In the morning, it began to snow in New York. It was the end of the year, less than a month away from Christmas. The usual heavy snowfall had not arrived yet, but even the tiny snowflakes, clean and crystal-clear, brought an abundance of chill with them.
The thermal performance of the first generation of Spider-Man's suit was insufficient, and Peter seemed a bit cold, shivering as he squatted by the door. He yanked off his own hood, and his drenched locks told the tale of last night's battle against the Green Goblin, which had not gone smoothly, ending with both of them falling into the Hudson River.
As soon as Dr. Shiller let go, the roller door was lifted again. He gestured to Peter, and after Peter walked in, Shiller took the towel from the electric towel rack and draped it over his head.
Peter, wrapped in a warm towel, took a sip of hot water and breathed a long sigh. Dr. Shiller, while heading to the bathroom to adjust the water heater, asked, "Care for a hot shower?"
Peter sat on the sofa, shaking his head as he cradled his cup, appearing rather dazed. He seemed still lost in some story, while Shiller took a seat across from him.
Peter suddenly seemed to awaken, looking at Dr. Shiller across from him, noting that he appeared haggard, pale, with dark circles under his eyes. Evidently, he had not rested for several days.
A sense of guilt arose in Peter, prompting him to stand up and make to leave, but Dr. Shiller started to speak: "What happened? Last night, I saw that you were fighting with someone on the Brooklyn Bridge?"
Peter, who had stopped upon hearing Dr. Shiller, fell deep into thought, but soon said: "That person was Harry, Harry Osborn, my college friend, and the best one I've made since I started university..."
"How did he come to fight with you? And with a uniform and bombs, appearing like a recent nemesis?" Dr. Shiller felt a throbbing in his temples, accompanied by a rather pronounced heartbeat. As Peter was distracted, he discreetly took a pill bottle from a drawer under the coffee table and tossed a pill into his mouth.
But such a move did not escape Peter's notice. Peter looked at Shiller and asked, "What is that? What kind of pill is that?"
"Nothing much, just some painkillers. I have a bit of a headache. It will be fine in a bit." After speaking, Shiller returned to his seat on the sofa.
He touched his lips and appeared to decide that the headache felt better than the dizziness. He looked at a can of beer still on the nearby table but thought it improper to drink in front of Peter, thus gave up the idea.
However, Peter's senses of smell and vision were enhanced. He instinctively caught the scent of alcohol wafting from the table and saw an empty beer can that had rolled under the sofa. He sighed and said, "Doctor, have you been drinking a bit too much lately?"
"Of course, it's okay for adults to drink, but too much is bad for health. If you have some worries, you can talk to me. Numbing yourself with alcohol will not work..."
Shiller shook his head, making an effort to lift his heavy eyelids and opened his eyes to look at Peter. He asked instinctively, "What's going on with you and Harry? Why do you look so sad and angry?"
Peter stood in silence for a while, but eventually sat down, sitting up straight, hands on his knees, and then said, "Last night, I was patrolling New York as usual, then I heard an explosion near the Hudson River. I thought Hell's Kitchen had some sort of incident, so I rushed over. But unexpectedly, what I found was a strange man…"
As Peter told his story, Dr. Shiller finally understood how little Osborn had suddenly turned into the Green Goblin and why he had fought with Peter.
Harry had been busily supporting the New York University lab, but the day before yesterday, Norman Osborn, Harry's father, called him over and told him a cruel truth. The Osborn family had a hereditary genetic disorder that would lead to split personality disorder and insanity once it manifested.
Norman briefly explained it, then told Harry that the true identity of Spider-Man was actually his good friend, Peter Parker. The Osborn family needed some of Spider-Man's mutated genes for research to cure their genetic disorder.
Old Osborn knew that Harry and Peter were good friends, so he hoped Harry could persuade Peter to cooperate with his experiment to find a solution to the genetic disease. If that's not possible, getting some of Peter's blood would suffice.
At that time, Old Osborn had been running himself ragged for days dealing with Obadiah, to the point where his hair was nearly turning white from worry. Thus, he didn't elaborate further and then left.
In reality, during the collaboration between Stark and Osborn, after learning of Connors' expertise in genetics, Osborn told Connors about a rare genetic disorder in his family and asked Connors if he could help find a solution.
But Connors mainly studied animal genes and was not overly familiar with human genetic inheritance. However, considering the larger picture, Osborn was very important. Aside from the importance of the Osborn Group, Osborn himself had achieved a deserved reputation in the field of biotechnology, so Connors decided he would try his best to help him.
Connors felt that the Lizard Serum might be useful, but he couldn't be sure, so he told Osborn that he planned to start with animal genes. Just like using the Lizard Serum to regenerate human limbs, he could leverage the advantage provided by animal genes to tackle Osborn's genetic disease.