able to stand. “Can I take this file home? Please?”
Mr. Osborn looks from the file to me with a quizzical expression. “Why? Do you think you can understand it?”
“Oh, um…” I hadn’t thought of that. “Sure.”
He smiles. “Excellent! Then it’s all yours.”
I smile back and step back, thanking him. “I’m so sorry, I have to go. Is that okay?”
“Yes, of course. See you later, Mr. Parker.”
“Sure. Thank you, Mr. Osborn. Thank you!”
With that I run out of the room and back to the elevator. Even before the doors close, I’m dialing Mr. Stark’s number on my phone. He picks up within a minute.
“This had better be important kid, I’m in the middle of a meeting.”
“Yes, it is,” I say in a rush. “Mr. Stark I just found something really important. You know the spider that bit me? In Oscorp? My parents made those spiders.”
“What?” Mr. Stark says, suddenly all business. “How?”
“I’ll explain. Can you come over for dinner tonight? To the apartment. Please?”
“On my way.”
“Thank you, Mr. Stark. See you then.”