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Nathan hadn't expected the timing to be this perfect.
As he sat in the car reviewing his notes, a realization struck him. If the storyline he'd been observing played out according to pattern, Peter Parker's visit to Osborn Corporation was scheduled for Friday evening. That was the precise moment Peter would get bitten by the radioactive spiderāthe birth of Spider-Man.
And at that same time, across the city, the Hand Society was preparing a secret transfer at the docksāone involving a mysterious artifact that Nathan desperately wanted to intercept.
His expression darkened with frustration.
"Damnā¦ I can't be in two places at once."
He had always wanted to witness Peter's transformation in personāthe moment a teenager with potential became something much more. But the Hand Society's activities were too important to ignore.
Their shipment could involve ancient technology, magical relics, or dangerous mutant DNAāthings that shouldn't fall into anyone's hands unchecked.
Nathan exhaled slowly, letting go of his frustration. The city's web of fate was weaving fast, and he'd have to make choices.
Back inside Aunt May's house, the visit had nearly concluded. They shared a few more laughs and well-wishes before Nathan, Kurt, and the driver bid farewell.
---
Inside Peter's room, the atmosphere was anything but calm.
"Dude, I can't believe that guy is the CEO of Osborn!" Ned gushed, practically bouncing on the bed.
Peter's eyes gleamed with excitement. "He's not just a CEOāhe's a genius! A real biological prodigy!"
"And rich!" Ned added.
Peter paced back and forth, his voice rising with enthusiasm. "He's likeā¦ Iron Man 2.0! Genius, rich, charming, and he actually knows what he's talking about. Not just some figurehead."
Ned leaned back, arms crossed behind his head. "Soā¦ new idol?"
Peter grinned wide. "Absolutely. I mean, Tony Stark will always be number one, but this guyāNathanāhe's definitely runner-up now."
"I'm just saying," Ned teased, "you're turning into a real fanboy."
Peter laughed. "Hey, geniuses have to support geniuses."
Ned nodded sagely. "Stillā¦ I heard Osborn Corporation is kind of in trouble. Do you think it'll bounce back?"
Peter didn't hesitate. "With a leader like him? Absolutely. He's the kind of guy who turns science into miracles."
Their conversation drifted toward school, friends, and Friday's upcoming field trip to Osborn Corporation. For now, life felt normal. But the web of destiny was already pulling taut.
---
After returning from the visit, Nathan went straight to his safe house.
Kurt and the driver had returned to their respective tasks. Nathan, meanwhile, descended into the basement lab and sat before his workstation, the excitement simmering beneath his cool demeanor.
He took the mini USB drive from his jacket pocket and inserted it into his secured terminal.
The screen lit up.
Dozens of files loadedāRichard Parker's entire research legacy on the extraordinary spider project. Nathan leaned forward and began to read, scanning each document at lightning speed.
What unfolded was the work of a masterāa man who had spent years chasing perfection at the edge of science.
To map gene expression across spider species, Richard had employed quantitative PCR (QPCR) on thousands of adult female spiders, analyzing the protein levels in their glandular tissues.
He conducted an exhaustive screening campaign, identifying how different spider genes could be aligned with and integrated into human DNA.
From that study, he narrowed the field down to 354 candidate genes, and from those, isolated 127 genes with high homology to human protein sequences.
They included:
Kinases ā Enzymes that regulate metabolism and growth
Proteases ā For cellular repair and response
Dehydrogenases ā Linked to energy production
Acetyltransferases ā Involved in epigenetic regulation
Nathan's eyes glowed as he absorbed each calculation, each experimental model, each transcriptome pattern. Richard had discovered a novel evolutionary mechanismāone that could combine and rearrange hundreds of genes, resulting in polymorphic sequences ten times more diverse than standard human genetics.
That was the secret. That was what gave the spiders their extraordinary potential.
Richard had created a complete, synthetic spider genome, with all the properties needed to grant a human being powers far beyond normal biologyāagility, wall-crawling, danger sensing, enhanced strength, and regeneration.
Nathan whispered under his breath, "Richard Parkerā¦ you were a monster of brilliance."
"This kind of workāit takes sleepless nights, an obsession with precision, and more sacrifice than most scientists ever face. No wonder you were able to build something this extraordinary."
---
A day and a half passed.
Nathan hadn't left the basement.
His eyes were bloodshot, hair a mess, but he didn't care. He had devoured every bit of Richard's workāevery gene chart, every retrovirus code, every hypothesis and conclusion.
And finallyā¦ he was done.
He leaned back in his chair, rubbing his swollen eyes.
"It's complete," he murmured with satisfaction. "I've memorized it all."
He was tired, but not broken. Thanks to his enhanced physique and super soldier serum-enhanced regeneration, he could endure the intense mental strain.
Now he fully understood how the Spider Ability had been created.
But then came the twist.
Richard's spider genome was gene-locked.
Richard had used his own genetic markers to bind the activation mechanism. The sequence was locked to his DNA, meaning only his direct bloodline could properly trigger the transformation.
Peter Parker, Richard's son, was the only viable human match.
Nathan leaned forward, thoughtful. "Soā¦ even if someone else was bitten, the activation sequence would reject them. But with Peterāthe gene sequence would match, combine, and evolve."
He now understood what Richard had done.
The spiders Richard created were more than engineered animalsāthey were living, mobile genetic activators. As soon as they bit someone with the correct genetic sequence, their systems would inject and weave the modified genome directly into the host.
The new DNA would bond over time, evolving into its optimal expression: Spider-Man.
Nathan couldn't use that version of the genome himself.
But it didn't matter.
Because he now understood the full process of creation. He had access to thousands of spider genomes in the database. With that and his own DNA samples, he could synthesize a custom spider ability tailored for himself.
He tapped his chin thoughtfully.
"Time to create my own power."
Then he paused, another thought entering his mind.
Ghost SpiderāGwen.
She wasn't related to Richard.
So how did she get spider powers?
Nathan leaned back in his chair, eyes narrowing.
"Gwen doesn't have Richard's bloodā¦ so how did she get the Spider Ability?"
That shouldn't be possible.
He tapped his fingers against the desk.
"There must be another lab. Another researcher who cracked the genome."
His eyes narrowed further.
"I'll need to look into Gwen. There's more to her story."
But that wasn't the only discovery that troubled him.
As he re-examined Richard's final test logs, a disturbing revelation emerged.
Nathan's eyes sharpened.
"There's a flaw in the genomeā¦"
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