บท 23: The measure of a man is what he does with power.
I quickly arrived at Oscorp, parking my car next to the building. I was eyeing the big building as I heard someone call me. I gazed down and saw a blond girl waving at me.
I smiled and walked toward her, and said" Gwen." She nodded and said" I have finally found you!" I titled my head, confused and asked" You were seeking me?" Gwen nodded and began walking inside the building, saying" I was, Doctor Connors needs some help and asked me to ask you."
I nodded, and said pressing on the elevator's button" Well I have some time, but why me?" Gwen looked at me in the eyes and replied" He did not say the reason, but I think that he sees you as an equal."
As she finished the elevator opened and I said as we both stepped inside" Glad to hear that. How are you doing since you got in?" Gwen's smile stretched as she replied" Magnificent. And thank you again for giving me this opportunity."
I shrugged and replied" You don't have to, the only thing I did was talk to him for less than two minutes." Gwen put her hands in her blouse's pockets and replied" Still, you could have ignored me." I rolled my eyes and jokingly replied" And have my mother kill me? No thanks!"
She laughed, covering her mouth. I asked her" What are you working on?" Gwen regained her calm, but still had a slight smile as she replied" We are currently working on genetic mutations, with the goal of adding lizards regenerative capabilities on humans."
The door opened, and I said" Still on that… How is it going? I heard that our previous boss wanted to stop funding this project if no results were to be shown. How is it looking now?" Gwen sighed and replied" It's a tragedy, but what happened helped us as our new boss seems to hold different ideas than his father."
I nodded and soon the two of us entered Connors's lab. Currently he was looking at his screen, on it were different images, showing cells from different species. He did not seem to hear us, and I confirmed this when he jumped hearing Gwen's voice.
He looked at her with a tired smile, but then saw me and seemed to gain energy. He got up and said with a large smile" You finally are available! Come, I need your help here."
He began explaining to me what all of this was about and shared some of his earlier experiences. I helped him as much as I could, and we did find some hypothesis that we would need to work on later, but in the end we only worked for a few hours so we didn't make any breathtaking achievements.
As I left his lab and went to the elevator, I stopped myself from going to my floor, but instead went to the highest floor. I entered and was surprised at the changes brought. I had once come to the CEO's floor and everything was pretty basic and simple.
But now the floor, or at least the hall changed drastically. The white and brown walls were changed into gold and purple ones, extravagant furniture appeared… Well overall it became the typical nouveaux rich office.
I walked to the secretary who was currently writing on some kind of document. I walked toward her, and stopped in front of her desk. But much to my dismay she did not react and ignored me. I cleared my throat thinking she was just too absorbed by her work, but even then she continued.
I frowned and said" I am here to see Mr Osborn." She finally looked up and looked at me with a frown. She was clearly annoyed, but not as much as I was because I looked at her document and saw it wasn't something related to work but instead a mere magazine.
She said" Do you have an appointment?" I shook my head and replied" I don't but tell him…" I was cut off by her rude answer" You can't see the boss then." She stopped looking at me and continued writing on her freaking magazine.
I am sure a vein was about to pop up on my face and just as I was about to reprimand her I heard Harry's voice" Betty, let him in." She nonchalantly pressed on a button and opened the door. I gave her one last look and entered the office.
As expected the insides were like the outside, full of majestic colors, and I am pretty sure the painting hung on his wall is worth several millions. I looked at my friend, and saw him relaxing in his chair, looking at me with a small smile.
I felt that something was wrong, but I kept a straight face and said" How are you doing Harry? I tried to call you but you wouldn't answer the phone… Busy?" Harry answered with the same smile" That is Mr Osborn for you."
I smiled first thinking this was a joke, but seeing him keep that damn smile made me understand he wasn't. I stopped smiling and said" Then Mr Osborn, how are you?" Harry waved around and said" Well I think you have eyes."
I frowned and said" Let's not beat around the bush. What is it?" Harry lost his smile and said" Then let's be frank. Since when are you eyeing my girlfriend?"
I was stunned by his question, as it was probably the most absurd thing I could think he would ask me. I regained my composure and said" What are you talking about? MJ is but a friend, and you should know that, my friend!"
Harry scowled and replied" Then why did you take MJ with you to that audition?!" I looked at him wide eyes and replied" She is my friend, of course I would help her if I have nothing else to do."
Harry however seemed unreasonable as he said" Keep telling lies, but do you think I will believe you?! Do you think you are better than me? Look! I have everything I want!" I was not angry anymore, but worried.
I said" Harry, listen…" But he interrupted me" WHY DID MY FATHER ASK TO SEE YOU AND NOT ME, HIS OWN SON!?" I sighed, finally seeing why he was acting like this. I said" We will talk about that later."
I headed out but as I was opening the door he said" Don't bother coming back, you are fired." I froze and looked at him incredulously. After a few seconds rage swapped with incomprehension, but I did not answer and just got out.
I walked to the elevator, and once in I thought about the situation. I have been fired and lost my lab because someone I believed to be a friend got jealous over his dad preferring me.
I did not realize that in my anger I was clenching my fist so hard that blood was coming out. The door opened, and I walked toward my my lab with firm steps, my rage burning more and more violently.
I arrived in my lab, packed my things, left all the machines as they were owned by Oscorp, and departed. I first went to Otto's lab, and by the time I reached my destination my anger had subsided.
I pushed on the ring button, and soon the door opened. Otto looked at me surprised and asked" Why are you carrying your stuff? You move to a bigger lab?" Then his face palled and he asked" You move to another section?!"
I simply shook my head and numbly said" I got fired. I am here to say my goodbye." Otto froze, then frowned, then gaped, then frowned, and finally spoke" Why? Just… Why? It doesn't make any sense!"
I looked up and said" Well the new boss isn't pleased with me so I have to move." Otto was about to speak but I added" Don't, Otto. Thanks for your care, but I will be fine. As I said, I am here to say goodbye."
Otto still made a strange face and said" But how am I supposed to finish the mini sun and our current project without you?!" I chuckled and said" I have someone in mind that could probably help you." Otto shook his head however and said" It's not about whether I can do it or not! It is not my project, it is ours. I can't finish it alone and claim all the glory!"
I felt a warm feeling hearing his words, and I said" Thank you Otto, but it has already been decided. And I don't care about the possible prizes or other things, if I work on this it is for mankind, not myself."
Otto seemed to be deeply shaken by my statement and he said" Whatever, I don't want you to go, our speed will slow down by three or four times if you go!" I smiled and replied" Don't exaggerate things. And like I said I have someone in mind that could help you."
Otto sighed and replied" But is he even as good as you?" I smiled and replied" That is for you to discover. You can just take him as an assistant for the moment, and keep him if he is good enough, or fire him if he isn't."
Otto nodded and asked" Then who is it? Someone I know?" I shook my head and replied" I doubt that, it is a friend of mine from high school, but don't worry I believe he is good enough to come help you."
Otto sighed and said" But what about you? You will just go without a word and leave all your hard work to me? It's unfair." I shrugged and answered" The world is unfair. And don't worry, I don't plan to just stay at school."
Otto smiled and said" If you want I have a few friends over at Stark ind, I could get you a chance over there." I did not answer him directly, and really thought about it. Stark is Iron Man, and it could be good to work with him, and his company doesn't make weapons anymore so it wouldn't be that bad…
I smiled and nodded" Thanks Otto, I would appreciate that. You do me a favor." Otto shook his head and said" No, you helped me so much, I owe you. But if you insist, then I have a condition." I raised an eyebrow, and asked" Yes?"
Otto replied as serious as ever" I want you to take the mini sun project and finish it." I froze, processing his words, but even after ten seconds, I still couldn't understand his words, I tried changing the order of the words, change the letters, but I still didn't understand.
I looked at him and asked" Can you repeat?" Otto smiled this time and replied" I want you to finish this project." I blinked once, twice, thrice…
I drew a sharp breath and replied" Otto, I can't." Otto was surprised this time and asked" Why can't you? I am sure you can." I shook my head and replied" No I can't. This is something you and your wife worked on for more than a decade, I can't just take it and finish it."
Otto shook his head and said" I talked about it with my wife, and she too agrees. Look, I am not arrogant, I know that without you I won't be able to finish this, and even if I could I would only be able to work on it after I finish the prosthesis, and only that will certainly take me a few years without you."
I frowned and asked" Your point is?" Otto sighed and replied" The mini sun isn't just a project, it is an extremely important step for humanity, and we can't delay it by a few years or maybe even a decade because you didn't want to 'steal' my work."
I took him in a hug and said" I promise you I will finish this project, and before you even finish yours." Otto returned the hug and replied" Then I will wait for that."
ความคิดของผู้สร้าง 
SlyOW
SlyOW If you are confused about the title it is a quote I took from Pittacus. If I choose this it is because the main subject here is Harry's decision, but if I put a title like on the other chapters then it would spoil it. So I came with this quote that will not spoil, but that still grasp this chapter's meaning.
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