2019-04-06 - Interview with The Osborns

Summary:

Carol Danvers meets with the CEO of OsCorp, and witnesses a number of interesting things…

Log Info:

Storyteller: None
Date: Sat Apr 6 00:00:00 2019
Location: OsCorp Tower, Financial District, NYC

Related Logs

None

Theme Song

None

peter-parkercarol-danvers

The OsCorp building is like the company itself. Tall, looming over other companies, and unable to be ignored. OsCorp Tower in the Financial District is staffed by thousands of employees. The front door is comprised of two large glass double doors, with three security guards stationed behind the desk at all times. Normally a cushy assignment. Who'd be stupid enough to attack THIS place?

Well, a direct attack, maybe not, but there's a glowing speck in the sky that quickly resolves into the form of Captain Marvel. She descends rapidly near the entrance to the building, hitting the brakes just before what would be a Superhero Landing. Hovering in the air for a moment, she glows rather fiercely, then dims down to normal levels.

Hey, it's not Thor, but she can still make an appropriate entrance. Landing on the ground, she looks around, then walks with determination towards the front doors of the building.

The doors open to the sides as Carol approaches, and the guards look a little nonplussed. After a moment, the one who does recognize her steps forward, a young lady with an impressive build and an equally-impressive low-profile assault rifle. "Captain…Danvers? How may we assist you?"

Carol looks at the young lady, "Ah, yes, I had an appointment with Mister Osborn." She then ahems a bit, "And, for the record, it's Captain Marvel, or Colonel Danvers." She gives the guard a stern look at that.

The guard blinks. "Right. Uhm…updating our records now. Let me check…yes, here we are." She smiles encouragingly. "We can take elevator 3 up, and I'll escort you, Colonel Danvers."

She leads the way to the express elevator, opening the doors with a keycard reader, then stepping in and holding the door for Carol.

Captain Marvel steps in, looking perfectly relaxed, though happy is a far different thing. Carol doesn't look happy to be here, at all, but she can deal with it. She blows up space cruisers, dealing with one obnoxious CEO isn't going to be that hard, right?

The guard smiled to Carol, but didn't actually speak until floor 45. "I'm…I used to read about you, when I was a teenager. You were…you don't know how many idolized you…"

Carol glances over at the guard, "Well, thanks. That… means a lot." She does relax a little bit, since well… it's not the guard's fault their boss is apparently a rotter.

The doors open on floor 151, and the wide hallway leads to a number of offices, all wlled in glass. And the man himself is standing near one of the offices, looking rather cross with his assistant, who points out Carol to him. And just like that, he is smiling broadly, but as he walks closer, there is something about the smile. It looks…a little plastic.

"Welcome, Captain Danvers, welcome. Christine, that will be all." The guard nods, gives Carol a quick smile, then retreats to the elevator.

"When my assistant, Trevor, told me of the appointment, I thought he was having a joke at my expense. Good thing SHIELD confirmed before I had him fired, right…?" He laughs, because he thinks it is funny.

Carol smiles politely, "Always a good thing, that. But well, we did have some questions about what you were doing here." She nods, then amends, "Though it's actually Colonel Danvers. But Colonel Marvel doesn't have the same ring to it, so… there you go." Well, that and Mar-Vell called himself a Captain, so there's that too. She also doesn't exactly clarify if we is SHIELD, or the Avengers…

Norman Osborn chuckles. "Well, I figure since you've been out of circulation for so long, I consider it an obligation to help get you up to speed. Walk with me, and I'll show you a sample of what we're doing here." He smirks, then turns to walk down the hallway to the right. "If you have questions, feel free to ask, by all means."

Carol follows along, "Oh, well, feel free to explain, I'm certain I won't have a problem with it." She looks around with a clinical eye, studying what's going on, "It does sound like you're trying to develop a version of the Super Soldier?"

Norman chuckles. "Within proper safety guidelines, but the advances we are making in bioscience are simply amazing. New cures, medical treatments, and yes, helping to improve the American soldier. We live in a hostile world, Captain Daniels. Terrorism is rising, mutant/human relations are strained, rogue nations dealing in biological and chemical weapons…we need to have soldiers equipped to deal with this threat. I mean, I am sure Dr. Erskine did very well with the Super-Soldier project, but…well…" He chuckles. "…he did the best he could with the technology he had available."

Carol arches a brow, "Well, I'm pretty sure that what Erskine did break the mold." And then she thinks it's probably a good thing that Steve didn't make it. As it is, she's keeping cool and just letting Osborn talk. "I'm sure the appearance of more metahumans has helped your research."

Norman sighed. "If anything, it's muddied the waters. After the Sentinel attack, we've been doing everything we can to re-develop the blasted areas. I…" He stops as his phone buzzes. He looks at it crossly, then sighs. "Apologies, Captain. My son and his friend will be here shortly. I hope it's not too much trouble." He points to a few doors as he passes. "We are continuing our effort in biological and cybernetic enhancements, robotics…with our lead roboticist, Dr. Octavius…"
He says the name with a little tightness in his jaw.

Carol nods, "I see, and that's no problem. Are they going to ask for an autograph?" She says that, jokingly, just to give Norman the impression that she's just some blonde fluff. Not that she is, but let's give Norman the wrong impression so he might let more slip…

Norman sighs. "My son might decide to flirt with you. Parker, though…I'm sure he'll want a picture." He sighs. "Fate is strange, Captain Daniels. My son is the heir to a multinational corporate empire, and he can't pass high school science without a tutor. And his friend, who lives in a quiet burg in Queens, barely has two pennies to rub together…and he has an IQ of 250. Twenty points below Tony Stark, if you can believe that…"

Carol hrms, "Really, that's interesting. But would your son have to be a brilliant scientist to run the business?" She does make a few notes about that in her head as well, "Though it sounds like you're taking this… Parker, under your wing?"

Norman chuckles. "He's BRILLIANT. He's just…unreliable. Lazy, sleeps in class, late or absent multiple times. I wish I could employ him after high school, but he's not really a team player."

Then the elevator opens, and two teenagers step out. One of them is smiling raucously, talking quietly to his friend. The friend, who has brown hair, brown eyes, and a rather boyish face, is blushing slightly from embarrassment.

They look up to see Carol. Harry blinks and grins, striding forward. His friend, also blinking, looking startled, follows close behind.

"Captain Daniels…meet my son, Harry, and his friend Peter Parker."
"How d'ya do, Captain?" Harry says glibly.
"Actually, she's an Air Force colonel," Peter says quietly.

Carol grins at Peter, "You did your research, Mister Parker. Colonel Carol Danvers. Though I resigned my commission when I signed on with SHIELD. Bit easier for me to fly now." She nods over towards the two boys, "Just taking a tour of the facility here. It's quite enlightening."

Harry chuckled. "Yeah, Pete's REALLY big on research. Hey, Dad, Pete tells me that Doc Ock needed his help in Robotics? I offered to do a meet-and-greet."

Norman sighed. "All right, then. Anything to get that fossil back on track…"

Harry nods, then grins to Carol. "Nice meeting you Cap…uh, COLONEL Danvers. Doing anything later? I know this GREAT sushi place…"

Peter rolled his eyes, but is still glancing covertly at Carol. "Nice meeting you, ma'am," he says quickly, then heads off in the direction of Robotics.

Carol chuckles faintly, "Yes, I am, as a matter of fact. Better luck next time, kid." She glances over at Peter, arching a brow at him, and making a mental note to herself as he heads off to help in robotics, then she looks back at Norman. "This definitely was interesting to see your progress so far."

Norman gave that not-quite-real smile again, then extended an arm to continue their discussion. "You should see what we are doing in bioscience. Right now we are working on various recombinant DNA projects. Think of a soldier that can fight for hours on end, be a crack shot, and function without exhaustion for days. All with a simple injection."

Carol looks over at Norman, "That would be very useful, definitely. Especially for pilots." She hmms, "I suppose you'd be using Erskine's work as a basis for that, as well, then?"

Norman chuckles. "No. We feel that something more suitable for the 21st century was need. So, we went back to the basic model. It's…"

He pauses as they reach LAB 19, and checks his phone. "Listen, I need to speak to a member of the board. As long as you touch nothing, you can see some of our work in this lab, and I will be right with you. I apologize for the interruption."

Carol ahs, "Well, that's not a problem at all, I know better than to touch weird science experiments." She grins wryly at that, looking rather vapid. Since that's what he expects after all.

Norman nods and steps out, heading to one of the glass-walled rooms to speak with another man in a business suit.

The lab is fuilled with hermetically-sealed plexiglass cages, each with a different small animal or insect inside. A computer terminal is set in the far wall.

Carol arches a brow at the lab, looking carefully at the various animals in their cages, noting all the animals in question… and perhaps looking for ones that are missing. Particularly any arachnids, since that might explain his interest in a certain Spider-Vigilante.

All of the cages are clearly marked, but only with numbers. All the cages are filled except for one with the number 86 stenciled on the side. The case is cracked, and a repair ticket is taped to it.

The conversation with Norman is becoming more animated, with Norman losing his Happy Face. Whatever the board member is telling him, he's not liking it one bit, and soon it is loud enough to be heard through the glass walls…

Norman: "…after all I've done, you think you can take it away from me?"
Board Member: (too low to hear)
Norman: "…this is MY company. I AM OSCORP! YOU think you can try to vote me out? I have enough…"
Board Member: (still quiet)
Norman: "…you will NOT get away with this!"

Carol hears the shouting, of course, it's hard not to, and smiles slightly, putting some things together. And makes a note to herself about Case 86, though she does look at the ticket curiously, in case there's any specific information about what's in there.

The board member leaves quickly, and Norman looks like he is taking a minute or three to compose himself. He looks mad enough to chew nails and spit staples.

The repair ticket is for an event 18 months ago. Apparently the cage containment had been compromised. and Experiment 86 had been stolen.

The terminal is currently not within line-of-sight of Osborn.

While Norman is distracted, Carol takes the opportunity to look up experiment 86 on the terminal. Just to see what exactly that is… though she has a good guess.

The notation is part of a list of experimental subjects. However, there is a red flag next to it marked THEFT - VIDEO SURVEILLANCE. The video file is attached.

The file opens on the lab itself, with the cases marked as before. However, 86 is occupied, by a very lackluster arachnid. it has an odd color, and the number 86 is painted on the back of its body.

As Carol watches, a rather large teenager or a short adult burst into the room, a crowbar in his right hand. He walks over to the cage, then tries to work the crowbar under it…

Carol glances over her shoulder, just making sure that Norman isn't quite coming in yet, but keeps the video running for now. Because this is definitely the information she was looking for, as the dots are connecting for her.

The teenager pulls the cage up and grabs the spider. He eyes it speculatively.
He is a solid-looking one, but the build and appearance is more caveman than acrobat. He takes out a box of matches, dumps them out, then stuffs the spider in the box, shoving the box in his pocket. He exits the frame, and the clip ends. A further notation reads, SUBJECT IDENTIFIED AS CARL KING, QUEENS, NEW YORK. SUBJECT WENT TO LASER LAB 5, THEN LEFT AFTER FAILING TO OPERATE TERMINAL.

Somehow, that is not surprising. The boy IDed as Carl King looks like LONG DIVISION would be a stretch, let alone being able to operate scientific equipment.

Carol glances over her shoulder, then quickly goes back to the main menu, then locks the terminal to cover her tracks. When Norman comes back in, he'll see Carol making faces at the cat that's in cage 57. The cat, for its part, seems to adore Carol, pawing at the plexiglass playfully in response.

Norman looks…a little strained, and he says quickly, "I…hate to cut this short, but there are some matters that require urgent attention. I can have Christine escort you to the front door…or to the roof, if you prefer."

There is something…unsettling in his demeanor, like he's trying to hold this persona of the Smart CEO, and hold it long enough until she leaves.

Carol glances over at Norman, "Well, I certainly hope there's nothing too crucial, but thank you for your hospitality." She smiles, waving goodbye to the cat in 57, who meows as Carol is looking to leave. Then she says, "And if Christine can take me to the roof, that would be perfectly fine. I can leave from there, naturally."

Norman leaves quickly. He is practically fleeing from the lab.

A few seconds later, Christine, the guard from the ground floor, arrives. "This way, Captain Marvel." she says with a smile.

One minute later, she is on the roof of the building, next to the helipad.

Carol smiles over at Christine, "Thanks. Stay safe." With that, she actually launches into the air, flying off over the city. And then she speaks into her Avengers communicator, "Steve, just got done with Oscorp, and there's definitely some information we'll need to talk about here…"

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