A dark red whip swept over Peter's head, shearing a corner off the training frame.
Peter slid across the floor. Just as he raised his wrist, he saw the tip of the whip turn toward Gwen Stacy.
"Harry, stop!"
The whip snapped taut.
Its tip hung in front of Gwen Stacy, only two inches from the glass of water she held.
Harry stood still, his right arm dissolved into red fluid below the elbow. Segmented bone structures were embedded in it, opening and closing gently with his breathing.
"I stopped it."
His voice was a little hoarse.
Gwen Stacy set down her glass.
"I saw. Now pull it back slowly."
The whip shortened, its bony segments sinking into his skin one by one. Harry spread his fingers. His palm was drenched in sweat.
Peter got up and felt the top of his head.
"The training frame didn't stop it, though."
"I'll pay for it."
"It's your frame."
"...Right."
Venom poked his head out of Gwen Stacy's shoulder and circled Harry's arm, examining it.
"No independent consciousness, no hive response, and it can restructure bone?"
He abruptly turned his head.
"Doctor! This violates symbiote science!"
Yang Ming walked over with a clipboard.
"Yesterday, you said chocolate was an essential medical supply."
"That's nutrition!"
Yang Ming didn't respond. He had Harry state his name and the date, then describe again what he had felt while controlling the whip's tip.
"Like reaching out," Harry said. "Only my hand suddenly got longer."
"Any other voices?"
"Just him."
Venom bared his teeth.
Yang Ming wrote on his clipboard: After severance of the hive connection, a benign mutation appeared. Consciousness clear. Form under voluntary control.
He added another note underneath.
Pending investigation.
Peter watched the hand return to normal, remembering how Harry used to pretend he