"I'm glad we're back here," Peter grinned as he and his class fellows walked into the Oscorp building.
"You're not the only one," Gwen smiled, wondering if she could get an internship here next year.
"Excuse me," Mrs Smith said as they arrived at the reception desk. "We're here for the Midtown High field trip."
"Hi Vicky," Harry waved.
"Hello Harry," Vicky pleasantly greeted him. "Enjoying your day?" She asked.
"My day is always pleasant when you're in it," Harry smiled charmingly while Mrs Smith and his classmates looked back and forth between the two.
"As flattering as always," Vicky laughed before turning her attention to Mrs Smith. "On my right, there are a bunch of visitor passes, please take one and make sure everybody else is wearing one. Anyone found without one could end up being escorted out of the building. Please wait here while I send for a tour guide."
"Okay, thank you," Mrs Smith smiled before putting on a badge and started handing them out.
"Where do you think we're going first?" Peter whispered to Harry as they all started waiting for a guide.
"I don't know," Harry answered honestly. "Though I'm kind of hoping we hit up Doctor Connors's lab, Dad told me that he's been making some major progress in his work on genetics."
"Hello everyone," The tour guide said when he arrived. "Now, let's get started, shall we?"
*Line Break*
"That was amazing," Gwen grinned when the tour guide escorted them out of a room where they learnt all about the various things that Oscorp sold to the military.
"Yep," Harry agreed, the two of them speaking quietly from the back so they wouldn't interrupt the tour guide. "Dad told me that Oscorp makes quite a lot of stuff for the military, the main competition in that particular market was Stark, but ever since he stopped building weapons, Oscorp took over. Though Hammer industries did try their best," Harry finished with an amused smile.
"Is your dad trying to make an Iron Man suit?" Gwen whispered.
"As far as I know, no, he is not, despite my begging," Harry said with a small shake of his head.
"Ah, and here we have one of our more interesting labs," The tour guide said, leading them into a lab that Harry easily recognised. The group all walked in and saw various different computer screens and scientists running about along with a few holographic displays. "Here they are, sir."
"Thank you," Doctor Connors said with a small smile as he walked over and stopped in front of the group. "Hello everybody, I am Doctor Curt Conners, it's a pleasure to meet you all. Oh, hello Harry."
"Hi Doc," Harry said with a smile.
"Do you know everybody here?" Flash couldn't help but ask.
"No, just a lot of people." Harry shrugged.
"Anyway," Dr Connors continued. "First things first, let me tell you all a bit about me. Firstly, I am actually right-handed, though I do think I might have misplaced mine." He gestured to his missing arm, earning a few chuckles. "I am the world's foremost expert on 'herpetology', which is the branch of science that focuses on the study of reptiles and amphibians. In Oscorp I mostly focus on genetics, I've spent years studying everything that makes not just humans tick, but also what makes various reptiles and amphibians tick. Now, obviously, there is a reason for this, and I'll give you a hint, it's a rather personal one, can anyone guess what it is?" He asked. Immediately Harry raised his hand. "Apart from Harry, can anyone guess?" Dr Connors chuckled.
"Um..." Peter raised his hand and waited until Dr Connors gestured to him. "...does...does it have something to do with your arm?" He asked hesitantly, hoping he hadn't just offended the man.
"Indeed, it is," Dr Connors confirmed with a small nod.
"Are you planning to try and regrow your limbs?" Peter asked.
"You can't regrow a limb." Flash scoffed.
"It's possible though," Gwen spoke up, narrowly beating out Harry. "Animals like starfish and lizards can regrow their tails or limbs. It could be possible with humans if you can find a way to replicate their method of regeneration."
"Exactly," Dr Connors smiled. "You see, a while back it was discovered how lizards would regrow their tails. It involves a three-part process, firstly there is 'autotomy' which is also called self-amputation. In this process, the lizard detaches its tail from their body. It is a self-defence mechanism done by lizards to protect them from predators. When a lizard loses their tail, they detach it from the vertebra present in the tail. The next part of the process is 'wound healing' which means the replacement of dead or damaged tissues with new tissue. Every living organism does it. During wound healing in lizards, reticulocyte and epidermal epithelium cells around the worm site cover the wound. The final part of the process is regeneration. After the wound healing, blastema cells go to make a new tail. What is a blastema cell? To know that, we need to understand stem cells. In the human body, there are organs like the heart and the intestines. These intestines contain intestine cells, and these cells are constantly dying. So there are stem cells that become intestine cells. It happens in all bodies.
Stem cells contain such power that they can become any cell they want, for example, stem cells can become nerve cells or muscle cells. These cells can become only intestine cells if they are present in the intestine. If the stem cell is in the liver, it cannot become bone or muscle cells. They have to become liver cells."
Harry watched as everyone listened to Dr Connors's lecture, though Harry couldn't help but notice that everyone had various levels of interest. Personally, Harry found it interesting and he knew that Gwen and Peter did too. He smiled as he imagined having Hermione here, he could imagine her hanging off Dr Connor's every word. Eventually his talk had finished and the kids were allowed to look around the lab. Harry immediately went to one of the glass cases that were holding various different reptiles, he glanced back and saw that everyone else, including his friends, was distracted by a holographic display of some kind. Harry looked down at a small black snake that was lazily perched on a branch in his cage.
"Can you hear me?" Harry hissed.
"You speak?" The snake hissed back, looking up at him. "I've never met a human who can speak the ancient snake tongue,"
"Crap," Harry said under his breath.
"What's wrong?" Asked the snake.
"I've got to go," Harry said before he turned around and found Gwen right in front of him, staring up at him with her curious eyes.
"Were you hissing at the snake?" She whispered.
"I'm weird like that," Harry shrugged, he tried to walk away when Gwen grabbed his wrist. "What? Can't a guy talk to snakes in peace these days?"
"Harry, what's going on?" Gwen asked after glancing at her distracted classmates. "Is this 'Spider' related?"
"I...was just confirming a theory," Harry sighed.
"What theory?" She asked, finally letting go of him.
"Later," Harry rubbed his eyes. "I need to process this." He said before he walked off, leaving a frowning Gwen.
*Line Break*
"As field trips go, that was pretty good," Gwen commented when they arrived back at school just as the other kids began coming out of the school.
"Yep," Peter agreed before letting out a small yawn. "Man, I'm beat, looks like the day finally caught up to me."
"I guess," Harry chuckled before spotting his father's limo by the school entrance. "Okay, that's my ride, I guess. I'll see you guys tomorrow." He nodded to the both of them before he started walking to his limo. He was only part way there when he heard his name being called, he immediately stopped and turned around to find a pretty black-haired girl standing in front of him, holding some books to her chest.
"Hi," She said with a small blush on her face. "I'm Chloe, I don't know if you know me, I'm in the year above you."
"Oh, okay, nice to meet you," Harry said politely, even though he was confused about why she was talking to him.
"I was just wondering if you'd like to go on a date with me this Saturday," She said in a hopeful voice.
"Oh," Harry blinked. "You want to go on a date? With me?"
"Yes," She said with a small laugh. "I mean, if you want to," She added nervously, shifting back and forth on her feet.
"Um...yeah, yeah, sure," Harry smiled.
"Great!" Chloe beamed at him. "I got to go now, but...I'll find you tomorrow and we can talk about the details, is that alright?"
"Sure, see you then," Harry nodded his agreement before they both took a step back and awkwardly turned around before walking away from each other. "Let's just hope that this goes better than Cho." He whispered to himself.
*Line Break*
When Harry arrived back home it was with a smile on his face and a skip in his step, he remembered that today his mother went to go and visit one of her friends, meaning the only person at home should be his father. Harry headed over to his father's office, the place where Norman would most likely be.
"Hey-o, Daddy-o," Harry called as he entered, only to stop when he realised that his father was not alone. His father was sitting at his desk as expected, but standing alongside him was another man, who was looking quite annoyed. This man was dressed in a perfectly designed black business suit, his tie was blue and he was wearing a pair of circular glasses, not unlike Harry's own in his previous life, except these ones were clearly more expensive and worth far more than the second-hand ones that the Dursley's had gotten Harry. His hair was a Weasley shade of red and slicked back, he stood in a way that was not unlike Percy Weasley once he started being a git after joining the ministry.
Harry easily recognised the man as Donald Menken, Norman Osborn's personal assistant. Harry wasn't really overly fond of Donald, that was mostly because it was clear to him that Donald wasn't really fond of him. Harry wasn't really sure what the man's problem with him was, his best guess was that the man was jealous of him because he was Norman Osborn's son. Donald, much like the Weasley he shared a physical resemblance with, was a big brown noser. As far as Donald was concerned, Norman could do no wrong. If Harry wasn't so sure that his father preferred women then he would be a little bit worried about his father's marriage.
"I'm not interrupting, am I?" Harry asked. Donald opened his mouth first.
"We were actually discussing something important," He began. "I...
"Not that important," Norman cut him off after signing a piece of paper. "What is it, son?" He asked. Harry took a brief moment to appreciate how the man could remain so focused on his work while also being able to perfectly carry out a conversation with other people. "Is this about your field trip?"
"Partly," Harry asked, dropping his bag by the door before he walked over and sat on an empty space on top of his dad's desk, ignoring Donald's disapproving look. "That was great by the way, we all had a lot of fun."
"All of you?" Norman asked sceptically whilst reading over a document.
"Well, my friends and I had a great time," Harry amended. "The popular kids, not as much."
"That's because they were away from their phones and mirrors for more than five minutes," Norman replied, earning an amused snort from Harry.
"Pretty much," Harry agreed. "Peter and Gwen loved it though, I think the two might want to join Oscorp once they leave school."
"Good," Norman said with a satisfied nod and a smirk on his mouth. "I was hoping they would."
"Really?" Harry asked.
"Son," Norman said, signing his document before he looked up at Harry. "You don't get to where I am without recognising brilliance in others, that's why I surround myself with the best." The two of them decided to ignore the way Donald's chest pumped out at what he saw as a great compliment for himself. "Both of your friends have great potential and I would be a fool to not at least try to make them assets for my company."
"Pretty much," Harry agreed. "Oh, and we had a lecture from Doctor Connors today."
"I know, he's one of your favourites," Norman said with an amused smile.
"It was really interesting," Harry added. "I hope his plans work out, if he manages to regrow limbs then he gets to achieve his dream, become even more famous than he actually is, richer and makes Oscorp look better than ever."
"Harry, he already has approved funding for his project, I'm not giving him more," Norman cut him off, knowing where Harry was going.
"Worth a shot," Harry shrugged. "Oh, and good news, I got a date." He added proudly.
"A date?" Norman repeated while Donald looked annoyed that his meeting somehow got turned into a discussion about Harry's love life.
"A girl called Chloe, asked me out today," Harry explained with a grin. "Right after we got back from our trip. We're going to meet tomorrow to discuss the details."
"Congratulations son," Norman said in an awkward voice. "If I may ask, what do you know about this girl?"
"Not a thing besides her name," Harry openly admitted. "Why do you ask?"
"Son, I'm afraid I might have to upset you," Norman said with a deep sigh. "You're an Osborn, an elite member of our city, you've always been richer than everyone at your school. Many there will want access to your fame and the money you have available, so there are some people that might..."
"You're trying to say that she could be a gold digger?" Harry asked bluntly, cutting off his father who looked slightly stunned.
"Yes," Norman said after a short pause.
"Then it's a good thing I know how to tell her to get lost, eh?" Harry asked.
"I'm sorry to interrupt," Donald began. "But don't you think that..."
"Get lost," Harry cut him off before looking to his father. "You see?"
*Line Break*