DISCLAIMER: I do not own Spider-Man or any of its characters, or any other Marvel characters. This work is a fan-work offered free of charge, and I make no money from it whatsoever.

Story cover art is by MisconToku, who you can find on Newgrounds.

A/N: I'd like you to imagine this fanfic a bit like a comic. Some stories will go across several chapters/'issues', others will be shorter, but they'll all change the universe in some permanent way. If a story has several parts I'll label them as 'part 1' etc.

I'm starting right from the beginning, with her origin.

Note - I've made her dad Richard Parker in this universe. I know some people imagine him as Peter, which is totally valid, but for various reasons I felt I had to go with Richard for my interpretation of her universe.

Updates will be as regular as possible, somewhere between 2 weeks to a month if the chapters are long. If they get irregular it doesn't mean I've abandoned the fic, as you can see from previous stories I've published where this happened. I'm in this for the long-haul ;D

Oh and sorry that SP/dr only has one forward slash. It's an issue with the website, unfortunately! Anyway, hope you enjoy the story, and thanks for reading :)

Chapter 1: 'Along Came A SP/dr (Part 1)'

We always ate 'Chocolate UFOs' first thing in the morning. A bowl each. You must've seen it around. It's the cereal with the big green alien on the front that says 'IT'S OUT OF THIS WORLD'. Both our bowls would be overflowing with little spaceships and I always let mine make the milk all brown and chocolatey before I ate any of it. Sometimes Dad would dip his spoon in and steal some of mine before I was finished, but he'd always drink any chocolate milk I left behind after I'd had my fill. He'd just grab the bowl and down it in one go.

"Dad, that's gross!"

"Actually I think you'll find it's chocolate."

Then he'd go to work and Uncle Ben would come over and drive me to school. One day I asked,

"Why can't Dad drive me to school? You all work at the same place, right?"

"Your Dad has a very important job, Peni," Uncle Ben explained, "He has to start reeaaallly early to make sure everything gets done on time."

"Isn't your job important too?"

"Well, yes, but-"

"Then why don't you start early?"

"We don't work together, we just work for the same company, so your Aunt and I start a little later. Besides," he smiled, "if I went in early, who would drive you to school?"

My teacher was a lady with dark skin and bright white hair. She spoke softly and explained things slowly and never got angry when someone made a mistake. Her lessons were easy, and painfully slow. Our school had those old interactive whiteboards, not the cool VR ones, but the touchscreen ones where you have to poke it a billion times with your finger before it registers that you've done anything. I was so far ahead of the class that I could tell her what her slides would say before the machine even loaded them. But I liked her though. She listened to me. I couldn't talk to the other kids. We played games sometimes, but it's not the same. Sure we could skip rope, but if I tried to tell them about the life cycle of a moth or about the different types of clouds in the sky their eyes would just glaze over. We didn't like the same music, we didn't read the same books, we didn't like the same food, we didn't have anything in common, at all. There was me, and then there was them. I couldn't even imagine what they might be thinking at any given moment. It was like I was in a parallel universe. But she listened. She sat and listened to me and she never judged. She started giving me extra tough problems to do after school, and brought me books to read while she taught the rest of the class, and for a while school wasn't so bad. Her name was Mrs. Robertson. She was the first friend I ever had, though she retired before I really got to know her.

Sometime after my eighth birthday things got busy at Oscorp and I had to start catching the bus back from school, but I wasn't totally alone - Mr. Osborn's son, Harry, went with me. He was even smaller and scrawnier than I was, and the other kids made sure he knew it. He always said he wanted to walk me home to keep me safe, but it was obvious to us both that it was other way around. I didn't mind though. He was smart, weirdly smart, like me, and honestly, it felt good to protect him. I felt like a superhero.

I told him, "If they pick on you again Harry you just call me, 'kay? I'll teach 'em a lesson!"

So he did, and I punched two kids in the face and kicked another one in the shins. The principle called Oscorp, then they called Uncle Ben, and he wasn't happy.

"Peni, you know that you can't just go and pick fights with people like that," he said as he drove me back home.

"They were bullying Harry."

"You could've told your teacher."

"I did!"

"After you attacked them."

"They started it."

"Peni-"

"Dad would understand."

"Your dad loves you very much, Peni, but that doesn't mean he wants you to be a troublemaker. He has a very stressful job, you know? The last thing he needs is to worry about you getting into fights at school."

"…will he be at work till late again?"

"I don't know. Probably. He's working on something very special at the moment."

"What's so special about it?"

"I'm not allowed to tell you."

I sighed, "Top secret?"

"You guessed it."

"Will I ever get to find out what his job is?"

"I'm sure you will someday!"

Uncle Ben dropped me off at my apartment but he couldn't stay - he still had work to do at the lab. The apartment was, as usual, empty. Dad wouldn't be back till late. So I spent that evening like I did most evenings: playing video games and eating candy till I got so tired I couldn't keep my eyes open any more. I must've fallen asleep on the couch because when I woke up my face was buried in one of its cushions. I had a thick blanket on me too, totally different to the one on my bed.

"Peni, Peni…"

Someone was shaking my shoulder.

"Huh?"

It was Dad. I leapt off the couch, tossing the pile of candy wrappers on my skirt onto the floor.

"Dad! I can explain-"

He laughed and ruffled my hair, "No need. I'm sorry I got back so late last night. Did you sleep okay? I didn't wanna wake you up, so I let you stay on the couch, but-"

"Yeah I slept okay. I think."

"You think?"

"I can't believe I fell asleep in my uniform…"

"I've fallen asleep in my lab clothes more times than I can count. And…" he sniffed my shoulder, "…you smell fine, so I wouldn't worry."

"Dad!"

"Was school okay yesterday?"

I froze. No one had told him about what happened…?

"Oh uh, yeah, it was good," I lied, "I didn't learn anything, but I hung out with Harry."

"I thought they gave you stuff to read during lessons?" he said as he poured milk into two bowls of cereal.

"No, that was my old teacher. She left last year."

"Oh. Well maybe I should talk to them and explain."

"It's fine, you're busy, I understand."

He put the cereal on the breakfast table and gave me a serious look, "I've been neglecting you."

"What? No, Dad, it's-"

"I have. I've been so busy I haven't had time to give you the attention you deserve, sweetheart. I literally left you to fall asleep on the couch last night. The couch."

"It's okay, I can handle it, I'm not a little kid anymore."

"It's true, you're growing up so fast…"

"Exactly."

"I've been thinking about it for a while, actually."

"About what?"

"Quitting."

"Your job!?"

"Yes. Quitting my job and getting a more normal job, one that gives me time to be with you."

"But isn't your job super important?"

He smiled, "Not more important than you. Anyway, you better eat your breakfast, or you'll be late for school!"

"You wanna steal my chocolate milk that bad, huh?"

"My, my, what an accusation! I see you've inherited your mother's snarky attitude!"

"Well no wonder she was snarky if you kept on stealing her food!"

"What happened to innocent until proven guilty?" he grinned as he dipped his spoon into my bowl.

"Hey!"

"Just having one for the road, officer."

"Eat your own gosh darn cereal, you thief!"

My dad left for work as always, and I waited for Uncle Ben to come and pick me up. When I heard a knock at the door I just ran over and opened it right away. No one else ever visited. It could only be Uncle Ben.

Except it wasn't. Standing before me was a tall man in a dark grey suit. He had sharp eyes, and his smile was completely joyless as he said, "Peni Parker, I presume?"

I backed away, shocked into silence.

"Now, now, no need to be afraid. I'm no stranger. My name is Norman Osborn. Perhaps your father mentioned me?"

"M-Mister Osborn?"

He opened his arms wide, "Ah so you have heard of me! Well then, why don't you step into my car? It's waiting outside."

"Where's Uncle Ben?"

"In the lab, along with your aunt, and your father. Today I'm driving you to school."

"But-"

"You stood up for my boy Harry the other day, did you not?"

"I didn't mean to get him in trouble!"

Mr. Osborn laughed, "You misunderstand me. I'm thanking you. Your confidence was admirable - more than I can say for Harry. Hell, you could teach him a thing or two."

His eyes were so intense, like the eagles you see in zoos or on TV; piercing, focused.

"Is Harry here too?" I asked.

"He's in the car. Come, there's much to talk about."

And so I locked my apartment door and followed Norman Osborn into his car, which was levitating at a small landing strip a few feet away. Harry was in the back, staring out of the window. He didn't look at me as I got in.

"I normally have a driver for this," Mr. Osborn commented as he started the ignition, "but like I said, I wanted to have a chat with you, Peni."

"Why me?"

"Do you know what your father does at work?"

"No…"

The car lifted off the ground effortlessly and flew down the street. It was much nicer than Uncle Ben's. The seats were soft and the whole thing had that 'brand new' smell.

"Well Peni, simply put, he's building me a robot. But not just any robot; a robot powered by the combination of two perfectly psychogenetically compatible minds. One of which is human, and the other… an irradiated insect. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"Psychogenetic compatibility… you mean like, between brothers and sisters?"

"No, deeper. I'm talking about two minds which become a single mind. Two beings so perfectly matched that when placed in the correct apparatus they become indistinguishable. That is what you father is making for me."

"But why?"

"What do you mean, 'but why'?"

"Just, why would you want a machine like that? We already have super smart computers, and insects aren't smarter than humans so I don't see why you'd wanna smoosh an insect brain and a human brain together."

"It's not intelligence this world needs Peni, it's power, the power to protect human civilization from those who would destroy it. With this machine, the days of giant monsters steamrolling New York will be no more. And once we've made one model, well we could make a whole line of them, and protect other cities. We could build an entire army-"

Suddenly Harry piped up, "Dad you were supposed to turn left there!"

"What!? No, I- Agh, now I've lost my train of thought, you idiot. There's more than one way to get to your school. I know where I'm going, so just be quiet and listen."

I didn't understand why Mr. Osborn was telling me all this; Uncle Ben had always insisted my dad's work was top secret. But I wasn't complaining!

"Anyway," he continued, still sounding frustrated, "what I was trying to say was I'd like to invite you to take a tour around the lab this evening, after school. I think you're old enough to see what your father gets up to at work. But don't tell him - let's make it a surprise. I'm sure he'd be overjoyed to have a visit from you."

Before he'd even finished speaking I knew I just had to do it. I had to go and see Dad in action, even if he was gonna quit, in fact especially if he was gonna quit.

Maybe if I can be there with him he won't have to quit at all! We can build robots together!

"I'd love to Mr. Osborn! …if you're sure it's okay."

"I'm the boss, Peni, don't worry - what I say, goes."

After getting lost a few more times, though Harry didn't tell him, Mr. Osborn eventually dropped us off at school just in time for class.

"Come on Harry, we better hurry or we'll be-"

But he was already halfway down the hall. I ran to catch up but he was out of sight before I got anywhere near him. Even during class he didn't so much as look over at me, and at recess he hung out right in the far corner of the playground, away from the all the other kids. I knew something was wrong, so I went over to where he was moping on a worn-out wooden bench and sat next to him.

"Are you annoyed at me?"

He stared down at the tarmac below.

"Come on, don't ignore me."

Silence.

"Harry, what is it? Just tell me!"

"Leave me alone."

"No."

He sighed, "Please."

"If I leave you alone the other kids will pick on you again."

"Don't remind me…"

"Wait, I didn't mean-"

"I get it, all right? I'm not as cool as you."

What…?

"Uh, I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm not cool," I replied.

"Cooler than me."

"The only people that like me here are the teachers."

"And my dad. My dad."

"I'm sorry?"

"He spent all morning telling me how pathetic I am and how much of a pussy I was cos I needed a girl to protect me."

"For real?"

"Yes, for real."

"But that's so mean."

"Heh, yeah, sure is."

"I don't understand…"

"It's not complicated Peni, he just hates me."

"That can't be true though, Harry. You're his son, and you're smart! You're almost as smart as me!"

"Gee, thanks for the compliment."

"I'm serious!"

"Tell him that."

"Maybe I should."

"No, please don't. That'll only make him more angry."

"Is he angry a lot?"

"Whenever I'm around, yeah."

"It's just weird. Like, he makes all the police robots and stuff so I just assumed he was a good guy, you know? But I guess-"

"He is a good guy… just not to me."

"Maybe he's just very stressed at work."

"Are you serious?"

"I dunno! I'm just trying to think of why he'd be so mean to you."

"Not everyone's dad is like yours, Peni. You have no idea how lucky you are."

"I don't feel lucky."

"Well you should. You have like, the perfect life."

"I dunno… we're not crazy rich like you are."

"Being crazy rich doesn't buy you friends."

"That's cos you're weird. We're weird. Weird kids don't have friends. Normal friends, anyway."

"Doesn't buy you a new dad either."

"I mean, I guess not, but-"

"See what I mean?"

"Alright, so money doesn't solve everything, but still-"

"Save it."

"Harry-"

"Nope."

"Look," I said, wrapping my arm around him, "I know things are crappy right now, but you're not on your own. I don't care what your dad says-"

"Peni-"

"You're not a 'pussy'. You're a good person, and you should believe in yourself more. I believe in you, and that's gotta count for something, right?"

He tried to hide the smile that flickered across his lips, "I suppose so."

"I know so," I smiled back, "People can think whatever they want, but I know you're cool. You're weird and smart, you don't fit in, and yeah you're kinda small, and quiet, and a bit of a pushover sometimes-"

"If this is meant to be a pep talk-"

"-but I think all of that is cool. If you were some boring normie we wouldn't even be sitting here talking right now."

He thought about it for a moment.

"…you really mean all that?"

I gave him a big thumbs up, "Would I lie to you?"

All I could think about for the rest of the day was finally seeing Dad at work. Even better, he was building a giant robot! I was gonna be right there with him the whole time till he came home, then I'd get to be with him some more! I doodled robot designs in the margins of my textbook, thought of cool robot names, tried to imagine what insects Mr. Osborn was thinking of when he talked about psychogenetic compatibility. I was so lost in my own imagination that I didn't even notice the school bell ring. I nearly hit the ceiling when the teacher tapped my shoulder with his pencil.

"Peni? You can go now."

"Oh, yeah, of course, silly me, sorry, thank you, sorry, I can't believe I uh… see you tomorrow, Mr. Newton."

"I'll see you around, Peni," he said with a wry smile.

My heart was thumping in my chest as I walked through the school's huge automated metal doors. Would I get to hang out with Dad just this once, or would it become a regular thing? Was I finally gonna get to hear about all the top secret stuff that Uncle Ben couldn't tell me? And most importantly: how big was this robot he was building?

Then I saw the car. It was jet black, its paintwork perfectly shiny, completely untarnished. Mr. Osborn wasn't driving it this time. Instead, a middle-aged dude in a fancy suit was standing beside the rear doors. All the windows were tinted so you couldn't see inside. I was gonna wait to see if Harry would show up, maybe he stayed back later than I did, but then one of the car's windows rolled down and he waved at me.

"Peni! Over here!"

Once I was inside and buckled up the driver adjusted his cap and drove off into the throng of after-school traffic. Parents from all across the city filled every mag-lane on every street with their bulky, family-sized vehicles. No sooner had we lifted off than we were stuck in-between a bus and a hovervan.

"Aw man," I grumbled, "this is even worse than usual!"

"No need to worry, Miss Parker," the driver said, "soon we'll be entering a private road which goes directly to Oscorp Headquarters. It'll only take a few minutes."

"A private road!?"

"To be used only at Mr. Osborn's discretion."

After a few minutes of drifting through the traffic we started to approach a crossroads with a bright red hatch built into one corner.

"Is that it?" I asked.

"Indeed."

"Even I haven't been this way before," Harry commented.

Weaving through the cloud of hovering cars the driver gradually changed mag-lanes, getting closer and closer to ground level until we were right in front of the hatch. He pushed some buttons on the dashboard, then said, "This is Menken. I'm at the tunnel."

Within seconds the hatch doors slid open to reveal a shadowy tunnel lined with tiny red lights. He drove straight in. The tunnel stretched on so far that I couldn't see the end of it. Then the doors closed behind us just as quickly as they'd opened, leaving us in near-darkness. Beyond the car window the red lights sailed by in steady silence. It was peaceful. It was magical. To me, it was like we were flying through space. Just us and nothingness.

Dad works in a place like this?

I'd never actually been into the Oscorp building. I only knew the things Dad told me, which wasn't much. I knew they did science stuff and I knew Dad worked in a lab, but everything else I had to find out myself on the internet, or from news reports on the TV like 'Oscorp teams up with Mayor Fisk to improve public transport' and 'Oscorp builds new hospital in Queens'.

We didn't really like the TV, but it came with the apartment and we'd have to pay to get it removed. The trouble with TVs is they turn on whenever they feel like it. The little camera knows when you're in, so when you walk anywhere near the stupid thing it flashes whatever bright and crazy ad is playing at the time right in your face. The only other thing it turned on for was the news, especially when it was about Oscorp. Sometimes I felt like the TV knew more about my dad's work than I did! Anyway we mostly kept it muted. You don't even need TVs for video games anymore, not if you're playing in VR.

The driver spoke into the dashboard again, "Now approaching Oscorp Headquarters. Please ready the doors."

"Understood," replied the dashboard speakers, "I'm opening them now."

Suddenly a bright light appeared at the end of the tunnel, staring at us like an enormous eye. I unbuckled my seatbelt and peeked over the seat in front of me to get a better look.

"Whoa."

It got bigger and bigger, so intensely white that I had to squint as it flooded the windows, flooded the entire car with heat and light. I covered my eyes with my hands. We began to slow down. Up a ramp, now turning left, even brighter than before.

Then the driver stopped the car.

"Hm, we're actually ahead of schedule."

"Is this it? Why's it so bright in here?"

The door beside me swung open. Cool air rushed over my bare legs.

"Nice to see you Peni. Come, your father is waiting."

Mr. Osborn's voice. I uncovered my eyes. He was holding a hand out to me. I took it and stepped out of the car. He had a very firm grip.

"Harry," he said, "you too. Come on."

As my eyes adjusted I realized we were in an interior parking lot. The whole room was lined with vehicles of various sizes. They were all boring colors: grey, black, sometimes white. One was blue, but not a fun shade of blue.

Mr. Osborn motioned for us to follow him, "The lab's this way."

He led us down a hallway lined on all sides with concrete till we reached a wide elevator lined with black metal. We got in. The electronic sign at the top of the door read 'B01'. On the wall was a microphone.

"Otto," Mr. Osborn said, "take us to B03."

A robotic voice replied, "Certainly, Mr. Osborn."

"Does Otto work with my dad too?"

Mr. Osborn smirked, "In a sense, yes."

The door closed with a quiet click. Then the elevator sank down, and my stomach flew up. I pressed myself into the corner as a low hum filled the air. We were picking up speed, I could feel it - and I didn't like it. I stared at the sign. Somehow it was still on B01.

Come on B02, hurry up already.

We hit B02 not a moment too soon, but of course we didn't stop there. I had no idea how far down B03 was. I couldn't be sure the floors were evenly spaced. Luckily for me it wasn't far away, and after a few seconds we'd arrived at B03. Not so lucky for me, the elevator stopped immediately upon arrival, dropping my stomach back into position all at once.

I stumbled out of the elevator as soon as the doors opened.

"Can we take the stairs next time?"

"Yeah Dad," Harry agreed, "what's up with that elevator?"

"You're free to take the stairs on your way out… if you don't mind walking up a hundred flights of them."

"A hundred!?" we both yelled.

"We don't do small here. This place, this company doesn't just make knick-knacks or mere machines…" he said, gesturing grandly as we approached an enormous green door, "what we do here is nothing less than magical. We make things beyond human imagination every day. We are the cradle of innovation, the very peak of human achievement. This is where we change the world…"

He clicked his fingers and the door slid away. On the other side was a super-mega-ginormous hall. It was big, and I mean really big. It looked like those military hangars you see in the movies, but times a thousand. It was easily as big as any of the terminals at JFK Airport, and probably much bigger, and it was completely full, every inch of it, with gigantic robots.

"Welcome, children, to the Oscorp Experimental Science Division."

I couldn't believe my eyes, "How… how do you fit all this under New York…?"

"The mayor knows an opportunity when he sees it. He gave us permission to build as big as we wanted, no questions asked. So we did."

Harry's jaw was at his feet, "Dad… why didn't you bring me here sooner?"

"You weren't ready. You still aren't, but your mother suggested that you perhaps needed a bit of motivation."

"Thanks Mom."

"Thanks Mom indeed, though you can't rely on her generosity forever Harry. I didn't build my empire on handouts. It's only my sheer force of will that shaped this company into what it is today, something you would do well to remember. Now, let's get this tour underway. I've got a meeting in an hour and I don't intend on missing it."

No textbook could have prepared me for what I saw that day at Oscorp. They had things that I'd never even imagined could exist. We saw batteries the size of tennis balls containing as much energy as a dwarf star, spacetime-warping camo suits using technology derived from black holes, long-distance magnetoreceptor goggles, self-repairing nanotech armour, spaceship engines, adhesive bombs, quantum DNA manipulators and gigantic battle mechs so big that I nearly fell on my back trying to look up at them. I wanted to know how they worked. How were they made? How were they used? Everywhere I looked was full of amazing things, inspiring things. My eight year-old brain was swimming with ideas. I must've said 'wow' hundreds of times before we even reached my Dad's robot.

At first I didn't realize that what I was looking at was my dad's creation. Compared to everything else his robot looked plain, even boring. It was about as tall as a street light, just a small thing really, a sphere with dangly bits crudely stuck to it, a red and blue mess. But none of that mattered to me, because as soon as Mr. Osborn said, "This is your father's work," my first response was-

"Dad!"

I ran over and wrapped my arms around his neck.

"…Peni? What are you doing-"

"Richard," Mr. Osborn began, "I thought I'd show your daughter around."

Dad didn't seem happy to see me, "I appreciate the thought, Mr. Osborn, but I'm not sure it's safe here for a child her age."

"She's not just any normal child though, is she? From what I hear she's quite the genius. Wouldn't you say so, Peni?"

"Yeah Dad, it's okay! I promise I won't break anything!"

"I'm giving my boy a tour too," he continued, "someday all this will be his, after all."

Harry was as much in awe as I was, "You mean I get to own all this? All of it? Really?"

"Yes son, all of it, but don't take that as an excuse to slack off at school."

My dad didn't smile, "Again, I appreciate the sentiment Mr. Osborn, but Peni really should be at home. She gets a lot of homework."

"I'll get Ben to drive her back as soon as we're done. Perhaps you could explain your project to the children? You have my permission."

"With all due respect, I don't think that's wise. Children can't keep secrets like adults can. How about we-"

"Richard, please, humor me."

Dad sighed, and with his hand resting on my shoulder told us, "Well kids, you know how the police use robots to help them fight crime?"

I nodded, "Uh-huh!"

"Well this is like those robots. Normally a robot is either entirely mechanical, or has a pilot. When it's got a pilot it's not really a robot anymore - we called the piloted ones 'mechs'."

"Duh! I already knew that!"

I could tell he was holding back a grin, "I'm glad you're following along sweetheart. The reason I was explaining all that is because the mech I'm making is, as far as we know, unique. And what makes it unique is unlike every other mech in world right now, my mech, this one right here, has two pilots, except the mech treats them as just one, single pilot."

"Psychogenetic compatibility!" I cheered, proud of myself for knowing what he was talking about.

"How on Earth do you know that term?"

I winked, "Because I'm smart!"

"Because I taught it to her," Mr. Osborn interjected, "I drove her and Harry to school today."

Dad furrowed his brow, "Oh really?"

"She stood up for my boy at school, so I wanted to thank her personally. She's a strong girl, Richard. Spirited. She could go a long way."

"Stood up for him at school? You mean like in a fight? I didn't hear about any of this."

I felt my stomach drop. I'd completely forgotten to tell Dad about what happened...

"There'll be plenty of time to discuss that later. Right now I'd like to see the spider."

"The spider? Nothing's changed on that front, Mr. Osborn. It's still unpredictable, nowhere near ready for psychogenetic bonding yet."

"Where is it right now?"

"In the mech, but-"

"Release it."

"Are you sure? I was about to conduct an EEG, which would be far more helpful to understanding the effects of the radiation than merely looking at it."

"The test can wait. I want to see its progress with my own eyes."

"We'll need a container first, but-"

Mr. Osborn clicked his fingers, "Otto! Fetch me one of the wildlife containers. A small one."

No one replied. I still had no idea who 'Otto' was. I looked around but no one was coming our way. Then suddenly one of the panels on the floor rose up to reveal a metal pedestal carrying a glass box with a plastic lid.

"That doesn't look very strong," I commented.

"Don't be fooled by its appearance," Mr. Osborn assured me, "You couldn't break it even if you wanted to."

He picked it up and handed it to my dad, "You know what to do."

Dad hesitated for a moment, then, after adjusting his glasses, he yanked off the container's lid. Behind him was a tall, spindly stepladder, which he climbed till his feet were almost level with the mech's bulbous head. Then he got on all fours and crawled onto it. I heard a click, a hiss. Some steam fizzled into my dad's face. He coughed. Then I heard him speak, only quietly, with a low voice like when you don't wanna wake someone up.

"C'mere," he whispered, "thaaat's it, that's it, good boy, there we go."

With a pop he sealed the container and shuffled back over to the stepladder.

The spider was a lot smaller than I expected it to be.

Harry said what I was thinking, "Is that it?"

Mr. Osborn tutted, "Do you realize what you're looking at, boy? This isn't just some insect-"

"Technically it's not an insect," I interrupted, "it's an arachnid."

He scowled at me silently, then as if I hadn't said anything, continued, "-this is a genetically modified, highly irradiated super spider. Much more intelligent than any bug you've ever seen. Its brain is bioengineered to naturally synchronize with the mech. The mech is simply an extra limb as far as it's concerned."

"So the mech is like its body?" Harry asked.

"Exactly. And once it has psychogenetically linked with a pilot, the mech will be like the pilot's body as well."

My dad gently tapped the container with his fingers, "I call it SP/dr."

I stared at the little creature through the glass, "Is that the spider's name?"

"Sort of. It's the spider's name, and the mech's name, and the pilot's name. All three put together are SP/dr."

"But are they SP/dr when they're separate too?"

"I haven't decided on that yet. I'm not even sure it'll work."

"We'll make it work," Mr. Osborn said, crouching down beside me to ogle at the spider. The spider seemed to watch him too, keeping all of its eyes firmly focused on Mr. Osborn's face.

"Richard, I want you to take this home."

"What!? Why?"

"You said yourself, SP/dr is incomplete without a pilot."

"Actually I said-"

"Have you considered that the reason the spider is so unstable is because it's missing a key component? SP/dr needs a pilot."

"I'm just a researcher, Mr. Osborn. I can't help you choose a pilot."

"You misunderstand, Richard, you are the pilot."

Dad was so shocked that he just stared down silently at the spider, his mouth hanging open.

"You're gonna get to ride in the robot!?" I squealed, "Dad that's so cool!"

Suddenly his face was stern. Rigid.

"No, I'm sorry Mr. Osborn. You need to find another pilot. Once someone has bonded with SP/dr, they and only they will be able to manipulate it. I can't take that responsibility."

"Richard-"

"I know how much good this mech could do for the world, I know how important it is, but I'm not the man. I can't be. I'm sorry. I can't."

I tugged at his lab coat, "But Dad-"

"Peni, not now."

Mr. Osborn didn't seem upset, "Sleep on it. Take the spider home for the weekend, get to know it. If you still don't want to pilot the machine next week, then we'll just scrap the project."

"You don't need to scrap it, with a bit of time and the right pilot, it'll easily fulfill its purpose, and more. It's only a matter of time before another kaijuu attacks New York, and we barely survived the last one. This city needs SP/dr, Mr. Osborn."

"Exactly. We need this to work, you're the only man I trust to do it," he said, resting a hand on my Dad's shoulder, "no one else understands this mech like you do."

"What about Ben? He's a brilliant scientist, and we have similar genes if that's your concern. I'm sure he'd jump at the chance to work on this. Please, Mr. Osborn, this hasn't got to be black and white. The mech is ready to go. It doesn't need me. Anyone could pilot it."

"Just take the spider home. I'll see you next week. You too Peni," he added, looking down at me with his eagle eyes.

He gave Harry a clap on the back, "All right boy, I'll show you the fighter planes and then you'll have to run along to your mother."

"Can't I stay here with Peni?"

"I'm afraid not. Peni has homework to do, as do you. Oh and Richard," he said, looking back as he strolled away, "you're free to leave as well. Take Peni with you."

"But-"

"I insist!"

Dad scratched the back of his head, "Well Peni, I guess I'm driving you home today."

I almost never got to ride in Dad's car. It was very… well used. There were bumps and scuffs and stains all over it, inside and out. The front seat wasn't so bad - it wasn't ripped or busted, though there was a whole stack of empty soda cans rolling around beneath my feet from the time Dad and I went on a road trip up to Michigan when I was six. You used to be able to ride in the back too, but now it was totally drowned in books, clothes and random lab equipment. So I sat in the front, my seatbelt loosely holding me in place while I put all my concentration into keeping the spider container safe on my lap.

"You should probably bring your stuff indoors sometime," I suggested.

"Then the apartment would be messy."

The spider crawled along the walls of his little home, following my finger as I traced an invisible path along the glass.

"He's very friendly."

"He's radioactive, too."

I let my finger sit in one place and the spider stood on top of it, gently swinging his front legs back and forth. I lifted the container so that I could get a better look at him. He didn't move. We watched each other, unafraid, inquisitive.

"I like you," I whispered. He stopped moving, his eyes locked on to mine. Suddenly my chest was filled with this feeling, a knowing that the spider had understood what I just said. I pressed my nose against the container, trying to get as close as I possibly could, and my breath started to steam up the glass. Eventually the spider scuttled away, wandering around aimlessly like he had before. I put the container back on my lap.

"Why don't you wanna be a pilot, Dad? I'd wanna be a pilot if I was you."

"In another world, I'd do it without hesitation."

"Then why not this one?"

"It's dangerous, sweetheart. That machine is completely experimental in every sense of the word. It's like being a police officer, except all your equipment could backfire at any moment. I have to think about you."

"I'm fine, I can totally take care of myself if you get injured or something."

He wasn't buying it.

"Peni, I was being serious yesterday. I'm gonna quit and get a normal job."

"You're not even gonna finish building SP/dr?"

"I'd give anything to be able to finish it, but you heard Mr. Osborn. I'm the only man he wants to pilot it. If I stay at Oscorp he'll never change his mind."

"How about I pilot it?"

"Absolutely not."

"But Daaad-"

"Nope! No way. You're only eight, for a start."

"We could be a team."

"Not happening."

"Don't you trust me?"

"Peni I love you, and that's exactly why neither of us are ever gonna get anywhere near that machine again if I can help it. I'll hand the spider in next week and Mr. Osborn can do whatever he likes with it. The only thing left for me to do now is find another job."

"But what if he kills him?"

"Why would he-"

"Without the mech he has no use for him, right?"

"I mean, he's already killed so many insects already, Peni, it's not like Oscorp-"

"What!?"

"Oh god I shouldn't have said that."

"Then we have to take care of him! Look how cute he is!"

"Well I wouldn't call him-"

"Look, look!" I insisted, shoving the container in his face.

"Peni! Not while I'm driving!"

I pulled the container back, squeezing it against my chest.

"…sorry."

He sighed, "It's okay, I understand sweetheart. This isn't how I wanted it to go either."

"Do you really have to hand SP/dr in?"

"He's not ours to keep. Oscorp needs him to make the mech work. They're connected."

"I know, but…"

"I'll talk to Uncle Ben. Maybe he can sort things out with Mr. Osborn."

"We can't let them kill SP/dr, Dad."

"I'll try my best, I promise."