"They say we are what we are,"
Peter sang while soldering the last part, smiling as he gave the gears one last look and connected the cable so it would start dialing some numbers while nodding his head to the music playing through his headphones.
"But we don't have to be
I'm glad to hate you but I do it in the best way
I'll be the watcher of the eternal flame
I'll be the guard dog of all your fever dreams."
The BIOS loaded and after some adjustments the software installed successfully.
He smiled, pressed the enter key, and his invention came to life.
"I am the sand, bottom half of the hourglass.
I'll try to picture me without you but I can't."
He jumped out of his seat excitedly singing at the top of his lungs, just as Missy and May entered the Spider-Cave laboratory room.
"'Cause we could be immortals, immortals
Just not for long, for long."
He spun around and smiled at the amused looks May and Missy were giving him.
Taking off his headphones, he walked over to plant a kiss on Missy's lips, then lifted May up to spin her around and kiss her passionately.
Missy just sighed at his antics, but kept a hidden smile as he got down and walked away from a stunned May.
"You seem to be in a good mood today," Missy said, making his smile look like a smiling face emoji.
"Yes.... not that I care at all, but what is the reason for this happiness?" May said.
"Happiness? That is an understatement, my dear and beautiful May," he said, then dramatically extended his arms, making the ladies giggle a little.
While they were laughing, he quickly made them stop so they could see his latest invention.
On his work table there was a spider-themed robot, the eight-legged Spider-Bot, which was 30 centimeters long.
Along with its legs, it was quite large and sturdy.
It was painted in red and black, and its glasses were red. On its belly, he had painted the number 77.
The Spider-Bot spun around and looked about, analyzing its surroundings as its basic protocols began to function.
In addition to him, there was also the modified Portia he had designed, who looked at the gigantic metallic robot with curiosity and amazement.
"Wow! He is just like me. Can you make more like him? Wait, does that mean you will not love me anymore? Is that why you did it?"
Portia asked while looking at him with those eight innocent eyes.
How adorable.
"It is possible, but sometimes the original is better, and I am not getting rid of you. You are already part of the family, along with Selina and Caesar," he said while momentarily stroking her head.
"Oh, yes! The giant thing that likes to sleep and the thing with lots of hair!" she said while looking back at the robot.
The comment made him laugh slightly, which caused confusion among the girls.
"This is Blodi-77, short for Theraphosa Blodi, also known as the Goliath Spider, a Spider-Bot inspired by that magnificent spider," he said with a big smile. "Now, this is the first step in creating an army of spider minions."
He mentioned this while remembering all the things Otto had created.
"Like the Minions! Then you would be Gru! How cool!" Portia said, making him smile with amusement at being compared to Gru, which did not bother him because when Gru gets serious, there is no one who can stop him.
"Do I need to tell you how much bad energy you gave off with your evil boss speech?" Missy asked.
"I do not know what you are talking about, anyway," he intelligently ignored her. "Even though Cortana is on the network, we quickly realized that even with all the data we can access through the internet it is still impossible to monitor everything."
"Because you ignore his pre-...." May started.
"Although we say the internet is everywhere, there are some places on Earth that the internet cannot reach," he said as he turned to the Blodi-77 and patted it.
"That gave me the idea to create my own network and spread it around the world, monitoring everything that happens to keep the chaos contained once it inevitably begins. And that chaos begins sooner rather than later."
"So, this is your spy network?" May asked a little uncertainly. "Well, this.... is not very subtle."
"Exactly. Giant Spider-Bots are not exactly very normal and stealthy, Peter," Missy said.
"Well, I know that," he said as he put a bracelet on his left wrist and clicked it, causing a holographic screen to appear as it paired with Cortana's network. "Look. This shows how many units are online as of now. After calculating a few things, I will choose this specific unit. Now look...."
May watched, fascinated, while Missy made a face of disgust.
"These are Portia-24s. They may look fragile, but these little guys are extremely discreet and stealthy, and they are also equipped to the teeth," he explained while Missy and May gave him strange looks. "Let me give more details. As you know, I get into a lot of-...."
"That is an understatement," Missy joked dryly while May laughed.
"And so far luck has been on my side because no one has gotten hold of my blood samples," he said, causing Missy and May to gasp as they realized what he was implying.
"If someone does manage to do so, I cannot imagine the great damage that will be unleashed by just a tiny drop of my blood. That is why I designed these guys."
"What do you mean? Are they going to fight-...."
"These guys are not built for fighting. As of now, I have not designed a combat unit due to material shortages, costs, and hundreds of thousands of other reasons. So no, these guys are not fighting. They are cleaning up the mess left behind in each battle. Cleaning up blood, infiltration, intelligence gathering, collecting any scraps of skin that might be lost, and even tracking someone and getting a blood sample if possible. And many other reasons. The applications are almost limitless. The Blodi-77 will basically be the transport for these little heroes."
"I see," Missy nodded in understanding. "Are they ready to operate?"
"Not really. This is just the first time I have managed to create a unit. I have to do some diagnostics, fix bugs, hardware, some adjustments to the mainframe, along with some software optimization," he said while rubbing his neck. "So yeah.... I have a lot of things to do, actually."
"I see," she nodded as she sat down in a chair and looked at the data on the screen. "I could help you, although I am not as smart as Gwen, but with everything you have taught me I could do something."
"I was going to ask you. Cortana and I need all the help we can get to significantly shorten the time and fix some things," he sighed to himself. "We need great minds."
"Aww-...." She felt flattered by the compliment, but he had to ruin it.
"That is why I was about to invite Susan to stay for a few days," he said, rubbing his chin, oblivious to Missy's sour look.
"I have already applied for the final exams, so I have some time, which I will use to do many things I have planned."
"Hmph! I think I know what you plan to spend your time on," she pouted to herself.
He looked at her with a strange expression of confusion before understanding finally hit him and he put on a mischievous smile.
"Stop.... stop making that smile, it is.... stupid."
"Awww, how cute!" he said, making Missy pout even more while May watched the interaction with a loving look on her face.
"I cannot help you both with all these things, so I will just support you with my food and my love," May said, to cheer them both up.
"Thanks, May," Missy said, showing her bipolarity by changing her mood just by hearing the word food. "Your food is very good. Not as good as Peter's."
"I know. I still do not understand how he is so good or even how he became so good."
"Thanks for the compliment, May, and I am definitely going to need a lot of your love," he smiled suggestively, making May blush slightly before giving him a seductive wink.
"Urgh." Missy groaned, then looked at the computer while May pulled at the collar of her blouse to give him a view of her cleavage before biting her lip and leaving the Spider-Cave.
"Damn...." He smiled as he turned to Missy who was reading his research data.
"Even with all these capabilities, the little ones are taking too many risks in the infiltration aspect because, small or large, robot spiders are still robots, which are not exactly natural," she argued while he nodded his head in agreement.
"I know," he said with a smile. "That is why I have a second plan. One that is more natural."
"Huh? What do you mean?" she asked.
"Look There....."