Peter figured there was no point hiding it anymore—Marcus already knew his identity, so keeping up the act would be meaningless.
When Peter asked his question, Marcus just smiled and took a big bite of his burger.
"You should know I have special powers."
Peter nodded. He definitely knew Marcus had abilities. After all, when they first met, Marcus had been floating in mid-air like it was nothing.
Thinking about that moment, something clicked in Peter's mind. His eyes went wide as he stared at Marcus.
"Wait... you mean you can read minds?"
That was the only explanation Peter could think of. How else would Marcus know his secret identity? They'd only met once before.
"Hmm... something like that." Marcus nodded.
He hadn't expected Peter—who was already in college—to have such an active imagination that he'd jump straight to mind reading. But hey, it gave him a perfect cover story. Technically, he could do something similar since soul transfer let him access people's memories anyway.
Getting that confirmation from Marcus made Peter feel a lot better about the whole situation.
So it wasn't that he was terrible at keeping his identity secret—it was just that Marcus had the unfair advantage of mind reading powers.
This also reminded him to be more careful around telepaths in the future. He could handle his own identity being exposed, but if someone found out about his family and went after Aunt May, he'd never forgive himself.
"Okay, your questions are done, right? Let's talk about energy applications."
Peter was genuinely talented—whether it was biology or energy physics, he always had unique insights to offer. That's why scientists like Doc Ock and Dr. Connors were so fond of him, and Marcus wanted to pick his brain too.
"What do you think works better for nuclear energy applications—cold fusion or thermonuclear?"
It was a serious question, especially since Peter was working with Dr. Otto on thermonuclear research. That made Peter think carefully about both approaches.
"If we're talking about the ideal solution, it'd have to be cold fusion. I've heard Dr. Otto mention it before. He says it's the ultimate way to harness nuclear energy."
Peter had definitely heard Otto discuss nuclear applications, though Otto believed cold fusion wasn't achievable in the short term. Right now, they were focused on perfecting thermonuclear fusion.
Cold fusion was considered the holy grail because of its incredibly high energy efficiency, while thermonuclear not only wasted a lot of energy but also generated massive heat that required complex cooling systems.
"Good thinking, though thermonuclear has its own advantages."
Marcus nodded. Peter's theories were solid—with enough study, he'd make an excellent scientist even without becoming Spider-Man. That put him way ahead of Marcus, whose scientific knowledge was pretty surface-level stuff he'd picked up from Howard and Tony. What Marcus really understood was armor tech, amplitude crystals, and enhancement research.
"Dr. Otto's thermonuclear research is almost finished, isn't it?"
The moment Marcus asked that question, Peter jumped up and quickly backed away.
"Hey, quit reading my mind! I need to stay away from you!"
Marcus's seemingly innocent but oddly specific question made Peter think he was getting his thoughts read again, and he didn't want all his secrets exposed.
"Haha, relax, I wasn't reading your mind. I just put it together from what you said. You mentioned hearing it from Dr. Otto, remember?"
Marcus chuckled and took another bite of his burger, not bothered by Peter's reaction. He'd be meeting Doc Ock soon enough anyway.
Marcus didn't have any real hostility toward Otto Octavius. The guy was just a tragic scientist, really. He only became Doctor Octopus because his thermonuclear experiment failed and the AI in his mechanical arms took control, turning him into a supervillain.
Marcus wasn't worried about someone like that. What he really cared about was Otto's thermonuclear research—that was a massive energy source that could definitely yield seven Aya.
Marcus kept eating his burger like nothing happened, and after a moment of silence, Peter sat back down next to him. He trusted his abilities, especially his spider-sense, completely.
"If I gave you blueprints, could you build whatever's on them?"
Now that he was ready to make his move on the thermonuclear project, he needed to take action. Peter would make an excellent assistant.
Marcus needed time to extract the thermonuclear energy, and that time would let Peter deal with Otto directly.
"What kind of blueprints?"
"Nothing major, just an electromagnetic pulse generator." Marcus said casually.
While the device had some technical complexity, for Marcus it was pretty basic tech. The requirements weren't too demanding anyway—Peter could handle it himself, which would help keep Otto busy and buy Marcus more time.
An EMP generator?
That surprised Peter. He hadn't expected Marcus to ask him to build something like that.
He'd read about electromagnetic pulses in books—they could disable electronic equipment, and a generator would be something that could continuously emit those pulses.
"What do you need that for? Are you one of the bad guys too?"
Smack!
Before he finished talking, Marcus flicked Peter's forehead. Did this kid's imagination ever quit?
"This is for you. If you run into tech-based threats in the future, you should be prepared."
Marcus finished the last of his burger and patted his stomach with satisfaction.
"The future won't be as peaceful as it is now. You'll face all kinds of different opponents—you might even meet people like me."
As he spoke, Marcus's hand suddenly appeared near Peter's throat.
The instant movement left Peter frozen in shock, then his spider-sense screamed danger and he launched himself away from Marcus with everything he had.
"What's that supposed to mean? You want to fight me?"
"Of course not," Marcus shook his head slightly. "I just wanted to show you that your animal instincts don't work perfectly all the time."
Even as he said it, Marcus was impressed. Peter's reaction had been pretty quick. Even though Marcus hadn't intended to hurt him, Peter managed to snap out of his shock and respond fast. That spider-sense really was a useful ability.
Those words left Peter silent. It was eye-opening to realize someone could move faster than his spider-sense could detect.
At least Marcus hadn't meant to hurt him—otherwise, he'd probably be down for the count right now.
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