Peter's "Spider Specimen"

The repair shop's rolling shutter was yanked open, letting in a gust of autumn wind that sent a few sycamore leaves skittering across the floor and onto the freshly repaired red pickup. Lin Mo was crouched beneath the truck, tightening a driveshaft bolt, oil dripping from his chin onto his work pants. At the sound, the wrench in his hand nearly slipped—he knew that racket too well. Only Peter could make that much wind when he ran.

"Lin Mo! Look!" The teenager's voice sounded like it had been fast-forwarded, breathless with excitement. The closer he got, the louder the glass jar clinked. Lin Mo wriggled out from beneath the truck, about to complain, when he saw Peter rush up holding a transparent glass jar. Damp strands of hair clung to his forehead, and a dead leaf was stuck to his glasses.

A spider crouched inside the jar, black and glossy, with long, slender legs whose joints gleamed with an eerie metallic sheen. A blurry white pattern marked its abdomen, resembling a miniature skull. It crawled around restlessly, its thin legs tapping against the glass with soft clicks that sounded far stronger than those of an ordinary spider.

"Look at this spider—it can jump two meters high!" Peter held the jar before Lin Mo's eyes, his fingers trembling slightly with excitement. "I found it in the woods outside town. I was going to catch a butterfly for a specimen, but it jumped off a leaf and landed right on the back of my hand. It scared the heck out of me!"

Lin Mo's heart clenched as he stared fixedly at the spider in the jar. That appearance... was almost identical to the radioactive spider from his memories, the one that had bitten Peter. Its glossy black carapace, metallic leg joints, and that unmistakable skull pattern—could this be the "Key Spider"?

He swallowed without changing expression, his fingertips squeezing white marks into the wrench handle. The heightened senses granted by Physical Enhancement allowed him to see the fine hairs on the spider's legs clearly. He could even sense the faint energy pulsing within it. It resembled the aura of that stone in New Mexico, but it was livelier, more aggressive.

"Be careful." Lin Mo's voice was lower than usual. He reached out and touched the side of the glass jar, and the icy surface made his fingertips tingle. "Wild spiders might be venomous. Don't let it bite you."

"I'm wearing gloves!" Peter proudly raised his left hand, showing off a faded cotton glove with a piece of leather sewn onto the fingertips. "I modified it myself. It's puncture-proof and scratch-resistant. I didn't even get pricked when I caught grasshoppers last time." He suddenly leaned toward the jar, his nose nearly pressed against the glass. "And this spider seems unusual. Look at its eyes. It has eight, two more than regular spiders!"

Lin Mo followed his gaze. Sure enough, the spider's head had eight tiny reflective points, like diamond chips scattered across black cloth, watching them warily. He suddenly remembered Peter asking why spiders could crawl on walls, remembered the Web-Shooters sketches in the teenager's notebook—like the gears of fate had begun turning right before his eyes, driven by an irresistible force.

"Where did you find it?" Lin Mo tried to keep his tone casual. He picked up the oil can beside him, pretending to add engine oil to the pickup, but his eyes never left the glass jar. "The woods outside town aren't safe. The news said someone spotted bears there recently."

"In the oak woods behind the abandoned factory." Peter waved dismissively, completely focused on the spider. "I had to follow it up three trees before I caught it. It runs faster than Ted's magic rabbit!" He suddenly pointed at the bottom of the jar. "Oh, right. It seems to like your motor oil. I accidentally spilled some in there earlier, and it actually went over and licked it!"

Lin Mo looked down and saw a dark ring at the bottom of the jar. It was the high-viscosity engine oil he usually used. The spider dipped its front legs into the oily stain and carefully brought them to its mouth. The skull pattern on its abdomen contracted slightly with the movement, as if it were savoring a delicacy.

That was far too abnormal. Ordinary spiders were only interested in insects. Why would one eat engine oil? Lin Mo's brow furrowed tighter. He was almost certain this was no ordinary spider. It was probably connected to some secret experiment—perhaps leaked bioengineering from Oscorp, or an undisclosed S.H.I.E.L.D. project. Like Mjolnir in New Mexico, it was a secret this world could no longer hide.

"This thing is pretty weird," Lin Mo said, deliberately sounding relaxed as he tapped the pickup's bumper with his wrench. "You should let it go. What if it's a protected species? Catching it could be illegal." He was figuring out how to make the spider "disappear" without drawing attention. Even accidentally knocking over the jar and letting it escape would be fine—he couldn't just watch Peter get bitten and begin that heroic path destined to be filled with pain.

"No!" Peter immediately hugged the jar to his chest as if guarding some priceless treasure. "I'm going to preserve it as a specimen, or... keep it and observe it! Look at its jumping ability—it practically defies the laws of physics! I calculated that it only weighs three grams, yet it can jump fifty times its body length. If we could figure out how it works, we could apply it to prosthetics, or even..."

The teenager did not finish, but Lin Mo knew what he wanted to say—even apply it to devices that would give humans the same abilities. He looked at the light in Peter's eyes. There was an obsession with science there, curiosity about the unknown, but no wariness toward danger. He was like a child playing with a barrel of explosives.

"You can keep it, but be careful." Lin Mo gave up on the idea of making the spider disappear. He suddenly realized that some things could not be avoided, just as he could not avoid being transported into this world, or gaining the abilities of Penetration and Physical Enhancement. Peter's fate had probably been written long ago. "Don't let it escape, and don't touch it directly. What if it really is venomous?"

"I know!" Peter nodded vigorously and pulled a notebook from his backpack, quickly writing, "Feeding: engine oil (small amount)." "I'm also going to make a terrarium out of acrylic sheets. It'll be ventilated and safe, and I'll keep it on my bedroom windowsill. Aunt May definitely won't notice."

Watching him record everything so seriously, Lin Mo suddenly found it a little funny. This kid probably thought he had caught an interesting insect, never realizing he was holding his future "switch of fate." Lin Mo remembered Spider-Man swinging between skyscrapers, his resolve when facing the Green Goblin, and the tears he shed after losing Uncle Ben. Something tugged painfully at his heart.

"Need help making the terrarium?" Lin Mo picked up his wrench and went back to tightening the bolts beneath the truck. "I have leftover acrylic sheets here, plus waterproof adhesive. They're better than anything you'd buy."

"Really?" Peter's eyes lit up like lightbulbs. "That's great! I was worried about what to use to glue it together. Regular glue might be toxic and hurt it..." He suddenly realized he had let something slip, quickly covered his mouth, and blushed again. "I mean... a specimen needs to be kept intact."

Lin Mo did not expose him. He simply smiled. "Come get the materials after school this afternoon. Bring your notebook too, and I'll take a look at your design. Maybe I can help you improve it." He deliberately stressed the word "improve," already planning how to tamper with the terrarium—at the very least, he would add a double-locking mechanism so the spider could not escape so easily and bite Peter.

"Okay!" Peter carefully put the glass jar into his backpack, pulling the zipper halfway shut and leaving a gap for air. "Then I'm heading to school. I'll definitely come this afternoon!" He turned and ran, then stopped at the doorway and waved his notebook at Lin Mo. "I'll make the feeding plan more detailed!"

The rolling shutter slowly descended behind the teenager, blocking out the autumn wind and fallen leaves. Only the dripping engine and the strange emptiness left by the departed glass jar remained in the repair shop. Lin Mo leaned against the pickup's tire and looked at the few drops of engine oil on the floor that the spider had licked. Suddenly, the autumn sunlight felt a little too harsh.

"Woof!" Shield ran in from the backyard with an oil-stained rag in his mouth, probably trying to please him. The puppy ran to Lin Mo's feet and rubbed his head against the back of Lin Mo's hand, his tail sweeping through the leaves with a rustling sound.

"Tell me, should I throw that spider away?" Lin Mo stroked Shield's head, his voice soft, as though speaking to himself. "Throw it into the river, or bury it in the dirt. Then Peter won't get bitten."

Shield tilted his head at him and licked his fingers as though trying to comfort him. Lin Mo smiled, picked up the oil can from the floor, and poured it into the pickup's engine. The thick liquid glowed amber in the sunlight, like flowing time.

He knew he probably would not do it. Just as he would not refuse to deliver medicine for Grandma Gretchen because he was afraid of trouble, and would not stop using his abilities to sweep leaves because he feared S.H.I.E.L.D. surveillance, he probably could not bring himself to change Peter's fate. Everyone had their own path to walk. Even if it was covered in thorns, Peter would likely walk it with unwavering resolve, just as Lin Mo would.

The afternoon sun slanted into the repair shop. Lin Mo placed the cut acrylic sheets on the workbench, along with waterproof adhesive and a tape measure. Following the dimensions Peter had given him, he drew cutting lines across the sheets. Under the precise control of Physical Enhancement, the utility knife in his hand moved steadily along them, leaving cuts as smooth as if a machine had made them.

"Lin Mo! I'm here!" Peter's voice rang out right on time. The rolling shutter was pulled open, and the teenager rushed inside with his backpack on his back and a simple cardboard model in his arms. "Look at my design! Doesn't it make sense?"

The model was crude, but its structure was clear. It had ventilation holes, a feeding slot, and a transparent observation window. It was obvious that Peter had put a great deal of thought into it. Lin Mo took the model and pretended to study it for a while. "Not bad, but the vents are too large. The spider could crawl out. I'll make them smaller for you."

"Okay!" Peter leaned closer, watching Lin Mo alter the acrylic sheet with the utility knife, admiration filling his eyes. "You're amazing. You use that knife more steadily than I use a pencil for sketching."

"You learn after repairing enough cars." Lin Mo smiled and deliberately slowed down, explaining how to sand the cuts smooth and apply the waterproof adhesive evenly. "These jobs look simple, but there's a knack to them. Just like your research into spider jumping ability, details matter."

Peter listened intently, nodding from time to time. Several more lines appeared in his notebook, this time reading, "Terrarium construction: cuts must be sanded smooth to prevent scratching the spider." Lin Mo looked at those words and suddenly felt that perhaps this was not so bad. At least before Peter was bitten, he could help him prepare more and teach him to be more cautious, just as Martha had taught him how to tell whether milk had expired, and Carlos had taught him how to tighten rusty screws.

By sunset, the terrarium's frame was complete. The transparent acrylic panels gleamed coldly under the lights, like an exquisite little prison. Peter carefully placed it in his backpack. The spider in the glass jar seemed to have adapted to its new surroundings and lay quietly at the bottom, its eight legs stretched out like a black starburst.

"Thanks, Lin Mo!" Peter slung his backpack over his shoulder and practically skipped toward the door. "I can put it in there tonight! I'll show you the finished version tomorrow!"

"Be careful on your way home!" Lin Mo called after him, watching the teenager disappear beneath the sycamore trees. He suddenly felt more at ease. He knew what was coming would come, but at least for now, he had prepared a sturdy cage for that spider and a little caution for Peter. That was enough.

Shield came over with the rag in his mouth and rubbed against Lin Mo's leg. Lin Mo bent down and picked up the puppy, looking out at the darkening sky. The repair shop lights came on, casting his and the puppy's shadows against the wall like a strange pair.

"Come on," Lin Mo said, carrying Shield toward the break room. "Time to eat. I'll add an egg to your dinner today to celebrate our little scientist making another discovery."

The puppy wagged his tail in Lin Mo's arms, making a soft rumbling sound in his throat as though agreeing. Lin Mo looked down at him, then remembered the glass jar holding the spider in Peter's backpack. He suddenly felt that this ordinary repair shop hid countless secrets—some about the present, some about the future—all quietly waiting in the autumn night for the day they would be revealed.

He did not know whether that spider would ultimately bite Peter, nor did he know what he could do about it. But at least at that moment, guarding this repair shop, the puppy beside him, and the teenager still thrilled over his spider terrarium made him feel safe.