Goddamn all of these time skips are so annoying but not much really happen for the rest of middle school. Just little ol peter living his childhood dreams of being a kid that's lost in the endless frontier we call science. It was fun though. Dreaming about the possibilities with Peter as we walk home from school. What we could do if given the chance to pursue a path of science that could help everyone. Oh the innocence of that kid....I wish it was that simple.
There's too many people trying to hold on to their old powers and greed that they refuse to let the world improve for the better. There's corruption and injustice everywhere that goes unpunished because they live above the law. They made these rules to hold down the everyday man. Rules to keep the everyday person blind and focus on surviving the rat race set for them instead of look-
"Hey Ned!" Peter call out to try and get me back to earth as I was silent for a long time on the subway ride. "We're here Ned. We can't miss the science fair." I put on a smile as I pull out my earphones before exiting the train cart with him. Following this kid really is a blast. He allows me to be a kid again without having to worry about the rest of the real world and all of it's problems. I really wish I could've just played a background character to all of this. No getting involved in people's lives. No complications if things go wrong but my dumbass just can't allow it huh.
After exiting the station we soon arrive at the science fair convention. It's honestly pretty cool seeing so many nerds in one spot, the smell though..... Peter and I enter the doors and it was like we were in nerd heaven. We grabbed a brochure and proceeds to wonder through the gymnasium full of amazing and successful experiments. I'm honestly pretty shocked at how cool some of these experiments are. There's some that tried to recreate an arc reactor using various vegetables as it's power source, one that tried to do a baking soda volcano but the explosion froze mid-eruption, someone was able to turn copper into silver after dipping it in a bath of chemicals with metal wires attached to it.
"Peter can you believe these things? It's ridiculously crazy how awesome they are. Like look at that." I point towards an experiment down the aisle. "It's a robotic arm that moves as smooth as a person." My eyes begin to glow with the wonders of a child once more. We quickly rush towards the mini robot presentation.
"You know Ned, maybe one day we can build one just like that. One that can hang up people's coats when they get home or one that can cook for them." Peter's eyes also lit up at seeing the tentacle like arm move around like a real thing. The arm has succulent cups at the tip of it to help it grip and grab on to objects like an apple, wrench and phone. "H-how do octopuses grab onto a phone?" Peter took a step closer. He seems lost in the possibilities of combing animal characteristics with technology.
"Hey kid watch yourself." The woman presenting the robot call out to him as she stop the arm from continuing to move. "S-sorry ma'am I just got carried away with your robot. How does an octopus use a phone like we do?" Peter points to the phone next to robot arm and she starts to break out into laughter. "Oh kid that's rich. You're so sweet and funny but that phone isn't on display for the robot to grab. I just forgot that I left my phone there." she continues to laugh before slowly calming down after catching her breath.
"P-peter we need to look at this." I pull him aside as I see an experiment that was the whole reason why I came to America in the first place. Radioactive spiders. My eyes begin to dart around as I search for any spiders that might be hanging out and about, somewhere it shouldn't be. "Are those radioactive spider?" Peter spoke in awe as he approach the glass cages of the spiders.
"That they are son." The man standing behind the table spoke. Out of everyone he seems the most out of place. He doesn't have the appearance of a nerd or a scientist but of a salesman from the 50s. A con artist if you will. "These are the only ones of their kinds. They're a rare new species of spiders created after generations of breeding and experiments. Unfortunately these are the only surviving members of the family because after one day they all died mysterious over night. After that they're kept under close supervision and in individual containers to prevent any more loss of spiders." The man tried to entice the two boys standing in front of his stand. His exhibit hasn't gotten much attention because he lacked anything that made his experiments exciting and he was tuck at a far corner of the fair because he had live animals.
"Mister how do you know that these spiders of radioactive? They just look like normal spiders to me." I point out the big elephant in the room because besides the unique coloring of these spiders, they look just like your typical everyday spiders. Hell they even look like different species at that. There's no way this guy isn't full of shit.
"Well that where this comes in son. I've been studying these spiders for years and I've kept the family safe in my lab for a long time." He produce a small particle detector in his hands. "These babies are producing radiation rays that's off the chart. That's why they must stay behind special glass cages otherwise it could harm us." He gently press the tip of the reader on to the glass panel and the readings on the machine begins to produce a lot of strange sound as the light moves from red to orange, yellow, green and back again.
Peter and I take a step back as the strong and wild readings of the spiders caught us off guards. This is definitely a safety hazard and plainly irresponsible for having such a display out in the open like this. Who knows how many people has been hit with an extremely dangerous dose of radiation and had no idea about it. Well Peter and I quickly left the crazy man to himself after he told us about the absurd about of radiations that's coming off of his spiders. But unknowingly we've also got two tag along that hitched a ride on the pants of our legs.
Since we've already seen most of the fair, the quick shower of radioactivity pushed us to leave the convention. Honestly the spiders were probably the least exciting thing because nowadays no one really care about nuclear power or radiation things anymore. With the new age of Stark technology, all of those things seems like technology of the pass and long outplayed. YAWN. I stretch my arms out as Peter and I walk towards the entrance to the train station. "You getting tired Ned? It's barely even 5 ol clock yet. Let's go get something to eat before we go home." He tried to sound up and full of energy but I could tell that he's also getting tired.
"No it's okay Peter. I think I've had enough for today. I don't know about you but my left hand is killing me." I show him the red swelling of my hand. "Something must've happened back at the fair because I think I'm having an allergic reaction or something." I give him a weak chuckle as I've already came to a conclusion on what happened. There's a dead spider in my pocket and I intend on studying it once I get home. "Alright man. I'll see you tomorrow at school." He gave me a smile as we shook our handshake before leaving. His right hand also has a slight red bump behind his thumb so he must've been bitten too. I really should've gotten the guys information before we left because I need to look more into his studies of these radioactive spiders.