Tarantula (Spider-Man)

Natural Selection

   Valerie is furiously tapping away at her computer when Mr. Torger cautiously enters the room,

“Dr. Polina...are...are you finding everything you need?”

She doesn’t look up from her screen, “This is far worse than I’d expected.”

“Yeah...Oscorp sent us a bunch of more work...than what we’re accustomed to.”

“No kidding.” she mumbles.

Valerie and Mr. Torger sit in relative silence, with only the rapid pitter-patter of Valerie’s keyboard to occasionally break it,

“Did you have any idea Mr. Gull was engaging in these activities?” shes asks him.

He shakes his head vigorously, “No...no doctor. Di...did you?”

“If I did I would’ve put a stop to it from the start, now wouldn’t I?” she presses her hand on her temple, “But God, I should’ve known.”

Hayden barges into the office, scaring Mr. Torger and causing him to jump back against the wall, “Valerie, please, let me explain.”

She looks up from her work for only the slightest instance, “You’ve got one minute. Go.”

“Felicia brought in the champagne, not me, and I never took a sip. See? Am I acting drunk right now?” he asks.

“And yet you still let her drink in your presence. And how did she sneak an entire bottle of champagne past the team?”

“You’d be surprised what a person can fit in a designer purse.” he jokes lightly, “...listen, she’s had it really hard with Mr. Osborn’s health, and the fact that she feels you’re encroaching on her relationship with him-”

“I am not encroaching on her relationship with him anymore than she is encroaching on our professional relationship.”

“And...what does that mean?”

She takes a heavy sigh, “It means that her behavior has clearly affected your ability to work in the office. I mean, I know you’ve never been proficient at office work, but you’re not this bad.”

“But that also means you’ve been getting quite close to Mr. Osborn, or is it Norman to you?” he accuses.

“Mr. Osborn sees me as a pupil of sorts, someone he can pass on his knowledge to. He also sees me as a confidant, as he’s shared some rather personal information with me.” she explains.

“Personal information like what?”

“...I can’t tell you.”

“Why not? I...I thought you told me everything.”

She bites her lip as she finishes up her work and shuts down the computer, “...there’s a lot of things I haven’t been telling you lately.”

Valerie steps out of her chair and walks out of the office, leaving Hayden and Mr. Torger hanging in unsettling silence.

   She rounds the Oscorp building to the special elevator. She strides into the elevator and barks her name into the elevator AI. It begins to ascend, and she watches the view of the city through the clear glass. She spots a red and blue fly between two skyscrapers. So Spidey’s out already, maybe she should meet up with him later on.

She exits the elevator to find the front desk eerily empty. Guess Felicia’s not on the job right now. She knocks on Mr. Osborn’s office door, but the unlocked door cracks open by itself.

“Valerie, come on in!” Mr. Osborn invites cheerfully.

She chuckles nervously, taken aback by his sudden friendly gesture. He certainly looks a lot better than when she last heard from him,