Midtown High School.
....
"All along the watchtower
Princes kept the view
While all the women came and went
Barefoot servants..."
Peter nodded his head to the rhythm of the music as he walked toward class, absorbed enough in it that he did not notice the object heading in his direction until Missy arrived at speed and solved the problem by wrapping both arms around him in a hug, then tucking herself against his arm in a way that placed her quite specifically near his chest.
"Good morning, Peter!"
"Well, hello, Miss Kallenback," he smiled, taking off his headphones with his free arm. "Also hello to you, Mary."
"Hello, Peter," Mary Jane said, approaching from the other side with the composed style.
"Do you feel prepared after everything we studied?"
"Much better now," Mary Jane said, walking beside him.
She looked at him and gave him a smile that was genuine and a little more than casual. "Thank you for your help."
"Good. I do not want your dream of becoming an actress to collapse because you do not study and are lazy."
He said it with a smile, which made Missy giggle and Mary Jane stick her tongue out at him as she moved ahead toward her seat.
Before they sat down, he greeted Gwen.
Mary Jane took the seat by the window in front of him, next to Gwen, and got lost in her thoughts.
Missy and Peter chatted and flirted while they waited for the teacher.
Every now and then he glanced at Gwen, who frowned slightly whenever Missy moved any closer.
The teacher arrived and class began.
The classes were painfully quiet and monotonous.
He had gotten used to the hectic life that Parker Luck had provided, and on top of that the previous Peter had absorbed every piece of study material like a sponge, which left him with nothing to do except be bored in the specific way of someone who is trying very hard not to be visibly bored.
He spent the time jotting down ideas for suit improvements and paging through a magic guide he had found, which was titled Magic for Dummies and was not living up to its title in any useful sense.
"The story is fascinatingly stupid and irritatingly depressing," he summarized in one sentence, setting the book down.
He had been trying to pay attention to the teacher but found it almost physically impossible not to lose consciousness during the longer speeches.
"Please, The One, get me out of here." He nearly rested his head on the desk, which made Missy look at him with visible amusement. "Are you enjoying my misery?"
"Yes," Missy said.
'I hope this day ends quickly,' he thought. 'I have to get to Baxter. I have important things to do.'
....
Time Skip.
Baxter Foundation. Peter Parker's Laboratory.
He entered the laboratory after what felt like hours of unbearable educational torture and sat at his desk to work on a set of tools that had been waiting for his attention.
"Cortana?"
She materialized beside him with her arms crossed and one eyebrow raised.
He looked at her.
"....You are simply the most perfect and beautiful woman I have ever seen in my entire life," he said, seriously, looking directly into her eyes.
"Thank you, Peter," she said, and gave him a beautiful smile along with what may or may not have been a blush, which disappeared quickly enough that he could not be certain he had seen it. "Ahem. Why did you call me?"
"I would like you to enter the police security network without alerting anyone. It is connected to the security center of Pym Technologies, or Cross Technologies, or whatever the current name is. I want you to find out if they have a molecular compressor."
"Understood. One moment." She disappeared, and reappeared approximately five minutes later. "I have good news."
"Perfect. Tell me."
"There is a molecular compressor. They were recently using it for a project called Yellow Jacket, but it has been replaced with a more advanced unit. The old compressor is currently being transported to a warehouse where it will be disassembled and sold.
This would be a good opportunity to borrow it. I would recommend waiting until they disassemble it and then taking the parts, since the condenser will not fit through a standard door intact."
"Good news," Peter said. 'And partly bad, since now I know I have to keep an eye on Cross so that Project Yellow Jacket does not get ahead of itself.'
"Do you want me to set an alarm to notify you when the workers leave the warehouse so the parts can be collected?"
"Yes, please."
"Done.... Is there anything else you need, Chief?"
"Yes. How is the Microbots Project progressing?"
"The project is in perfect condition. Thanks to Oscorp's nanobot data, understanding the Microbots was straightforward, along with their creation process. All that remains is your order to begin production. As for the nanobots themselves, my research is not yet complete."
"Spectacular. Begin Microbot creation. Use the materials from Essex for their construction. Tell me, how many will we be producing?"
"Using the Essex materials, with the remainder reserved for a better purpose alongside what Reed so generously lent you, we would be producing a total of five containers."
"Perfect. Start creating."
"Understood."
That was how most of the day proceeded.
Cortana produced Microbots while Peter worked on tools for his vigilante operations and made improvements to the suit, until an alarm interrupted everything.
"It is time, Peter. The workers are leaving the warehouse. This is your window."
"Yes, but how do I transport the parts here?"
"Already considered. There is a drug deal taking place several streets away. You could use one of the criminals' vehicles to bring the parts, since I highly doubt they will be using it afterward."
"That's perfect, good, I'll do that. " He finished the conversation, retrieved his suit, put it on, and jumped out the window toward the drug deal.
....