Tarantula (Spider-Man)

The Offer

6/15/2020: Black Lives Matter: Analyzing/Criticizing the Use of Black Characters in My Most Popular Fanfiction: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s12JRxg_WEg

   "Yeah! Senior year!" a voice shouts from the phone.

"I know, that's great you guys." a female replies cheerfully, as she sits down in an office chair.

"You know what senior year means?" the voice asks.

She chuckles, "I don't know, uhm...senior studies, college application, AP classes..."

The voice shrieks, "Val, that was senior year for you! Senior year is suppose to be about prom, graduation, and landing the lead role in the school play."

Valerie Polina grips her cell in her hand, speaking in-between bites of her organic salad that she muches at her desk. She looks over and see a picture of her and her friend on the other end of the line, Stephanie, in elementary school.

"I know Steph, its just, high school seems like it was years away."

"Well, maybe its because you only spent what, two years in high school?" Stephanie giggles.

"One and a half years. I transferred from middle school in the middle of the year, and by the time  the year was over, I was ready to graduate. Of course I had to spend an entire year as a senior to apply for colleges and graduate properly." Valerie explains, her voice adult-like and informative.

"Rrright, hey you know what? You should come to senior prom with us! I'm sure they'll let you in."

Valerie begins to shake her head, before realizing that the gesture wouldn't communicate by cell, "No thanks Steph. It would be against the rules, and dances have never really been my thing." She looks at the clock in her office, lunch time's almost over. "Say, Steph, I gotta go. I'll talk to you later, okay?"

She hears a heavy sigh from the other end of the line, "Okay, ttyl Val."

"...excuse me?"

"Talk to you later."

She snaps into realization, "Oh, of course, talk to you later."

She hangs up, finishes the remainder of her salad, and disposes of the plastic bowl in the garbage, making sure to cover it with a lid as to not leave an odor in the office. She begins examining some papers when a man wearing a pair of  Google Glass glasses walks in,

"Uhm...Dr. Polina?"

Valerie looks over at the nervous man, raising an eyebrow in expectancy, "Yes?"

The man, despite being much taller and older than Valerie, is quite intimidated by her presence, "Well...Mr. Gull wants to sp...sp..sp...speak to you. He says its...important."

She gets up from her desk, "Alright." and as she walks to the door, she places a hand on his shoulder, "And please Mr. Torger, don't act so nervous around your superiors, its not professional."

Torger, Valerie's assistant, nods furiously, adjusting himself to be standing almost staggeringly straight, "Ye...yes ma'am!"

Valerie gently pushes her door open into the rustic warehouse. Her shallow heels sound as she walks down a catwalk to the staircase. Below, a small team of ten engineers work on various projects. All of them are in their mid-twenties, and most of them are male. She approaches a tall, slender man in a casual grey t-shirt and skinny jeans, who's overseeing the rest of the team,

"Mr. Gull?" her sharp, authoritative voice rings through the entire warehouse.

The man turns around, "Valerie, just the person I've been looking for!"

"You said you had something important to tell me, Mr. Gull."

He calmly walks over to her, his hands in his pockets, "We should talk about this alone."

They walk out of the warehouse, using a small side door to the far left. Outside, its sunny, the ground consisting of gravel, and the breeze coming from the bay gave a slightly salty smell.

"So, do you want the good news or the bad news first?" he asks.

Valerie shrugs, "Indifferent to me."

"Well, how about a story? You see, you know how we had to kind of, stretch our bank account to build that prototype of the medical vitals stabilizer?"

"Yes, the "power suit", as you called it."

He nods, "Well, we're kind of in the red and...the banks aren't willing to give us anymore leeway."

"I know, but the income from our other products should cover the costs." she assures him.

"Well, that's where our story gets a little...strange, and yet, amazing. You see, one of our biggest buyers, Oscorp, approached me. I guess their fact checkers didn't realize that I'm just head designer, not the CEO."

She nods, "I understand, a lot of people make that mistake, considering that  you're the one who does all the presentations and handles press. So, what did they want?"

"Well...how do I say this..." he begins.
"Just say it," Valerie commands.

"They want to buy us out, and if we refuse they'll stop buying our product." he explains. "You know they're one of our biggest buyers, we can't afford a loss like that."

She pauses, "So, they're blackmailing us? This can't be right, they have to be bluffing, what do they want from us anyway?"

"I don't know, all I know is that they want to buy us and relocate us to Oscorp Tower."

"...in New York? Are they insane, that's on the other side of the country!"

"I know, I know, here, read the letter. I'm not sure why, but it sounds...I don't know, desperate?"he tells her, holding a folded piece of paper in his hands.

She snatches the paper from him, unfurling it,

Dear Mr. Hayden Gull,

    This is Norman Osborn, head of Oscorp Industries. We understand that SapphireTech is a budding company in medical technology in the famed Silicon Valley, and are interested in absorbing the company into our multinational corporation. We have plans to relocate you and your team to Oscorp Tower in New York City. There, we hope to assign your team on a very special project we have on-going at Oscorp Industries. However, if you refuse to comply with our requests, we are willing to pull all Oscorp support from your firm. We hope to be hearing from you in the future.

Sincerely,

Norman Osborn and Associates

Valerie slowly puts the letter down, and turns to him, "Mr. Gull, you do realize this could very likely be some sort of Nigerian internet scam?"

"Please Valerie, call me Hayden, and yes, of course I thought of that, but the email address checks out, and Oscorp has already gone public with their intentions. The internet is watching us, and you know what that means?" he asks.

She sighs, "Yes, Mr. Gull, it means.."

"Everyone will know." they repeat simultaneously. "So what do you propose we do?"

Valerie sighs once more, "Well, it certainly appears that Oscorp isn't giving us many options, and their expansive resources will give us much more freedom to pursue your, more ambitious ideas."

Hayden's eyes light up, "So we could make the power suit, the hoverboard, self-tying shoe laces.."

"Remember Mr. Gull that we are still a company that produces medical technology." she snaps.

"Hey, I'm just kidding, it was just a reference. You know? Back to the Future? Haven't you ever seen those movies?"

She raises an eyebrow, "No, all I know of it are the references you and our colleagues constantly make to it."

"Right...pfffff forgot. Before your time. Don't mind the old man here!" he laughs, before the two walk back into the warehouse.