บท 64: Arc Three. Chapter Sixty-Four. Developments
Peter stared at the printouts Liv handed to him.
"All of this is under your name?" he asked, flicking through the pages as there were at least 20 different patents, all laid out in excruciating detail.
"It seems Ms Hardy was correct. Norman used my name to patent a few things as well as launder money into various shell accounts. While it now is making me a fugitive, if I sign the relevant paperwork you should be able to act as a proxy." Liv said, wheeling her chair over to where he was sitting, she put a hand on his thigh. "But one thing is for sure, we have half a million dollars, a lot of patents and blueprints which if I can get a contract notarized, then Oscorp loses a big chunk of change, and you can get a head start on Parker Industries."
"The problem is though, we can't let you into a bank or federal building to get these all notarized. There are warrants out for your arrest as well as Normans. Harry really threw you both under the bus. Then he threw Oscorp under the bus, they're reeling right now but once they get the Feds and the investigations done, if we touch any of these I'm sure we'll be a target rather than a minor inconvenience."
Harry had been on TV giving interview after interview, about how his dad had become more and more unhinged as the project went on. Film footage from security cams saw him acting erratically in his office, shouting for Liv, even though her part had been carefully edited, she enabled him, she gave him injections and the FBI wanted to talk to her. It wasn't an arrest warrant but the FBI had ways of making people like Liv disappear without charge.
People of special interest were often put to work under government supervision, and as Liv had worked under Osborn for the better part of two decades and had been a part of both the Goblin and the glider program as well as being a brilliant scientist in her own right. Everyone in the warehouse believed that once they had Liv in custody she would never see the outside world again.
"I've already been into my accounts and emptied them. I had Felicia help me run the funds through a few shell companies, and with the cut the organisations take to make it untraceable, we've been left with about half a million dollars. While we can't take the patents, well, you can still use them for inspiration, can't you? The older designs for the Goblin mark one and two are still viable, even if Norman wanted something bigger and flashier." She wheeled closer and patted his thigh, "But it's okay though, don't let yourself get into trouble over me, I'm a big girl now and can cope."
Peter shook his head, "No, while you've only been here a few weeks but I won't let them take you Liv, you can help get to Norman and you can help me with these, just uh, no nuclear reactors okay?" chuckling, "plus, you still owe a debt." Peter slid over a piece of paper to Liv who raised an eyebrow but then frowned as she saw its contents.
"Medical Report. Keemia Marko," was written at the top.
"Peter dear, I hardly think," Liv began but Peter raised a hand to stop her,
"choose your next words very carefully Doc." and Liv saw the look on his face, one that told her she was safe but her next choice would have consequences.
"I have enough formula from Oscorp to finish her treatments but I would suggest that, other than adoption, we leave her alone. Knowing how her father died isn't going to make her life better or easier." Liv sighed and looked at Peter, who was still angry, "but, I would suggest that with Ms Stacey's help we get her into a good care centre, and I suddenly find myself with a large amount of money, courtesy of Norman, lets put that to good use." and she relaxed as Peter relaxed.
"That's what Gwen and I were thinking, she's already spoken to her dad and the adoption place is all set up" Peter explained to the worried-looking Liv, "Hey, it's fine, so stop it, Flint was on the books at Oscorp so getting him added to the list of killed was easy enough."
"So you thought you'd frighten an old woman for fun?" Liv asked, she knew she was still under suspicion but this was still hell,
"Nope, I wanted to see what kind of person you really were Liv, not the at the end of her rope but how you'd take care of a sick child who had nothing to do with this, so no, and old?" and Peter frowned and shook his head, "I'm not even touching that. You know there are too many secrets here Liv for us just to trust you unconditionally, too many people who'd be in jail or worse. Bottom line, you're welcome here, we'll protect you but one step out of line and well, you already know don't you" and staring at the floor, rubbing her hands together Liv nodded "but stop it, that was it, no more tests, just a new place and new life, okay?" and with misty eyes, Liv looked at Peter and nodded, "it's okay, you'll be okay" and of his own accord leant forwards and gently held her face and lightly kissed her, "See?" and Liv nodded and rubbed her eyes.
"It was still cruel Peter, of everything that what I worry about the most," she said, cleaning her glasses before putting them back on "Norman and Harry weren't kind, weren't kind at all and this, this is."
"Okay, new rule, don't ever, ever compare me to those two fucking lunatics. I killed Alexsi, yes, but Flint and Max were on you, I'm not a murderer Liv, not unless someone threatens my home and family, and now, that's you too. Shit, I don't just kiss anyone you know, so stop worrying." Peter moved over and put a hand on Liv's. "Sorry okay, we needed to be sure that old Liv wasn't the real one. We needed to be sure, okay?" Peter stroked her hand and Liv nodded, tears welling up in her eyes, "but it's okay, it's all good now, no more games, I promise, just, more of this, more of care, more of being safe." and Liv grasped onto Peter's hand and snorted softly,
"but that's it, this is too good, am I dead? Are you some handsome angel, saving me before I plunge into the pits? I don't deserve this, I don't deserve any of it."
"Oh, will you two just fuck already," Peter and Liv heard Felicia yell from her home. "Stop dancing around and just do it, shit. Getting tired of the fucking sugary touchie feelie crap." It devolved into quieter swearing but both Peter and Liv could guess what she was saying and as they looked at each other they smiled and shook their heads.
The tension broken he leant forwards grabbing the harness "well, you can start by helping me with this," but as he moved he felt it, his symbskin extruded and slid over the harness, his arms blackened and symbskin flowed out. The schematics flew through his mind, small tendrils seeped into the harness, and he felt the connection to the core processor and it hummed almost happily as he took control. Liv stared at him as he just held it and the arms powered up, he picked her up with the limbs and they danced together, her laughter filling the room.
"How?" She asked and as he put her down he showed her, black tendril waving almost unseen by the naked eye through the interface needles. As the thin wires like extrusions of symbskin threaded through the interface sites the needles squeaked and unscrewed themselves as Peter and Liv watched.
"Liv? Can you do an experiment for me?"
He handed her the harness and knelt down with his back to her. She placed the harness on his back and as it clamped shut and the interface kicked in he could feel through it, it was now a part of his body, the symbskin flowing over it completely. He felt the systems respond one by one, their parts flashing through him like an instinct. As he felt each component of the harness he began to understand it more and more, he stood stock-still and would tilt his head occasionally, shaking it or nodding.
As he stood, Liv watched as his back rippled, parts of the harness began to drop out of him like unwanted pieces, the skin shed back, revealing each component in turn, first, the waistband was severed by a microscopic blade, even cutting through the thicked titanium bars that once held her, black tendrils snaked over them and the extended, becoming thinner but stronger, the black skin seemed to flow into them and the metal tarnished and repolished itself, as white bands, stretching and snaking over his chest.
The harness itself made a creaking noise and she could hear a whine and the side plates screeched and then fell to the ground, the spinal column all that was left. Seemingly alien and robotic against Peter's own back the thick oily liquid of his skin seeped into the joints and separated them out.
Liv could see the red LEDs in the device, signalling that the harness was in test and configure mode, it made chunk noise and the segments lengthened, snaking down Peters back and up to the base of his neck.
To her, it seemed as if Peter's symbskin was compressing and printing out the parts it needed, once a piece had been copied it was shed, thunking to the floor. Only the more complicated parts, such as the processors or delicate gears and servos were left intact, coated by, but not replaced by the black skin.
As the harness extended she saw a thin while band form around his neck, snake up and cover his eyes, micro-glass, used in some of the processor's casings were ground and repurposed into eyepieces they flowed into the crescent shapes his suit had created when he first started wearing a headset, white like the bands on his chest. The black continued to flow, covering his head and he tensed, a sudden pain coming from his back and the neural interface connected to his nervous system.
He saw and felt the commands given to Liv by Osborn, obey, don't question, obedience, all flashed through his find and he yelled in defiance at them. As if the program was alive it recoiled and its code shrank, moving into a copy on one of the backup processors.
From the side, where the tendrils hung loosely they snapped straight and Liv moved back, the rings making up each limb began to circle, black oozing between them, some spun off, sheared in the middle and thicker black rings took their place, the whole arm mechanism changed and the end clamps, at first a triangle of pincers were covered in the black fluid. They spun and snapped with the sound of the machine became more scissor-like, the edges gleaming as they sharpened, showing their new deadliness.
The arms floated around Venom as they stretched and contracted, four golf ball-sized webs shot from the ends of each, thudding against the wall of her new home, she did feel slightly annoyed at that, the four holes marring the nicest house she'd had since college.
The limbs retracted, folding back and sliding down the spine, sliding smoothly into the sides of the column and laying flat across not just his spine but sides as well. Venom turned, his new white bands on his chest finally revealed, the white spider was now thicker and more prominent, embedded in the thick body armour of his chest, rather than the slick oily look he had previously the whole suit now looked matte, with thicker armoured leg and shin guards, gauntlets over each arm and thick heavy shoulder and bicep armour. Venom now looked meaner and taller than before. His head was now encased in a thick helmet, the white eye ports crescent-shaped, curled up over his forehead. The integration complete he stared at Liv and raised his arms, showing off his biceps.
"We are VENOM!" He shouted and Liv smirked
"Yes, yes you are dear but what did you just do to my harness?" She asked, seemingly unamused at the mess he just made.
Venom stared at the floor, covered in debris, and the four walls, now with extra ventilation and Peter let the Venom armour retract and the last of the metal pieces fell onto the floor, clattering and banging on the linoleum. He still had the remains of the harness attached around his waist, chest, and up his spine. The four arms retracted back into it and were now lying flat, with new joints and hinges keeping them close to his skin. Once his symbskin reformed as clothing it was impossible to tell there was anything there and Peter felt unhindered by its weight and extra bulk around his body.
"Uh, sorry?" and he shrugged.
"Sorry? Oh, you will be Mr Parker. Now get your toolbox and fix my damn walls, or believe me, I will be talking to everyone else and you'll be sleeping alone until you're done."
Peter laughed and let his symbskin flow out again, this time with the four extra limbs. Each one trimmed and smoothed the holes before filling them with a thick black fluid which after a few seconds hardened. Peter coated them with white web fluid, and as the pincers extended into a flower shape they sat flush on the wall and began to vibrate and soon the holes were filled, sanded and almost invisible to the naked eye.
"I'll uh, need a box to put the bits in though," Peter said, pointing at the pile of loose components on the floor. Liv just stared at him as the symbskin and harness retracted back into his body.
"What the hell was that?" She yelled.
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