066

Stockholm Concert Hall.

The different media from the city and even from different countries had arrived outside the building where one of the most important ceremonies in the scientific field would take place.

The night had begun to fall in the city of Stockholm and with it various people began to arrive at the building, from presidents of diverse countries, to business heavyweights and ending with the most outstanding researchers and scientists of the last decade.

Each one of them had gathered to witness the Nobel Prize ceremony. Most of the prize winners had already introduced themselves and entered the building after having said a couple of polite words to the reporters who approached them.

At this point most of the reporters were waiting for the arrival of the last two winners, the first of which was the Nobel Peace Prize winner who had started a movement that soon gained global relevance to stop the production of nuclear weapons.

Something truly exemplary for one part of the population and something stupid for the other part of the population. But despite all the attempts to discredit him and even assassination attempts he was still determined to achieve his goal, even if he wasn't very successful.

The second person they were waiting for was possibly the person who would have the most attention throughout the night, it was Norman Osborn.

The name Osborn had been something that in recent months had begun to become more and more common to see in the news, but with a positive connotation. It was not that Oscorp had a totally negative reputation, however there were many rumors about how a newcomer had been able to almost completely control the market of medicines and pharmaceuticals.

Despite the suspicions nothing could ever be proven against Oscorp or Norman, the next time Norman Osborn was in the news headlines it was due to a horrific accident that left him in a coma for a long time.

For a long time that was all that was known about Norman Osborn, at least until he managed to recover in a way that could only be described as miraculous and as soon as he woke up he began making improvements in New York City.

From public works that would benefit citizens from all social classes, to the new and useful inventions that his company continuously creates. For those kinds of reasons Norman Osborn started to become more and more popular and respected in the citizens.

Even the media had nothing but wonders to talk about the man and no matter how hard they tried his detractors could never find anything to bring him down from the position he had quickly attained.

Now with the Connors Formula his fame had only grown even more and the fact that the drug was relatively accessible to any type of person simply made more and more people become sympathetic to Osborn.

The various reporters on this occasion only had one mission to accomplish for their publishers and that was to have an interview with the founder and director of Oscorp, as it was something that everyone wanted to get, but few had achieved.

This because Osborn has always had a low profile unlike others like him, he has always maintained a certain aura of mystery around him and only had interviews when it was really necessary, this time the various information networks sent their best reporters to try their luck.

The arrival of a somewhat plain black car made the reporters pay attention to the possibility of the night's target appearing, they all began to look at the others as competition.

From the car soon came down a man in a black suit that was somewhat usual in similar ceremonies, but still had a unique feel to it, as soon as the man came down most of the reporters recognized him.

The man seemed indifferent to everything and only moved in the direction of the other car door and calmly opened it to bow slightly and raise his hand.

Only for another slender hand to take it and out of the door of the car a beautiful young woman with blonde hair and an emerald green dress began to descend.

At no time did the reporters notice a second man getting out of the car, as all their attention was focused on the man and woman couple, a few seconds later countless camera sounds were heard all over the place.

…

Norman could already imagine the headlines that the various news articles related to him would have in tomorrow's edition.

Osborn's eyes simply swept over the reporters for a second before focusing on Gwen who seemed to be in a state of shock, "Gwen" he called her name which quickly caught the blonde's attention, "Come on" he mentioned with a soft smile.

The blonde just nodded before letting out a brief sigh and starting to move hand in hand with Norman. The reporters who tried to approach were stopped after a simple and brief glance from Osborn.

So despite the small commotion they caused at first it was relatively easy for them to enter the building.

"That was a little intimidating" Gwen mentioned as soon as they were out of reach of the reporters.

"You'll get better with time, not all people are able to react normally when reporters act that way" commented Osborn trying to encourage Gwen.

"I guess it's something you can never quite get used to" Gwen mentioned, she had heard that Norman had pushed back against the media when the announcement of the winners had been revealed, if he hadn't, it was likely to be even worse than this time.

" Maybe it could be" Norman replied, "However considering your potential it is certain that you will have to learn to live with it at least at events like this" he told her.

"You mean?" questioned Gwen with a surprised look on her face.

"Gwen you have a brilliant mind and a strong desire to learn and improve yourself, qualities that many people would wish to have, I have no doubt that you will become one of Oscorp's top researchers in the future, and therefore you will have accomplishments that at this point I cannot calculate" with sincerity Norman told her as he looked at the Stacy.

"For those reasons you will have to get used to a certain part of the press being behind you" he finished by saying while looking at the blonde.

"You have a lot of confidence that I will continue working for Oscorp" although the words mentioned could be something to misinterpret as truth, the tone used by the blonde let Norman know that she was only saying it by way of amusement.

"Well even if you want to leave I won't allow it" countered Osborn as he stepped a little closer to Gwen. Her blue eyes collided with his green eyes, a small stare fight took place with neither of them retreating.

The footsteps of a person reached Norman's ears, and he withdrew his gaze from Gwen only to see a Dr. Connors with a tired look on his face.

Gwen soon moved to his side as she shot a curious glance at Connors, "What happened?" she asked quickly.

"When you two disappeared from the reporters view they started paying attention to me, most of the questions were related to you Mr. Osborn" he explained quickly as he looked at the two younger people.

"Not a surprising thing, considering I have refused most of the interview requests they have made" Norman said in a general way.

"Why?" was Gwen's question which she said unconsciously.

"Most of them just want to know about my private life and that's something I'm not willing to share" replied Osborn curtly.

"We'd better be on our way anyway," Norman mentioned to them as he naturally extended his hand to Gwen who took it in a way that showed no discomfort or displeasure.

…

One of the many attendees of the ceremony met them as they made their way to the indicated location and began to guide them in a cordial manner. Once they were inside the large room where the Nobel Prize was being awarded, they received the attention of most of the people inside.

Some looked at them with eyes of concern, others with interest and joy, a few with eyes that were hiding some hostility, the three people did not give them too much importance to those looks.

Norman was already totally used to receive that kind of looks while Connors also did it, although to a lesser degree, on the other hand Gwen maybe had experienced something similar, and it was because of that she was acting in a relatively normal way.

There was some time before the awards began so most of the guests were chatting amongst themselves and only once the announcement was given would they take their places.

Of course there was more than one person who approached the Oscorp group, but they got absolutely nothing besides a smile and polite chatter. As Norman believed at first there were several so-called scientists who tried to test Gwen's knowledge.

Their faces were full of surprise and a small amount of respect could be seen at the end of their conversation with Stacy. At the end of it all Gwen was able to treat all the nuisances who had tried to flaunt their knowledge and educate her.

"I never thought these kinds of ceremonies would be like this," Gwen told him with a bit of weariness and irritation.

Norman smiled at the young woman's words, "The people who are in this ceremony are those who are highly successful whether in the scientific field or not" he began to tell her gently.

"Most of them will never believe that a woman in her early 20s was a leading researcher and key player in the invention of the Connors Formula" he continued.

"That's stupid," Gwen commented quickly, interrupting Norman.

"Maybe it is" replied Osborn without any irritation at being interrupted, "However that's the way things happen, if you want to be respected then you must show that you are in that position because of your own achievements and knowledge" were his last words before falling silent.

"Was that why you didn't intervene at any point?" questioned Gwen, as it had seemed somewhat strange to her that he only observed her exchange of words with the other guests.

"Correct" he replied positively, "As I mentioned before, I am completely sure that you will have great achievements in the future, but you must start building your own prestige and reputation, so that no one can question whether you have the necessary qualifications" he continued.

"That is something you can only do for yourself and while I will grant you some protection and resources along the way, you will be the one to choose which path you will walk" were his words, which at no time had the slightest tone of doubt.

Before either could say anything else, the call to take their designated positions was heard.

This time it was Gwen who first extended her hand in anticipation of Norman who quickly took it and they both began to walk in the direction of their places.

…

Time began to pass, and the ceremony soon began with a short introduction and then a piece of music was played by the Stockholm orchestra.

After that the awards for each of the Nobel Prize categories began to be given. Each time an introduction was given to the subject that won the prize and also the field of science in which it was awarded.

When it was their turn Gwen, Connors and Norman all had to rise from their seats, the first was Connors, with Gwen being the second and receiving a look of encouragement from Norman as he saw a hint of nervousness in her eyes.

Norman was the last of the three to receive his recognition and performed the appropriate steps before returning to his seat, now he just had to wait until the ceremony was over, and then the banquet would follow.

Once the ceremony was over and the guests began to leave the building, the press was already waiting for them with their cameras and broadcasting the event.

Norman took his gaze to the sky, it was a night without stars only the moon could be seen, and even she was being covered by the clouds, the cawing of a crow was heard in his ears.

His eyes moved to the place of origin of that sound, and soon he saw an adult crow landing on one of the lampposts near the building. The crow for a few moments seemed to sense Norman's presence and looked into the man's eyes.

A high-pitched sound was the next thing Norman heard and soon after the panicked screams of a considerable number of people began to be heard, completely ruining the cheerful atmosphere.