Chapter 41: Good company, good place, part 1

So, the Goblin serum. Back in the lab, the first thing I did was study the substance. Unfortunately, the conclusions drawn yesterday, based on the data stored on Norma's computer, were confirmed. Unlike the creator of the Eternity Serum, who limited himself to little and used only what he could figure out, the one who developed the Goblin formula had taken a full-scale replica of Professor Erskine's work. Most strikingly, the unknown scientist, succeeded for the most part. Muscle, skeleton, nervous and immune system, intelligence, the serum improves all this, the subject even has a predisposition to self-heal. I remember Norman managing to rise from the dead a couple of times after seemingly mortal wounds, apparently thanks to the serum. However, it wasn't all smooth sailing. This serum is like a program packed with crutches correcting flaws, lacking the grace and finality typical of Erskine's work, but that's not all. Apparently there is no crutch for the last flaw in the formula, so anyone who applies it to themselves becomes a dangerous psychopath with a split personality.

I couldn't cure Norma Osborne with all my desire. It's not at that level of technology. If only I had a neural scanner... but it, like many inventions of the past world I know, requires a computer that is currently impossible to use.

What then? If I can't cure the disease, then I have to treat the symptoms. We need to find a way to suppress this second individual who has decided to commit mass murder. The funny thing is that the neural scanner could also help me in this, or rather its unforeseen ability to affect consciousness at a certain intensity of scanning. Eh, I walk in a circle, again these lamentations about supercomputers in the age of ninth-generation microprocessors. I'm disgusted with myself! Shouldn't I, instead of moaning about the underdevelopment of technology, create them myself? Well, my thoughts have gone in the wrong direction; I need to focus on the current tasks.

When it comes to mind control, the first thing that comes to mind is the subjugation program used in the Hydra? Not the most humanistic method, but effective and simple. Extremely primitive drugs, a bit of NLP and brutal psychological withdrawal, after which the person becomes completely obedient to the will of the master. On the other hand, it is not certain that Osborne will break. I would even bet the opposite, if this method fails, her hatred will go to a whole new level.

But it' not necessarily going that far, I'm not looking for an obedient chump... eh, I'm no expert in psychology. I was not, however, a psychologist, but some of my old enemies were well versed in the field and managed to manipulate other people's minds with chemicals. Suppose I recreate some of the drugs they use, that shouldn't be a problem. Then I can make Norma forget the events of the past few days and block her alter ego... yes, that should work. At least it's better than killing the woman or turning her in to the authorities. But there's no guarantee that she won't remember everything after a while and then we're back to the evil psychopath option.

Speaking of working with the mind, what about asking for help from a specialist? It wouldn't be difficult for Xavier to make Osborne forget her "exploits" and block her bloodthirsty second personality. There's just one hitch, I have no idea what the Xavier of this world is like. Yes, most locals are not too different in character from their doubles from my past, even if they have different genders, but there remains a shining example to the contrary: Murdock. Even though statistically it's not that likely, but what if the local professor turns out not to be as high-minded a person as Charles from my world?

Ha, in that case Norma goes from being a dangerous villain to a minor misunderstanding, because if the villain is a Xavier-level telepath...

So, no matter how I looked for solutions to the Osborne problem, there were always pitfalls. Every method of mind control ran up against the unpredictable factor of the Goblin serum, interference by telepaths was too risky in itself, surrendering Norma to the shield was not only an extreme measure, but also fraught with consequences, because she knew too much... it was not worth showing her face.

Help came from an unexpected direction. I had somehow completely lost sight of the fact that my self-proclaimed assistant, in addition to her attraction to heroism, was the bearer of a creature that was itself a powerful tool for analyzing and monitoring the condition of the subject. When I rejected the chemical idea because it was unreliable, Venom suddenly offered to help. I remembered our testing of the Lizard serum, and she had no trouble monitoring any changes in Bobby's body, and she said it was no problem for Osborne to do the same. Moreover, the symbiote stunned me by telling me that it could leave a small number of its cells in Osborne's body, which would raise the alarm if it noticed that Norma's thought process had drastically changed.

Wow, just wow! I had a biological neural scanner under my nose the whole time, and I didn't even realize it! Shit! I can well imagine how powerful a scanner would have to be to read a model of a mental process in the brain, not to mention the required processing power to process such a massive amount of data! If a small part of the symbiote cells separated from the main body is capable of this...

"This is really the way out," I have to admit her rightness, "then I will immediately begin preparations."

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The next day, immediately after college, Gwen Stacy, dressed in her battle dress, went to the address Parker had given her. For the sake of such an important matter, she even asked Connors, who had recently begun teaching again, to leave her part-time job. However, the professor had not yet restored order to her office, and was in no hurry to take on new projects or renew old ones, so there was not much for Stacy to do there. For repairs and hauling weights, Karen might as well use the many debtors from Information, who for some reason had been added to Connors' class schedule. Apparently, their dean's office operates on the principle of "whatever the student does to get fucked up!"

Thanks to her little word with Venom, she already knew that Parker had at least one... superheroine in his stash in addition to Peter himself. After all, by standing up for ordinary people, Venom had in a way gained the right to call herself that, especially if under the monster's skin now there really was another person.

Stacy herself didn't fully understand what she expected to see when she arrived on the scene. But an ordinary two-story house with a pretty flower bed and a couple of maples by the fence certainly didn't look like a secret superhero hideout. She felt a little uncomfortable approaching the door, her bright suit looking garish and terribly out of place against the backdrop of the house. And in general, putting on a mask made Gwen look like Spiderwoman, and Spiderwoman, in turn, usually didn't bother to ask anyone's permission before entering private property.

In her imagination, Gwen vividly imagined some man, in his early forties, starting to go bald and with a small beer belly, opening the door. He lived here with his family: two or three wives and their children. What does she say to him?

"Hi, I'm Spiderwoman, do you happen to have a secret superheroine meeting going on here?"

But all her doubts were dispelled by the mere sight of the woman who opened the door for her.

"You?" Gwen let the air out of her lungs in shock, forgetting all the words she'd prepared.

"Whoa!" Deadpool whistled, leaning imposingly against the doorjamb. "What's a nice place doing in a girl like this?"

"What?" confused Stacy, unused to the mercenary's way of speaking.

"Well, come on in," Wanda took pity on her, seeing that the girl couldn't find the words, "Peter said you'd come, but don't get your cobwebs all over my house!"

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