"So I..."
Riley said hesitantly, "I am actually...sorry, but I am not really Peter Parker, although I possess his memories and abilities, I am really just a clone..."
Gwen Spiderman noticed Riley's anxiety, she blinked gently and said, "You really don't need to be hung up on this issue. There are probably over 80 Peter Parkers in the whole of New York now, one more or less doesn't matter. You can be whoever you want."
"How many?????"
"Wait a second, let me see." Gwen Spiderman reopened her Spider App to browse and then said, "Uh, the number of people currently online is 72, but some have marked themselves as offline because they don't want to be disturbed. Hang on, I will ask the group."
Having said that, Gwen Spider began rapidly typing on her phone and after a while, the phone dinged continuously. Gwen scrolled down the screen and said, "Look, in just over 20 seconds, over 30 Spidermen have replied. They are all Peter Parker."
Gwen Spiderman looked at Riley and said, "Being Peter Parker here is not trendy at all, since everyone is Peter Parker. Spidermen who aren't Peter Parker get a lot of attention, like me. Of course, there aren't many female Spidermen to begin with and because we are rare, we are precious."
Gwen Spiderman looked at Ben Reilly and said, "What makes you different from Peter Parker isn't a disadvantage, it's an advantage. Look, there are too many Peter Parkers and most Parkers are pretty much the same, so they all end up in ordinary laboratories."
"But I'm different. Because I'm female, I can participate in research on external reproduction and artificial wombs, which is a project that only accepts females. As of now, only women have the ability to reproduce and having female researchers avoids some issues of privacy and ethics in clinical experiments."
"Of course, there are also research teams studying male reproduction and gender transitioning, as well as more importantly, eugenics, and genetic selection. If you're interested, you can get in touch with Miles Warren, he's an expert in these."
"Your arrival may place a spotlight on a new discipline-cloning. Because there are too many varied disciplines, many similar projects haven't received enough attention. If you could produce some research results, your service period could be significantly reduced, and you can get straight to independent research. Believe me, it's beneficial for you."
"So you are saying, have me research myself?" Riley's features furrowed as the Gwen's words upended his understanding."
He had always considered himself a product of error, in fact, every victim of the Jackal's cloning experiment thinks this way. They shouldn't exist in this world. Riley even felt that his existence was stealing Peter Parker's life.
The heroic deeds were not accomplished by him but by Peter Parker. Yet he enjoyed the fruits of someone else's labor, even receiving love and respect from others because of his appearance and abilities, under the mistaken belief that he was Peter. This was completely an act of theft.
Although he can't determine his own birth, he preferred to avoid any similarity with Peter as much as possible. The Spiderman's sense of morality wouldn't allow him to be a thief.
Yet now, Gwen Spiderman was telling him that this wasn't even a downside, but an advantage. Because he can use his special situation to study cloning and thus shorten his work duration, and start working independently as soon as possible.
Still unsatisfied, Gwen propped her chin with her hand, and seriously said, "The Scarlet Spider man from the Spider Legion, his name is Kaine, isn't it? He also came over here, wanting to go into the lab. But his clone body isn't very stable, his mental disorder quite severe, sometimes he can't even control himself. So he must first undergo half a year or more of mental therapy and a two-month observation period before he can start work."
"It might sound absurd, but no one loves Spiderman more than the Nick Fury of this cosmos. Director Fury sees us as his lambs. To extract our greatest value, he absolutely cannot allow us to be sick or injured."
"Even when we return to our own cosmos to fight the villains, he would deliberately have S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents spar with us before leaving and offer a bunch of equipment. We can even rent powerful equipment for very few points, just to ensure that we can return alive to work for him."
"I heard, there's a Spiderman from another cosmos who's at war with someone called Thanos, a purple-skinned man. The Damn purple head snapped a finger, and Spiderman almost died."
"But the life-detection device that Nick hung on him sent an alarm, an emergency distress signal sent to The Sanctum. A Hell Lord called Mephisto or something appeared in a breath and rescued Spiderman. That unlucky guy is still recuperating in the hospital."
Riley didn't know what kind of expression to make. Although it seemed like there's a safeguard for their life, but thinking about how the person who saved them did it just so that they can return and work better, it somehow sounded more evil than the villains.