Peter sighed, "I'm grateful that I no longer hear about the world's impending doom from broadcasts or the television. I'm relieved that I don't suddenly have to grow up overnight and immediately save the world."
"If that were the case, I wouldn't know what to do," Peter shook his head slightly, his tone tinged with panic.
"Should someone tell me at the beginning of my freshman year that I was destined for the battlefield tomorrow, facing firing machine guns and bombings from fighter planes, witnessing my peers fall and perish. . . I might honestly fall apart."
Steve looked at Peter with a smile, "I might have overstated the process a bit. Take it as a story, Peter."
Peter took a deep breath, trying to dispel that terrifying image. Steve diverted his attention back to the equipment, asking, "So what can it do?"
"At its simplest, I programmed a system, targeting the frequent assassinations happening recently. It's primarily for hotels, mansions, theatres, and other luxurious venues, along with a dynamic monitoring system for luxury cars in New York's downtown area. It will help us quickly locate suspects."
Peter pointed to a screen in the middle of the device, "See here, these colored marks on the car indicate places it has visited in the past 48 hours."
"Orange represents hotels, blue signifies bars, and purple marks popular commercial streets and luxury stores. Thus, we can determine whether the car's trajectories are normal."
"If a car doesn't visit any locations frequented by the upper class across several surveillance periods, yet suddenly appears at an upscale location, it becomes suspicious."
"This is the simplest application of data flow, but it's more than enough for us," Peter shrugged."
"Actually, the toughest part is installing the surveillance, but because we have enough unique materials, we can reduce the size of the surveillance to quite small. Also, setting up surveillance isn't an issue for us, so we can achieve this."
"The progress of materials science ultimately contributes to technological advancements," Peter grasped a patch-like camera. "Though small, the combined molten steel used for the parts possibly amounts to a year's worth of Vibranium output in Wakanda."
"Magnificent work, Peter," Steve said with astonishment. "The only thing I agree with Stark on is that you truly are talented, kid, in every way."
"Not necessarily." Peter sank into a chair he'd moved previously, speaking dejectedly, "Doctor Schiller returned to his clinic in Hell's Kitchen, right?"
"I wanted to stay with him for a few days, but for some reason, my Spider-sense started ringing non-stop when I approached the door."
"My God, it's never been this noisy. It's practically deafening. I don't know what's going on, so I didn't go in."
"Doctor Schiller spoke to me from inside the door. We chatted for a while, and when the topic turned to psychology, Doctor Schiller mentioned that I wasn't suited for studying psychology… I used to think he had a high opinion of me..."
"No one can excel in every discipline." Steve tried to comfort Peter. "Nobody is omnipotent. Your demonstrated talent in mechanics, engineering, mathematics, physics, chemistry, and biology is impressive enough."
"But I'm somewhat confused. Doctor Schiller said I was too kind-hearted to study psychology. Does that mean people studying psychology aren't kind? But Doctor Schiller is clearly a good person."
Steve pursed his lips, recalling Schiller's behavior on the Hive Home Star; it was anything but kind.
Nonetheless, he noted, "Perhaps he thinks you're too compassionate. If you tried understanding mentally ill patients' worlds, it might affect your own."
"Let's not talk about that," Peter quickly recovered from his disappointment. He sat in the chair, looking up at Steve. From this angle, he could clearly see Steve's stubble. It appeared he hadn't shaved that morning. Despite still looking handsome, he seemed a bit haggard.
Peter tactfully asked, "Captain, have you been attending the counseling sessions S.H.I.E.L.D. arranged for you on time?"
"They only arranged ten counseling sessions for me. According to Nick, Schiller's rates were too high. But I didn't even attend all ten sessions, only five or six. I feel like my mindset is fine, nothing requiring counseling."
"But I heard from Doctor Schiller that mental health issues, like different physical disorders, require regular checkups?"
"Alright, Peter, you don't need to beat around the bush. I know you're implying that I don't seem to be doing well. But, it's merely because I'm a bit busy at work, and I've been suffering from some insomnia."
Peter didn't say anything more, but the tension in Steve's face betrayed his calm exterior.