Inside the ALCHEMAX building, the office of Chief Scientist Olivia Octavius was a mess. Papers were piled high on the desk, and the air smelled like stale coffee and old circuitry.
Dr. Octopus sat behind her desk, her fingers flying across the keyboard. In this world, she was a middle-aged woman with grayish-white hair that looked like it hadn't been washed in a week. Her lab coat was covered in stains, and a wild, obsessive smile played on her lips. She was the definition of a mad scientist.
Suddenly, the sound of explosions and gunfire drifted in through her window. Dr. Octavius hissed in annoyance and walked over to the glass.
"Idiots," she muttered. "Don't they know the morning is for thinking? How dare they disturb my work!"
But as she looked down at the plaza, her anger turned into pure, crazed excitement. She saw them—multiple versions of Spider-Man fighting Kingpin.
For her, they weren't enemies. They were treasures.
As the leading expert on the Multiverse, she knew immediately that these Spiders came from different worlds. If she could capture them and study their DNA, she could find the secret to stable inter-dimensional travel.
"I must have them!" she screamed, her voice cracking with madness. "They are the perfect test subjects!"
Four metallic, multi-jointed arms burst from her back, tearing through her lab coat. These "tentacles" were strong enough to crush concrete. With a wild laugh, she used the metal arms to punch a hole through the wall of her own office. She crawled down the side of the building like a giant, angry insect, heading straight for the battlefield.
The Data Heist
As soon as the Doctor was gone, Peter and Gwen slipped out of the shadows and into her office. They had been waiting for exactly this moment. In her hurry to join the fight, Octavius hadn't even locked her computer.
"This is it," Peter whispered.
They dashed to the desk. Gwen ripped the side panel off the computer tower with a sharp TUG. Peter placed Deep Blue—currently in phone form—directly onto the main processor.
"Mechanical Limit Breaker: Activate!"
Buzz!
A bright, glowing blue light filled the room. But this time, the process was different. Usually, Deep Blue "devoured" data in seconds. This time, the light flickered and pulsed slowly.
"Why is it taking so long?" Gwen asked, her eyes darting toward the hole in the wall. "It's been thirty seconds!"
"Stay calm," Peter said, though he was also sweating. "This isn't a normal PC. It's a custom-built mini-supercomputer. Deep Blue has to digest a massive amount of high-level physics data."
Another thirty seconds passed. Finally, the blue light faded.
Deep Blue reappeared in Peter's hand, but it looked different. It was no longer a sleek, thin smartphone. It had grown thicker and heavier, looking more like a heavy-duty "brick" phone from the old days.
"Second upgrade complete," a voice spoke from the device. This time, the voice sounded much more human, with a hint of actual pride. "Deep Blue V1.02 is at your service, Master!"
Peter picked it up. The device was heavy enough to use as a literal brick if he needed to throw it at someone.
"Did you get the data?" Peter asked.
"I have the data model," Deep Blue replied. "In fact, I have every single file on the particle collider. If you wish, Master, I could even build a new one for you from scratch."
Peter grinned. "That's a big surprise. Good work, Deep Blue."
He looked at Gwen. The time for sneaking was over. They had what they came for, and their friends were currently fighting for their lives in the valley below.
"Let's go, Gwen," Peter said, his armor beginning to fold out from his briefcase. "It's time to join the party."