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'Well, it was only a matter of time before this happened,' Harry thought as he rode the elevator up to his father's office, alone as per the explicit directions that had arrived via an email, 'Could have sent me a text, but I guess he really wants to drill in the point...No surprise that I'm a natural manipulator when I grew up shadowing the great Norman Osborn.'
'I'm surprised that you haven't turned him into a puppet or at least searched through his mind to find out who he's cooperating with,' Nyx chimed in, the full weight of her consciousness settling back into Harry's mind with a familiar and comforting weight. The symbiote had been spending longer and longer periods of time within the hive mind, though Harry could barely blame her with how quickly the Swarm was growing.
'It would be an unwise risk to take such a drastic measure,' Harry argued, 'Though overall your sentiment his correct, my father is beginning to outlive his usefulness, and I believe that after this meeting, he will become an outright obstacle. And you know how much I hate navigating around those.'
'Mhhh, then how do you plan on disposing of him without alerting anyone?' Nyx questioned, probing Harry's mind to sense his emotions and thoughts.
'I'm not one hundred percent certain, but the death of Norman Osborn should be a very impactful moment for my Harry persona, maybe a public traumatic death with high stakes, leaving an entire billion-dollar empire crashing down on the shoulders of a woefully unprepared son who put everything on the line to uphold his father's legacy.' Harry pitched the idea of his father's death like he was reading the tagline of the latest TV drama, and a smile spread across his face, 'I like the sound of that.'
'It certainly does make for a modern epic,' Nyx agreed.
'Yes, but enough about me, I want to hear how the Swarm is developing, I haven't connected myself with the hive mind for quite some time, meaning Scrouge has been running mostly on autopilot.'
'While we have kept our consumption of the ocean's fisheries conservative to avoid detection, the Swarm yearns to grow and devour. Fortunately, we have detected a large mass of biosignatures, equivalent to a small country, on the ocean floor between North America and Europe. Scourge believes that they are a possible evolutionary offshoot from homo sapiens that evolved to live in the ocean.' Nyx reported piquing Harry's interest.
'Do we know if they have any contact with the surface world?'
'We believe they are solely concentrated on a deep-sea shelf roughly the size of Australia, and rarely venture out into the world beyond their civilization. Launching even a small-scale invasion would be a valuable catalyst not only for the biomass and genetic information, but also for the possibility to induce powerful variants among our ranks.'
A broad smile crossed Harry's lips, 'Then by all means let the Endless Maws Feast.'
A feeling of hunger and immense pleasure rippled through the bond between Nyx and Harry as the symbiote could finally fulfill her design, 'As you decree, King of The Swarm.'
---
Stepping out as the elevator doors opened, Harry stepped into his father's office and found him standing away with his back turned as he looked out over the city, "You called for me, Father?"
Norman turned around with a smile on his face, but Harry could see through the mask as if it wasn't there in the first place; the man was pissed.
"Yes, I did," Norman replied as he walked over and stood in front of Harry, "Because imagine my surprise when I found out that you released a statement to every newspaper that Ascend Agencies was hosting a convention to advertise some of its latest projects, including their first Ascendant, humanity's first step beyond evolution. All of this after you've been telling me for the past two months that you were far from being able to produce anything tangible and worth publicising."
"And that was the case until a few days ago, but now we do have something worth making a show out of," Harry replied confidently, "I don't see what the problem is, this will be huge for your campaign, imagine the attention and how much people will be talking."
Norman paused for a second before his smile suddenly lost the fake, easy-going edge as his jaw muscles feathered from the strain, "That's right, they will be talking, but not about my campaign. They'll be talking about Ascend, all of its new flashy toys, and of course, you, Harry Osborn, my son, the genius. But here's the thing, my boy."
Norman's hand shot up as he grabbed Harry's shoulder and clamped down hard, digging his thumb into the crook of Harry's neck, "Everything you have or ever will accomplish is because of me, so cut it out with this upstart attitude and thinking you can fly solo. I am understood?"
Harry grimaced in pain as he quickly nodded, "Y-yes, I-I'm sorry, just let me go!"
Norman stared into Harry's eyes for a moment longer before grunting like he was disgusted with what he saw, "Good, and don't you forget, otherwise I'll pull the plug on everything."
Norman let go of Harry with a shove, "Now get out of my office, you've wasted enough of my time already."
Stumbling back, Harry plastered a look of fear across his face as he rolled his shoulder and retreated back into the elevator. But the moment the doors closed, Harry ditched his hunched-over posture, and the look of fear in his eyes was replaced by one of absolute fury, 'I'm going to enjoy killing that man.'
---
Back in his office, Norman forced to keep his hand from trembling as hot white fury still coursed through his veins. Had he kept looking at Harry's face for a moment longer, Norman was sure he would have strangled the boy, 'Cluess and brash, with no vision of what's possibly at stake. He's more concerned about showing me up, it won't be long before he's pining after my title as CEO.'
Before Norman's murderous thoughts flourished further, the phone in his pocket rang, and without even looking, he answered the call with a growl, "What is it?"
"Grumpy today, aren't we?"
Norman froze for a second as a familiar voice came through the phone, a voice that shouldn't have the number to his personal phone, "What is this?"
"A check in Norman, I wanted to see how you were doing, and ask you a few questions because I'm somewhat confused," Emma replied, her voice soft but frigid at the same time like frost creeping across glass, "Because apparently you've been holding back on me, I keep inquiring about my delivery and you say progress has been slow. But now, all of a sudden, I hear that you're having a little exhibition."
Norman couldn't help but adjust his collar as he tried to remain calm and collected, "Yes, it was a rather sudden development in the lab and a bit of a miscommunication with PR regarding when they were supposed to make the announcement. But I assure you from here on out, I'll prioritize clear and concise communication."
"Oh, wonderful, because I would hate to think that you were deliberately sabotaging our partnership," Emma replied with a light-hearted laugh, "But I'm truly glad to hear it was just an error on your part, after all, no one is perfect. Though you might disagree with me on that."
Norman stifled a sigh or relief as Emma seemed to let the issue drop, "Why would you believe that?"
"Well, don't all parents believe their children are perfect?" Emma asked with a joking tone. "And while I know I should use absolutes, I can't find any reason why your son wouldn't be as close as possible."
Norman froze his rage rekindling with a vengeance, "He certainly does have some...impressive...accomplishments."
"There's no need to be modest, Norman, your boy is a genius, anyone can see it, what he's claimed to accomplish is groundbreaking, and I imagine after the convention he's going to prove that his wild claims aren't so outlandish." Emma continued to shower Harry in compliments, stoking Norman's rage until it was a burning inferno, "You must be so proud."
"Yes...proud," Norman managed to reply as a tremor passed through his entire body, "Any other comments?"
"None at all," Emma replied coylily as if she could see how close Norman was to reaching a boiling point, "I'll be in touch."
The moment the call dropped, Norman hurled his phone at the floor before shattering the screen with the heel of his boot.