Chapter 4.2

Petra's day began as usual - breakfast, helping Uncle Matt with the housework, sewing up a couple of new holes in her superhero suit and patrolling the city again. Every day in New York, hundreds of major and minor crimes are committed, and these are only by ordinary citizens, not to mention supervillains, and Petra was determined to reduce the number of crimes and criminals in her city. Patrol went as usual, Petra managed to catch one reckless driver on the road, prevent a robbery of a pawn shop and rescue a kitten of a cute ten-year-old girl from a tree, after which she decided to rest a little. Chewing a cinnamon roll that Uncle Matt baked that morning, Petra thought about life, about the upcoming new school year and about her superhero career. This year she was going to her last, twelfth grade, and Petra was determined to graduate with honors, because this was her only chance to get a scholarship and recommendations to college, because she would not be able to pay for her studies, which meant that she would have to devote more time to studying and less to heroism.

And of course, she had to think about the prom! But where would she get money for a decent dress, and who would she go there with? Of course, there were two guys in her class, but one of them was already getting attention from all the girls in her class, and why would he need a nerd like Petra if he could choose almost any girl, even from the football team and the cheerleading squad? And the second guy...

And the second guy also showed attention to the first one. Go with a girl? Petra had no friends, and she would not be able to make friends in nine months of study, because she had not been able to in all these eleven years. And she would have no time for friends in her last year of study. All her time would be taken up by her studies and her career as a superhero. Of course, if, God forbid, something went wrong with her studies, Petra had another option for earning money. To reveal herself. Like Iron Lady and Captain America did.

The girl knew that they received a lot of money for their candid photo shoots. And why was she worse? True, she was not as beautiful as Anita Stark and Stephanie Rogers, and her breasts were a bit small, but she was a superheroine after all! Even that nasty Scorpia received money for this! But there were two main problems here, the first was that Petra was underage, and the second - Uncle Matt's heart would stop if he found out that his niece was filming practically naked, and he was the only relative she had left. And he wouldn't be happy if he found out that she was a superheroine either. Oh, the dilemma. Having washed down the bun with water from a bottle, Petra pulled the raised mask back up and went back to work.

Her attention was drawn to the noise of an alarm as she flew near the edge of Manhattan's Chinatown. Petra knew little of the area, but there were no large or expensive stores, pawn shops, or even banks, which meant that it was a small store that had been raided, and most likely by petty criminals. A piece of cake. The girl was about to rush into battle right from the flight, but she had to stop and blink her eyes in disbelief. One of the criminals had been neutralized by a guy! And she knew him! Not long ago, less than a week ago, she had already saved him from a similar situation. He would have remained one of the many people the girl had helped, but she hadn't had to save men that often, and no one had ever given her gifts, not even a simple chocolate bar, after that! The chocolate bar, by the way, had come in very handy, she really wanted a snack then, and this miracle of confectionery was so delicious! While the girl was recalling all this, the two remaining criminals decided to save the third and went after the man. There was no time to waste, the boy had to be saved.

***

At the end of her patrol, when night had already fallen on the city, Petra was in two moods. On the one hand, she had done a good job today, prevented three crimes (okay, two and a half, she had help with one), and simply done a lot of good deeds, but then there were the words of that criminal that she was only playing at being a superhero, catching ordinary criminals, taking work away from the police, and was afraid to mess with real villains. And most importantly, that she had not come to the aid of the city and its inhabitants a year ago, during the alien invasion. The girl was deeply hurt by her words. A year ago, she had only just acquired her powers and could hardly control them, and going after space invaders was the height of stupidity, she would have simply died in vain. And what can you hide, the girl was frankly scared. Surely, in the eyes of the guy, she seemed like a coward. It was an unpleasant feeling, even if this was a complete stranger to her, but she was trying so hard to make up for what she had missed during the Chitauri invasion. She even went out on patrol almost every day, and she didn't even count the criminals she had caught and the crimes she had prevented! But the stranger treated it with understanding, he even spoke like Miss Stark. In the girl's eyes, he had risen well, and not only because he had been able to stand up for himself (although if he had been able to resist armed men, as it turned out a little later, then why had he frozen like a frightened rabbit in front of those three girls, not even criminals?), but also for his words. About fate and hope for the next meeting! Petra had not expected the latter at all and had stared at the "twice saved" man with a little fear right during the flight, for which she had paid. The girl had tripped and fallen right before his eyes, what a shame! She had to stand up abruptly, assure the guy that she was okay and quickly retreat with her cheeks red from embarrassment.

And of course, another small gift of chocolates, which again pleased the girl. No one except her uncle and her now deceased aunt had ever given her gifts. That's why she decided to follow... Accompany, the girl corrected herself, the guy so that he would get home safely (it seemed to Petra that he was good at getting into trouble). It turned out that the guy lived in a very good and prosperous area, so how could he end up in such unfavorable areas of the city? Having followed him with her gaze until he entered one of the residential skyscrapers, the girl with a clear conscience went on to continue her heroism. Although she did find the windows of his apartment at the end.

***

Germany, Munich, LifeCorp headquarters

Jessica sighed wearily and leaned back in her comfortable office chair, first rubbing her eyes, and then her temples. Still, five hours of sitting in one place and staring at a computer screen can make you tired. No matter how much a woman loved her job, she needed to rest, and besides, she would have to spend the second half of the day on her feet in the lab, as opposed to sitting in her office. "From one extreme to another," Jessica thought and sighed again. "I hope the cafeteria is still open." The cafeteria was open, it was even crowded, apparently she wasn't the only one with work up to her ears. Richter, stone-faced, listening to her colleague brag about how she had recently gotten married, even if it was her third wife, and how happy she was, finished off the sweet jelly that was dessert in the set lunch. Of course, she was happy for her, but she couldn't talk about it for a week straight! Especially when the woman herself was absolutely deaf on the love and family life front. A couple of times over the past year she went on dates with men (for whom she paid for everything, of course), but both times were unsuccessful.

The first time, her date turned out to be an obese man in his forties with a noticeable bald spot, who ate a tidy sum at an expensive restaurant, not like Jessica imagined her future husband, and besides, he turned out to be married! The woman simply did not immediately notice the wedding ring on his fat finger. The second time, the couple even turned out to be quite nice, but her new acquaintance directly stated that if she was going to become his wife, she would have to provide for him in everything and indulge him. Jessica was not against this, and in general many men lived on their wives' money, but the prices he voiced were absolutely astronomical, and this is considering that Jessica earned quite well. Of course, there was another option - to go to the sperm bank. Jessica could easily raise a child on her own, and if it was a boy, she would receive a pretty good allowance for him. After finishing the jelly in two sittings and saying goodbye to her happy colleague, Jessica took the empty tray to the drop-off point and was about to head towards the labs when a soft female voice came from the speakers: - Jessica Richter, the director asks you to come to his office, Jessica Richter, to the director's office, - the speaker turned off as silently as it had started. The woman frowned, it was rare for someone to call the director like that, on speakerphone. Walking towards the director's office, Jessica tried to remember what she had done (or hadn't done) that the CEO of her company was calling her. Her project was on schedule, there were no incidents. Oh well, what's there to guess about, Jessica would soon find out why the director needed her. The secretary, whose work station was in the room just outside the director's office, smiled at Jessica and nodded toward the door to the office:

"Hello, Ms. Richter, Mr. Yamamoto is waiting for you." Jessica nodded and took a deep breath,before entering the next room. The office of Yamamoto Sakurai, the current CEO of LifeCorp, was furnished in light colors and quite expensively. At a carved table made of rare wood sat a Japanese man dressed in a classic three-piece suit. Jessica liked the man, Yamamoto Sakurai was an honest and respected man, and also, as Jessica knew (and almost everyone who worked at LifeCorp) knew, Yamamoto had only one wife, whom he doted on. And he was quite a handsome face. Jessica would not refuse such a man, it was a pity that he was already taken, and that he was a one-woman man.

- Sit down, Jessica, - the man nodded to the chair in front of his desk.

- You wanted to see me, Director? - the woman sat down, crossing her legs and mechanically smoothing out the folds on her short skirt.

- Yes, what do you know about the incident in our New York branch? - The same as other employees of our company with clearance level "S", - Jessica began in a businesslike tone. - Project "One" entered its final stage, Alicia Smith was sent there to check and close it, but eleven days after her arrival, a fire broke out in the lab, and One escaped. Now they are looking for her all over New York. And our specialists and dozens of people from internal security were sent to investigate this incident. "That's true," the man confirmed with a nod, "but all our efforts were in vain, and yesterday evening, almost today, these photos were posted on a New York portal dedicated to superheroines and villains," with these words Yamamoto turned his computer screen one hundred eighty degrees so that Richter could examine them. Five photos, clearly taken on a phone, only one showed a dark human figure with long arms and white eyes, more or less clearly. "Did the first one find the host?" Jessica raised one eyebrow in question. "Are you sure these aren't original symbiotes?" "I'm sure, according to my data, Venom was last seen in California, and Carnage in Australia, and this one looks completely new." "Then that complicates things. She could have already left the city." "It's possible," the Japanese man nodded again, "that's why I decided to send additional specialists to New York." We need to catch the First before she fully regains her strength, otherwise it will be almost impossible to bring her back, - the woman repeated the nod. - Excuse me, Director, but I don't understand why you called me? - I decided to send you as one of our company's specialists, along with three dozen people from internal security and all the necessary equipment. - Me? Why? I don't even oversee this project. - But I'm familiar with its progress and reports - that's one. Secondly, Alicia asked to send you to help her, you are friends and have worked together on more than one project and have long been a team. Well, thirdly, you have family in New York, right? - Only a brother, - the woman smiled, - the only one. The rest of the family is scattered all over America, in Europe, besides me, only my father, as far as I know. - That's why I chose you. - But what about my project? Will they freeze it? - No, I will pass it on to other specialists. Finding and returning the First is the top priority. - Do I understand, Director, when am I leaving? - The plane will be ready by six o'clock tomorrow evening, plenty of time to prepare and pack. - May I go? - Go, - the man nodded and Jessica walked gracefully towards the exit, - and Jessica, - the woman had to turn around at the words of the boss, - I ask you - work first,then family. - I understand, director, you can rely on me. The woman left the office with a smile on her face and in high spirits. She would see her brother soon! The last time they met was over a year ago in the hospital, right after the attack on the city by those damned xenos, then her only brother received a stray shot from an alien, which left a scar on his face that practically never healed. After that, her beloved younger brother, who was not very socially developed to begin with, completely withdrew into himself and did not leave the house, as she knew, for the entire year. Imagine her surprise when he agreed to meet Alicia. Maybe he was finally starting to recover from the effects of the attack? After all, he was a man, and most of them are so soft and vulnerable. If so, then that was very good! And if she could bring him and Alicia together... - Wait a little longer, brother. Soon, your older sister will take care of you, - the woman quietly said to herself and headed to her office - she needed to finish a couple more things before leaving for America.