Alex sat down and stared at the screens. Peter's costumed form appeared in dozens of videos. His friend who had confided in him. Who trusted him completely.
'Norman wants me to analyze Spider-Man. He doesn't know I already have all the data. That Peter and I have been working together on this for weeks.'
Alex pulled out his personal phone. The one Oscorp didn't monitor. Sent a text to Peter.
"Need to talk. Urgent. Can you come to my place tonight?"
The response came in two minutes. "Yeah. After patrol. Around 10?"
"Perfect. Be careful."
Alex returned to the screens. Started reviewing footage with his enhanced intellect fully engaged. He wasn't analyzing to discover Spider-Man's capabilities. He was analyzing to figure out what Norman would see. What conclusions Norman would draw. What gaps Alex could exploit.
By 6 PM, he had a preliminary framework. By 8 PM, he'd identified seventeen instances where Peter had clearly held back his strength. Where the footage showed restraint that Norman might interpret as limitation.
'Good. I can work with this.'
...
Peter arrived at Alex's apartment at 10:15 PM. He came through the window. Still in costume but with the mask pulled back.
"You said urgent. What's wrong?"
Alex gestured to his laptop. "Norman assigned me to research Spider-Man. Full analysis. Capabilities, weaknesses, potential capture methods."
Peter's face went pale. "He wants to capture me?"
"He wants to understand you. Replicate your powers. You represent proof that enhancement research can succeed." Alex pulled up the footage he'd been analyzing. "But here's the thing. He put me in charge of the research."
"So you're going to... what? Feed him fake information?"
"Not fake. Incomplete. Misdirected. I'll give him real data but lead him toward wrong conclusions." Alex opened his notes. "But I need your help. We need to coordinate."
Peter sat down. "I'm listening."
"Norman's going to do his own analysis. He's got teams reviewing footage. Security experts. Scientists. If my reports contradict what they see, he'll know something's wrong. So we need to be smarter."
"How?"
"You're already holding back when you fight. I've seen it. You pull your punches. Don't use your full strength." Alex pulled up three video clips. "Here. Here. And here. You could have ended these fights in seconds but you didn't."
Peter watched the footage. "I don't want to kill anyone. Even criminals don't deserve that."
"I know. And that's good. But it also means the footage shows you weaker than you actually are. Norman will analyze these fights. He'll estimate your strength based on what he sees. If we're careful, we can make sure he underestimates you significantly."
Understanding dawned on Peter's face. "You want me to keep holding back. Make it look consistent."
"Exactly. Right now the footage is inconsistent. Sometimes you seem very strong. Sometimes less so. That inconsistency will make Norman suspicious. He'll think you're hiding your full capabilities." Alex pulled up a spreadsheet. "I've analyzed every fight. Estimated how much force you actually used versus your maximum. We need to establish a consistent upper limit that's well below your real strength."
"How much below?"
"I'd say show about sixty percent. Maybe sixty-five. Enough to seem impressive. Not enough to reveal how powerful you really are."
Peter nodded slowly. "I can do that. Be more careful about how hard I hit. More consistent."
"And there's something else." Alex pulled up different footage. "Your wall-crawling. Sometimes you stick to surfaces effortlessly. Other times you seem to struggle. Again, inconsistent. Norman will notice."
"It's harder on some surfaces. Smooth glass is trickier than brick."
"Then we use that. My report will say your adhesion works best on porous surfaces. Struggles with smooth ones. You make sure the footage supports that. When you're on glass or metal, make it look difficult. When you're on brick or concrete, make it look easy."
"You've really thought this through."
"I have to. Norman's brilliant and paranoid. If we're going to deceive him, it has to be perfect." Alex closed his laptop. "There's another reason I'm telling you all this."
Read more chapters, days ahead of Webnovel Updates on Patreon marvelstark