With Harry Osborn's permission, Gwen smoothly passed through the first security checkpoint.
A guard gathered his things, preparing to follow her. Naturally, Gwen, who was about to do something improper, could not let a tail stick to her. "John, I can go up by myself. You don't need to make the trip with me."
"But according to the rules—" The man preparing to leave looked troubled, but the squad leader beside him stepped in to smooth things over. "The rule was mainly meant to keep people unfamiliar with the layout from wandering around. Gwen knows this place so well. Where do you think she could wander off to?"
The slightly older squad leader turned to the former intern. "Kid, you won't go wandering around, will you?"
Gwen took out her intern pass and waved it helplessly. "The places this pass lets me access were restricted from the start, weren't they? Where could I even wander off to?"
Visitor passes covered a much larger area, so someone needed to keep an eye on their holders. But intern passes did not require such close supervision.
"That's true." The man who had initially intended to accompany her set his equipment back down. As if remembering something, he added, "Since you mentioned it, we remembered.
"When you come out, hand your pass back to us while you're at it. We didn't collect it before because we never ran into you. Now that we have, even though it only has a few days left before it expires, it wouldn't be appropriate for you to keep it."
Gwen gave her word. "No problem. When I come out, I'll return the pass too."
"Mm, go on up, kid." The squad leader opened the way.
With Harry Osborn's help at last, Gwen entered the now-closed Connors Laboratory.
Since