Peter opened his eyes, his vision gradually clearing.
Above him was the familiar white surgical light, and the air was thick with the pungent smell of disinfectant.
This was the Baxter Building's medical room. He had lain in this very bed on his first visit.
He tried moving his arms and legs, but his body felt as heavy as lead. The aftereffects of the battle in Harlem lingered; that lungful of mysterious gas had clearly put his nervous system through quite an ordeal.
His suit's helmet and webbing wrist guards were neatly arranged on the bedside table. Peter climbed out of bed, his legs trembling slightly, but gritted his teeth and steadied himself before putting his gear back on.
He needed to find Susan Storm. She knew the most about biology and genetics among the Fantastic Four, and only she could explain what exactly had happened to his body.
Susan's laboratory was at the end of the corridor. Peter pushed the door open and got straight to the point. "Susan, we need to talk."
"Peter?!" Susan spun around, her eyes slightly red, and rushed over to throw her arms around him. "Thank God you're awake! When Fury brought you in, we all thought you weren't going to make it! Johnny was so worried he nearly set off a supernova in the lab!"
"Susan, take a deep breath." Peter patted her back and chuckled.
Susan let out a long breath, then hugged him tightly once more. "As long as you're alive."
"Don't ever do that again!" Susan abruptly let go and punched Peter's shoulder hard enough to make him grimace. "Do you have any idea how worried we were? What on earth were you thinking?"
"In my defense, that kid's life was hanging by a thread." Peter sighed and took off his helmet, revealing his real face.
"But sometimes you forget that you're a kid yourself!" Susan shot back without mercy.
Peter grinned. "That doesn't seem to stop you from sneaking looks at my ass when I'm wearing the suit."
"I-I do not!" Two patches of red instantly bloomed on Susan's cheeks.
"Relax. I take an extra look or two when you're wearing your invisibility suit, too." Peter winked.
Susan rubbed her temples helplessly. "You're hopeless."
"True." Peter readily admitted it.
Susan pointed to a nearby chair. "Sit down and take off your suit. I need to draw some blood, but I honestly have no idea how to peel that bodysuit off you."
"Johnny didn't tell you how to unlock it?" Peter asked as he activated the suit's expansion mode and deftly slipped it off, sitting on the tall stool in nothing but his underwear.
"No. Johnny, Reed, and Ben all went with Fury to deal with those prisoners. Reed went to Finland to consult on a secret project, and I don't know when he'll be back." With her back to him, Susan prepared the needle for the blood draw. "Johnny wanted to oversee the interrogation himself, and Ben went to help..."
Before she finished, she turned around. Her gaze landed on Peter, and her voice abruptly cut off.
"Susan? What's wrong?" Her stare was making Peter a little uneasy.
Susan's gaze slowly drifted down from his abdomen, her eyes somewhat fixed. Peter was just about to tease her when a strange scent suddenly filled his nostrils.
It was something he had never smelled before, warm and sweet, like maple syrup cooked to perfection, with a cloying hint that made his heart race.
He twitched his nose, confirming that the scent was coming directly from Susan.
"Susan?" he called again.
Susan snapped out of her daze and hastily averted her eyes. "Huh? Oh, I'm fine. Here, I don't need much."
She stepped forward and inserted the needle into Peter's arm. Peter paid no attention to the slight prick; all his attention was focused on that maple syrup scent.
The scent was far too strong. He definitely hadn't been able to smell anything like this before. Had that gas changed him? Mutated his abilities?
Susan coughed, breaking the silence. "So, Peter, tell me exactly what happened."
Peter gathered his thoughts and quickly recounted the mission, the gas's strange properties, and his reaction after inhaling it.
"We'll figure it out." Susan carried the blood sample to the workbench. She glanced back, her gaze drifting downward uncontrollably again, and the maple syrup scent instantly grew stronger.
"You... you can put your clothes on now, Peter," she said softly.
Peter nodded. In the past, he certainly would have taken the opportunity to tease her some more, but something was wrong now. This unknown sensory mutation was a warning sign, and he had to stay alert.
He returned to his private lounge, changed into casual clothes, and went back to the laboratory.
The screen in front of Susan was already covered with microscopic images of Peter's blood. Her brow was tightly furrowed, confusion in her eyes.
"What's wrong?" Peter walked over and asked.
"The problem is that nothing's wrong." Susan gritted her teeth and brought up two sets of DNA helix diagrams. "On the right is your blood sample from a week ago. On the left is the current one. Your genetic structure... it's mutated."
Peter leaned closer to the screen. At first glance, there wasn't much difference, but a closer look revealed that certain genetic chains in the sample on the left had undergone a complete rearrangement, becoming something entirely unfamiliar.
"How did it do that?"
"I have a theory." Susan pointed at the screen. "It has to do with your powers. Our previous analysis showed that your blood can automatically adapt to foreign invaders. Maybe it did the same thing this time."
Peter rubbed his chin. "Have you pulled up the laboratory's files? What exactly was that gas?"
Susan rapidly tapped the keyboard and brought up several encrypted files. "According to the records, those geneticists were tasked with replicating some kind of mutagen. The gas's base components were extracted from 'Test Subject-D,' someone who supposedly has special abilities."
"What abilities?"
"I don't know. The folder S.H.I.E.L.D. provided doesn't contain any detailed report on Test Subject-D's abilities."
"Test Subject-D is a woman." Peter immediately seized on the key point. "What about her genetic sequence? Can we work backward from that to determine her abilities?"
"No, because they don't know themselves."
"What?" Peter's eyes widened. "They wanted to copy someone's abilities without even knowing what those abilities were or how they worked?"
"Why do you think thirty-one children died in those experiments?" Susan's voice suddenly rose, filled with anger she couldn't suppress. "Those animals! They didn't have enough time or material to study it properly. It's like giving a three-year-old a few boxes of watercolor pens and forcing them to paint the Mona Lisa. Unless they had a genius working for them, it was simply impossible!"
Peter sighed. "Then how much do we know about the gas itself?"
"The gas has certain properties I'm not sure about." Susan raked her fingers through her hair in frustration. "The scientists only received a small blood sample from Test Subject-D, but they weren't allowed to study it directly. So they had to find a way to use radiation to force the blood to fuse... fuse with those children's bodies."
She paused, her voice trembling. "Children, Peter... those were living, breathing children!"
Peter lowered his head. "I know, Susan. Believe me, I know."
"How could S.H.I.E.L.D. not know about this?" Susan demanded.
"They knew. They just didn't have anyone available to carry out the mission until Fury shoved me into it."
"The next time I run into Fury, I'm going to wring his neck!" Susan completely erupted.
With her roar, an invisible force burst outward from her. Folders, pen holders, and even several chairs were violently shoved away by the invisible force field, crashing against the walls.
"Susan, calm down," Peter hurriedly soothed her.
"...Sorry." Susan gritted her teeth. The force field instantly dissipated, and she turned to stare fixedly at the screen.
Peter was just about to speak when a pungent smell suddenly filled his nostrils. It was like rusty copper roasting over a fire, scorched and acrid.
"Susan, do you smell something?"
"What smell?" Susan looked bewildered.
"Something... like burnt copper wire. Like something's on fire." Peter sniffed. The smell was growing stronger, and its source was Susan.
Susan frowned and brought up the building's surveillance feeds. "There aren't any fire alarms on the top five floors, Peter."
Peter narrowed his eyes and leaned closer to the screen. As he drew nearer, the burnt-copper smell almost seemed to become tangible, boring into his brain.
Her emotions again?
He froze for a moment, then stepped away. "Never mind. Forget I said anything."
Susan looked at him worriedly. "Peter, if you're smelling things that aren't there, it could be an aftereffect of a concussion. You need rest."
"I can't sleep until I figure out exactly what's wrong with my body." Peter shook his head.
"Peter..."
"Please, Susan. I have to know."
Susan sighed and brought up the blood analysis report again. "They tried to use radiation to forcibly inject Test Subject-D's blood into... those test subjects."
As anger surged in her voice again, the burnt-copper smell spread once more.
Something clicked in Peter's mind. Burnt copper meant anger, and maple syrup meant lust. He could now smell other people's emotions.
"Radiation again." Peter rubbed between his brows. "First a radioactive spider, now radioactive gas... wait, can we reverse-engineer these two blood samples and compare exactly what changed?"
Susan's eyes lit up. "Good idea!"
She immediately busied herself around the laboratory. Peter stood to one side, watching the complex genetic calculations. Genetics wasn't Peter's strong suit, but his modern way of thinking allowed him to suggest different angles of approach.
"Damn it!" Susan suddenly cursed under her breath.
Peter immediately stepped forward. "What's wrong?"
"Your blood! That's the problem!" Susan pointed at the screen. "It's locked down!"