Alex was helping Peter. Genuinely helping him understand and control his abilities. That wasn't manipulation. That was friendship.
But he was also using Peter as a research subject. Collecting data without permission. Studying him like a lab specimen.
'Both things can be true,' Alex thought. 'I can help him and learn from him at the same time.'
The moral complexity didn't bother him as much as it probably should have. This was survival. Preparation. Doing what needed to be done in a universe where being normal meant being vulnerable.
...
Alex returned to Oscorp at 2:15 PM. Went straight back to work on his assignment. The report on Specimen 15 was coming together nicely.
He documented the genetic modifications. Explained the research goals. Detailed the security failures that led to the escape. Included recommendations for improved containment protocols.
It was thorough. Professional. Exactly what Norman had asked for.
By 6 PM he had a solid draft. Twenty pages of analysis. Charts showing the genetic sequences. Graphs of test results. Video stills from behavioral observations.
He saved everything and shut down his computer. Packed his bag carefully. The encrypted drive with all the real data was secure in a hidden pocket.
His phone buzzed. Text from Gwen.
"Study group tomorrow? Peter's been absent. Want to make sure he's caught up."
Alex responded. "He's sick. Flu maybe. I'll check on him and let you know."
"You're a good friend. Thanks."
Alex put his phone away and left the building. The evening air was cool. Manhattan's lights were coming on across the skyline.
He stopped at a small electronics store on his way to the subway. Bought an external hard drive. Two terabytes. Enough storage for multiple backups of all his research.
At home, he copied everything from the encrypted drive to the new hard drive. Then backed it up again to cloud storage using a secure server. Triple redundancy. No way to lose this data.
Then he opened his laptop and started his real analysis.
The genetic modifications in Specimen 15 were elegant. Sophisticated. Whoever designed them understood gene expression at a level that was almost artistic.
But they were also dangerous. The integration process killed sixty percent of test subjects. Those weren't acceptable odds.
'I need to improve the formula,' Alex thought. 'Make it safer. More stable. Something that won't kill me when I use it.'
That would take time. Months. Maybe years. He would need to understand exactly how the modifications worked. Why some subjects survived and others died. What factors determined success versus failure.
Peter was a success case. Studying his transformation would provide critical data.
Alex pulled out the hair samples he'd collected. Stored them in his freezer next to the spider specimen. Three time points now. Baseline before the bite. Day one after exposure. Day three with full abilities manifesting.
He would collect more over the coming weeks. Build a complete timeline of the genetic changes.
His phone buzzed. Text from Peter.
"Feeling better. The sensory stuff is calming down. I can focus now. Thanks for earlier."
"Glad to hear it. Want to run some tests this weekend? Measure your abilities systematically?"
"Yeah. That sounds good. Saturday work?"
"Perfect. I'll bring equipment."
Alex set his phone down and returned to his research. The chemical formula for Catalyst X was complex. Twelve different compounds. Each one serving a specific purpose in the integration process.
Removing any single compound would probably cause the modifications to fail. But adjusting the ratios might improve survival rates.
'Trial and error,' Alex thought. 'Systematic experimentation. That's how science works.'
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