Puerto Rico, a US territory, is a peculiar place. Its peculiarity lies in the fact that it's an excellent sociological sample, showing you how colonies used to operate.
Puerto Rico is sovereign US territory, but none of its residents have the right to vote or be elected in presidential elections because it is not one of the fifty US states; it's merely an overseas commonwealth. They can democratically elect their own governor and government, provided they meet US requirements. They can also elect a Resident Commissioner to the US House of Representatives, but because they are a Commissioner, not a voting representative, this official has no voting power.
However, due to its special geographical location in the Caribbean Sea, it genuinely possesses a unique advantage for astronomical observation and research. Otherwise, the US would never have built its "Eye of the Sky," the Arecibo Radio Telescope, here.
"Alright... we'll be arriving at San Juan International Airport shortly. Most of your itinerary will be completed in San Juan. The researchers from the Stanford Research Institute, the National Science Foundation, and Cornell University, who are responsible for managing the telescope, will lead you in various scientific activities and related experiments. As soon as we land, the relevant staff will be there, so please follow their instructions."
The supervising teacher stated the expected itinerary. After all, even removing the two half-days for the round-trip flights, the students would be in Puerto Rico for a full four days, and it was impossible to spend all that time just looking at the radio telescope.
Peter looked at the increasingly close landmark and recalled the preparations he had made for this trip over the past two days. First, Tombstone and his drug cartel were finally apprehended. Then there was the Venom problem—although not yet solved, they had found a direction. Besides that, he was also responsible for escorting a batch of prisoners into the Raft prison and taking the opportunity to visit the inmates.
He was probably the Avenger who cared the most about the Raft prison. After all, it's a known truth that the moment a prison appears, the probability of a jailbreak increases significantly. So, he specifically went to check on the Raft's security issues and had a "friendly chat" with the captured super-villains.
This included playing half an hour of 21 (Blackjack) with Deadpool, just the two of them.
Another point of concern for Peter at the Raft was its warden, Ultron. Since Otto Octavius had used his electronic vocal cords to hack into the Ultron Mark II system, and with the temporary upgrade of Ultron Mark III proving inadequate in the fight against the symbiotes, Pym was rushing to develop Ultron Mark IV. The good news, however, was that Ultron's underlying logic had been reprogrammed. It was no longer the vague and grand goal of "helping humanity achieve peace," but the specific objective of "assisting the Avengers' operations."
Hopefully... it wouldn't turn into a robot apocalypse again.
Apart from all this, Peter genuinely hadn't had a vacation in a long time. It was the perfect time to leave New York for a week and relax in the Caribbean. Puerto Rico wasn't the densely-populated New York City, so there probably wouldn't be any supervillains, right?
"Peter, the itinerary shows activities mostly in the afternoons. The mornings are essentially free time," Gwen, sitting in the aisle seat to Peter's right, checked the schedule on her phone and asked Peter curiously, "Do you have any plans to fill that time?"
"That's the biggest problem. I have no plans."
"Didn't you say your detective club has a team-building activity? What is it?"
"That's at night. Four hours of CoC (Call of Cthulhu) tabletop roleplaying every day, but without the Cthulhu monsters—it's purely deduction. Some upperclassmen write the modules and act as GMs, and the other members are players who perform the deductions."
In other words, Peter Parker's daytime hours were free.
Gwen raised an eyebrow and started searching for places nearby they could visit. Cindy, sitting to Peter's left by the window, was, as usual, engrossed in a book, seemingly uninterested in joining the conversation.
The plane soon landed at the airport. Somewhat unexpectedly, Peter and his group were asked not to leave the airport through the normal channels. The staff from the Arecibo Observatory had specifically arranged two large buses to take them directly to their hotel. Peter felt puzzled and strange about this arrangement and couldn't help but look around. His Spider-Sense told him there was currently no immediate danger.
In fact, it wasn't just him. Almost all the students began to murmur and discuss. A large portion of the students attending this event were members of the detective club. They were highly sensitive to unexpected situations and illogical behavior, and they immediately started debating why this was happening and if something was wrong. The bookworms' curiosity and wild imagination were unleashed instantly.
"Peter, Peter, did something happen?"
Harry leaned over and asked curiously, "Do you have any insider info?"
"No, everything is normal in Puerto Rico," Peter replied crankily. He then looked at Cindy. If the Avengers hadn't found any trouble in Puerto Rico, what about S.H.I.E.L.D.?
Cindy simply shook her head, indicating that S.H.I.E.L.D. didn't know anything either.
Just as the bookworms were arguing, a clear, artificial cough interrupted all the chatter. A tall woman in an Air Force uniform stepped down from the bus. She had long blonde hair, wasn't wearing a military cap, and stood before the students with her hands clasped behind her back.
Most of the students gasped because the female officer, who looked to be in her twenties, with a tall figure, blonde hair, and blue eyes, was truly beautiful—far beyond the typical range of girls most of the bookworms had encountered.
"Hello, children. I know you have some concerns, and that's normal. After all, this is a somewhat unusual arrangement. In fact, we have a reason for doing this. This visit is part of an effort to observe students from high schools across the country who show an interest and potential in astronomy and cosmology. If you have excellent academic records and show talent in related research, the Pentagon will pay for all your tuition and cover all your student loans."
The bookworms gasped even louder. Of course, someone asked why they didn't just recruit people directly from universities or find capable professors.
"Because the plan we are undertaking is for the next hundred years. This is an era of rapid change, and we need young people with innovative thinking."
The female officer chose to evade the question with an equivocal statement, then smiled and introduced herself: "Hello, everyone. I am Carol Danvers, Security Director for the US Military's Project PEGASUS and the Arecibo Observatory."
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