"Listen, Director, I am done."
"The new Oscorp president is an idiot. F—k."
Leaving Oscorp, Natalie ducked into a quiet corner, hit a sat-phone, and unloaded a string of complaints.
On the other end, Nick Fury let her vent and pieced it together.
"Natasha, is it possible your charm is slipping lately?"
"Or maybe you are not his type?"
"I do not buy that a man who swung across Manhattan like on a playground, connected with Bishop Security and Oscorp, and then became Oscorp's majority holder overnight is an idiot."
"Is Norman Osborn an idiot? Is Eleanor Bishop a fool?"
"Think it through. Maybe this one is on you."
Natasha's brow twitched. So is it that I am not seductive enough, or are your standards too picky?
Do not tell me I lost to a clueless coed.
Can a teenager read a look or parse a gesture the way I can?
"I refuse to keep dealing with that jerk."
"Fine. I will send someone else. You stick to the Stark plan. I have a line to his assistant. You will be inside soon."
"This time, try not to whiff on a playboy."
Natasha rolled her eyes. Stark was supposed to be her mark from the start - a starving wolf for a skirt, practically trivial.
She had only rushed to Oscorp because of sudden hiring news, slipped into the interview on the strength of world-class tradecraft and languages... and got bounced before she could start.
"I hate rich men. F—k."
She had just sworn when her phone flashed a Pac-Man graphic.
She stared, baffled, as the chomper ate one app after another.
It grinned a big smiley face at her.
Then the screen went black. The device turned into a brick.
"...?"
A string of question marks would not cover it.
That had been agency issue, and she did not even watch spicy videos.
So what was this?
She did not know, but her blood pressure spiked. She hurled it.
"F—k f—k f—k. Even a stupid phone bullies me. Drop dead, all of you."
Elsewhere:
"Apologies, boss. I looked into it. Natalie slipped into the interview this morning at the last minute. I will deal with the staff responsible. There will be consequences."
Norman tread carefully, trying to regain favor.
Amano Ren's methods had rattled him.
After returning home he pulled surveillance footage - nothing abnormal.
Then in a hidden lab he ran a quick self-check.
The hereditary reaper that stalked the Osborns was gone.
Health like he had never known. No more death knocking.
He had doubted before the tests.
Now he understood.
He was determined to perform, to earn a cure for Harry as well.
He would not see his son die young childless like his father.
Ren waved it off. "From now on, secretary shortlists hit my desk first. And that Natalie - she never sets foot in Oscorp again."
"Understood," Norman said.
"About yesterday's list - Purchasing and Warehouse made a rush buy," he added, hesitant. "Would you like to review it now?"
"Take me."
Ren paused and motioned forward.
Norman led the way at once.
Felicia misread the gravity and stiffened, already planning how to shine.
But when they reached a tucked-away storeroom filled with bugs and odd gear, she faltered.
What was special about any of this?
Were the insects augmented by Oscorp biotech - super gene bugs?
And that helmet-goggle rig like a soldier's HUD?
New-gen military kit?
And these lizards... geckos? Lizards?
Felicia had done homework on Oscorp and carried briefs that listed key projects, plus an emailed packet.
She knew there was a reptile project, but these... looked ordinary.
She was puzzled. Norman was puzzled too, but he did not ask.
"You two wait outside."
Ren sent them out, then swept the local nets with a brain-pulse. No cameras nearby.
Norman had ensured privacy without being told.
Once they were gone, Ren opened the crates one by one.
Geckos with night vision and regeneration. Chameleons that changed color to vanish. The speed king of insects - the green tiger beetle. Bats with ultrasonic mapping. Axolotls with extreme recovery. The latest infrared thermal optics.
Ten or more of each.
And multiple species lines.
Geckos and chameleons alone came in several kinds, dozens of animals total.
This was only the morning's rush haul and lab pulls.
More would trickle in.
Ren did not dwell. He opened his right hand. "Buddy, time to work."
The black hole spun. Under his control it drew in insects, glassware, everything.
Beams of light streamed from his palm into his body.
[Super Vision (Gecko): your eyes gain controllable hypersensitivity up to four hundred times human baseline. Night reads like day. Similar ability detected - merging complete.]
"..."