"Jason Reeves"
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January 19th, 2052
9:52 AM, Midtown High
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The future didn't feel like flying cars and robot butlers. It felt like cold desk chairs and the faint smell of cafeteria eggs wafting through recycled air.
Jason Reeves sat in the back row of his sophomore history class, brown skin, wide auburn eyes and hair in messy braids. His chin was propped up on one hand, eyes fixed on the translucent holographic screen hovering above the teacher's desk. The screen glowed with a soft blue tint, scrolling through a slideshow on the "Rise and Fall of the Enhanced Hero Era." Spider-Man's face flickered for a moment-mask on, crouched against a ruined billboard-before vanishing behind bullet points and bold text.
Jason stared a little too long.
"Something caught your eye Mr. Reeves?"
Came the voice of Mr. Phillips, dragging Jason back to earth-back to 10th grade. The boy blinked...
"No sir...just paying attention."
The classroom laughed, Mr. Phillips didn't.
"Well if you're paying such close attention I guess you wouldn't mind telling us what year LIFE Industries was founded."
Jason sighed softly, tapping his finger against the edge less tablet sitting on his desk.
"Um...2037."
The bearded man could be heard clicking his tongue.
"And who pray tell is the parent company of LIFE Industries?"
Jason smiled innocently at the man-which honestly irritated him more.
"They are owned by OSCORP, who bought them in 2042."
The class waited in anticipation, as the bearded Mr. Phillips grunted loudly and turned back towards the large illuminated screen at the front of the class.
"Lucky guess. Now Life Industries and OSCORP have a long and complicated history, but-"
The man's voice faded into the background, as Jason glanced lazily out of the window. Outside, the city was live with movement-drones zipped past buildings, bullet trains passed swiftly and silently overhead and massive billboards flashed with ads for everything from new energy prices to new OSCORP tech. New York had evolved-quite lively and beautiful-something Jason liked.
He glanced back at the screen, specifically at the frozen picture of Spider-Man. He'd never really met the guy of course, not many could say they had. Though Jason remembered that day Spider-Man saved him-nine years ago. He was just six years old, some explosion happened at a power plant and had debris falling all over the street. He remembered everyone running away screaming and shouting. His uncle had to pick him up and run with Jason in his arms, trying to get to safety.
Though miraculously even with chunks of a building falling onto the crowded streets of New York, no one was hurt. They were all protected by him-Spider-Man. He stopped what debris he could, and for what he couldn't he simply swung in and scooped up whoever was in immediate danger. Jason could remember it too clearly. Red and blue webbed spandex-a bit tacky but still cool, holding up a large chunk of concrete that would have crushed him and his uncle. Then the surprisingly calm reassurance of...
"You're safe now."
That moment replayed within his mind more often than he'd like to admit. After that he started looking up to Spider-Man. Not just because he was strong, fast or cool but because he chose to be someone with all of that. Someone good. Someone who didn't hesitate to save those in need.
At one point Jason thought he could be like that, but it seemed like age was the best remedy for such childish dreams. Afterall, heroes are born, not made.
"Mr. Reeves! If you find my class so uninteresting then would you care to lea-"
The deafening ring of the bell cut the man off, as Jason among other students rose from their desks.
"Sorry sir. I'll pay better attention next class."
He said to the man with a smile as he exited the room. The corridor was bustling with students heading to their next class, however Jason didn't have anything after history and before lunch, so he was completely free. So he forced his way through the endless wave of students until he found his favorite place in the entire school. The library. His own personal get away from obnoxious students, and irritated teachers. A place where he could relax in silence and read whatever he pleased without others bothering him.
'Nobody's here today. Great.'
He walked over to the large shelf marked "Physics", pulling out a thin silver disk. Quickly finding an empty desk, he sat down and ran his finger across the surface of the disk. It lit up, and long lines of text were projected above it, directly in front of Jason. The strange hologram of a book flipped through its virtual pages on its own, as the boy quietly read along, absorbing as much information as he could.
'Wonder if I'm the only one who reads these. They're never checked out.'
After what felt like thirty minutes, he heard the library door open and someone entered. It was a girl, and she immediately caught Jason's attention. Short reddish-brown hair, a few barely noticeable freckles on her cheeks, and pretty blue eyes. He had seen her around the school before and recognized her instantly-May Parker.
"Spanish...Spanish..."
She muttered to herself, searching through the various shelves for one labelled "Languages". Jason kept to himself, trying to focus on his ready but soon she noticed his presence.
"Oh! Sorry I didn't notice you. Could you tell me where to find the language books please?"
Jason looked towards her, a bit taken aback by her appearance, but managed to collect himself and reply.
"Um, yeah. They're towards the back."
She smiles brightly at him.
"Thanks!"
Then she disappeared into sea of shelves. Jason returned to his reading, a bit surprised at their sudden interaction.
'Huh. Never thought I'd ever talk to her.'
A few more minutes passed, and to his surprise May returned. She had one of the silver disks, and pulled out a seat next to Jason.
"Thanks for the help dude. I'm May by the way."
Jason looked at her, slightly confused.
"Uh, yeah. I'm Jason."
"Wait...we share the same English class right?"
Her question made the boy think back, and it was true. May was in fact in his English class, though the two never once talked. That made sense however. She was one of the popular girls-dating the school jock, always surrounded by others, and always the center of attention. Jason was the opposite, a relatively quiet guy who was neither well known nor beloved by his peers.
"Uh, yeah. We do. I'm Jason Reeves."
She smiled and reached out to shake his hand.
"May Parker."
'I know.'
He made sure not to say that outloud, but accepted her handshake with a small smile.
"So, you're just reading physics ahead of our level for fun?"
She smirked at the boy, as Jason rose an eyebrow in mild confusion. He had somehow forgotten what he was doing in the first place the moment he saw her. The redhead had to direct her eyes towards the disk placed infront of him, before he caught on.
"Oh! Um, yeah. Yeah I guess. It's interesting y'know."
He chuckled awkwardly, scratching his head in mild embarrassment. May chuckled-that probably meant he didn't mess up too bad.
"Not a lot of students in this school actually want to learn. Even less would call advanced physics interesting."
"Haha, guess I'm one of a kind."
'Please stop talking.'
Inwardly berating himself for the corny line, he became rather surprised to hear May chuckle.
"Fair enough."
'Follow it up Reeves!'
"Um, so what about you? Just a lover of the languages?"
May released a loud sigh before dropping her head onto the desk.
"No, I've got some stupid Spanish test after this and I've barely studied. If anything I like the sciences."
Through her groaning and complaints, Jason only heard one thing.
'She likes sciences!'
"So, do you want to be a scientist? Like a chemist?"
"Nah, I want to be a doctor. Just think it would be cool to save people y'know?"
Jason paused, his mind wondering for a moment before a small smile grew on his face.
"I know what you mean..."
After that it was silent for a while, the two thinking about their respective goals. May however soon perked up, yet again turning to the boy.
"What about you? Planning to become a physicist?"
"No, I'm interested in engineering. I want to make things to help people i guess."
She seemed pleased by his response.
"Like Life Industries and OSCORP?"
He smiled awkwardly, releasing a dry chuckle.
"Yeah, something like that."
Though May wasn't focusing on his mannerisms, captivated by his aspirations.
"That's super cool! Huh, how come I've never talked with you before?"
'Cause I'm a total loser who has trouble talking to people.'
He had to stop himself from saying that outloud.
"I'm not su-"
"May!"
Someone else entered the library doors-large, hulking figure, blonde hair and striking features. Edward "Eddie" Thompson. The resident jock of Midtown High. While it was never stated outloud, everyone unanimously agreed that he was the king of the social hierarchy. He also happened to be May's boyfriend.
"Oh, Eddie! What are you doing here?"
She lit up like a Christmas tree when she saw him.
"Sarah told me you'd be here studying for your Spanish test. So I thought we could study together. Hall 2b is free right now."
She beamed, immediately springing up from the desk and dashing towards the titan.
"That sounds great! Ah! Bye Jason!"
He could barely wave as she had already dashed out of the room wrapped around Eddie's arm.
"Um...bye."
'That was unexpected.'
So, he returned to his reading a bit unsettled that he had a genuine conversation with the May Parker and she actually seemed interested. It made him wonder more about the sporadic girl.
---
---
After that, Jason's remaining classes flew by and the school day had ended. Initially he had planned to head home to his apartment, but decided he'd spend the evening in his uncle's repair shop instead. So, after a brief ride on the skyrail, he reached a small, slightly old building with a large "Reeves' Repairs" sign hung above. Pushing open the door, he entered but was immediately met with the store's rather small and vacant interior. Though to Jason that gave it some charm-a calm and cozy neighborhood repair place. He glanced at the man sitting at the desk, and smiled.
"Evenin'."
The man smiled but didn't look up, his attention fixed on the small device he toggled with in his hand. He had brown skin a few shades darker than Jason's and low cut hair with a few grey patches. He had a beard aswell, but his most defining feature was his pair of black spectacles that threatened to fall off his nose. This was Jason's uncle-Max Reeves.
"School's out early today, huh Jay?"
The boy chuckled, walked over to the man and leaned on the counter.
"It's a quarter past three."
That got the man to pause and look up towards the clock in mild surprise. It read "1:25".
"I've gotta fix that..."
"Or get a clock from this century."
Jason got a closer look at what his uncle was toggling with. It was a smartphone, but one of its corners was chipped and the screen was very cracked.
"Let me guess...dropped in the toilet."
The middle aged man chuckled.
"Close, the sink. They were apparently recording a video of themselves in the mirror."
Jason clicked his tongue, but chuckled nonetheless. He walked over to another corner of the shop, looking at a small picture of his uncle and two other people on the wall. One was a pale, lanky man-somewhere in his early twenties, with very dark round spectacles and short black hair. He looked familiar, but Jason couldn't place him. The second was a man, the same height as Max, with a similar skin tone and spectacles-though clearly more fit than Max. Jason recognized the man immediately as his late father-Leon Reeves.
"Anything for me to do?"
"You can pick up a broom."
Jason shook his head.
"Anything I'd like doing?"
The man rolled his eyes at the boy's comments.
"Mind the counter while I work on something in the back."
Jason sighed loudly as he walked back over, and walked behind the counter.
"That's just as boring. Leave the phone."
Max did as the boy said, leaving the damaged phone on the counter as he disappeared into the back of the shop. Jason happily took a seat and grabbed a nearby screwdriver, eager to tackle the destroyed phone.
"Did they slam into the damn ground? There's no way dropping it into a sink did this much damage."
So, hours passed, as it quickly changed from a quarter past three to half past seven."
Jason sat cross legged in the chair, the repaired phone sitting on the counter, and his own phone placed on his lap. He lazily scrolled through video after video, bored out of his mind. His uncle was lost in his work in the back-Jason knew better than to disturb him just because he was bored. Still, it was becoming unbearable. Though, as if God heard his pleas, someone pushed open the door to the store.
Jason perked up, excited to have something to after hours of solitude, but his excited expression quickly morphed into confusion as he saw the customers. Two gentlemen, both wearing expensive looking black suits. The first had slicked back blonde hair, and a rather irritated look on his face. Though the second peaked Jason's interest. He had well styled black hair and thick spectacles. He was rather slender, and looked younger than the other guy-around his early thirties. Though what caught Jason's interest was that he looked strikingly similar to the man in the picture with his uncle and father.
"Um...what can I do for you two?"
The blonde man walked up to the counter, eyed Jason up and down, before he looked beyond the boy to the door in the back.
"Is anyone else here?"
Jason felt weirdly uncomfortable under the man's gaze. His gruff voice didn't make it any better either.
"Yeah, the owners in the back. Do you...want me to get him?"
The man stared for a bit too long, as if annoyed with the boy.
"...Yes."
Jason didn't need to hear anymore, as he immediately went to the door and knocked.
"Um, uncle Max. Some guys in suits are here for you."
After that he walked back over and stood by the counter. The two men's gazes fell back on him, causing Jason to nearly wither away.
"He'll be out in a minute..."
That minute felt like an eternity, but soon the door opened and Max re-entered the front of the store. He looked at the two men and Jason noticed his expression darken for a moment, but he quickly put on a smile as he addressed them.
"What can I do for you two gentlemen?"
The blonde immediately pulled out a card from his jacket pocket. It had a stylized image of a DNA strand with the letters "IFE" next to it-a logo Jason immediately recognized.
"We're from LIFE Industries and we'd just like talk to you about some company matters."
The men turned to look at Jason.
"Confidential company matters."
His uncle sighed loudly, but soon turned to Jason aswell.
"Jay why don't you head on home without me? I'll be in after I talk with these guys."
'This...is a red flag right?'
"Um...sure?"
He cautiously walked towards the door, but could still feel everyone staring at him. As he was about to leave he gave his uncle one final glance, but the man sent him back a smile.
"I'll bring in something good to eat. See ya' in a bit."
Jason gave him a really strained smile in return and left the store. Walking the cold streets of New York towarxs his apartment he couldn't shake that nagging feeling eating away at him.
'Total red flag!'
-
Layed across the couch, his shoes kicked to the side and his hair a mess, Jason lazily stared at the TV. He was watching a cartoon, chuckling as the yellow dog on screen was bitten by a spider. He was about to doze off, but he quickly became alert again after he heard the apartment door open. He got up so fast that he tumbled to the ground, but that didn't stop him from dashing over to his uncle.
"I'm back Jay!"
The man shouted, holding up a bag of fast food for the boy to see. Though Jason wasn't focusing on food, instead he carefully examined the man as he walked over to the couch and plopped down. Jason continued to stare as the man changed the channel and leaned back, getting comfortable. Eventually he noticed the boy's stare.
"Oh were you watching that?"
Jason was silent for a moment.
"Okay I'm just gonna ask since you're not saying anything. What was that?!"
The man sighed and turned back towards the TV.
"Oh you're worrying about that? It was nothing."
That didn't calm him down in the slightest, but Jason understood that was the only answer he was getting. Releasing a loud sigh he walked off.
"I'm going to bed..."
"Hey!"
He paused and few inches infront of his door, turning back to his uncle.
"Wanna visit LIFE Industries with me tomorrow?"
Silence. Jason was silent, trying to process what he had just heard.
"...Huh?"