Qué Maravilla

Ch.11 - The Forest Through The Trees

Miles Morales kicked in the vent from inside the air duct. Using the momentum he propels his body forward, landing feet first on the floor of a pitch black room. The second he touches the ground he gags.

"What the hell is that smell?" He walks around in an attempt to locate the source while holding his breath. The only sound being of his footsteps echoing through the abyss.

"Would be great to get some light in here first," the boy mumbles to himself.

He channels his energy into conjuring his electricity to his palms. It helps, but only illuminates about a foot in front of him. He wanders aimlessly for about a minute. From what he can see, the place is a complete mess. He passes beakers and vials half filled on the counter tops, some shattered on the ground. Notes and documents sprawled on desks and floors, some of which are ripped to shreds. Most of their contents lost to the liquids that had begun to mildew the tile floor.

Miles slips on the mystery substance, almost falling flat on his face. After a second of slipping, sliding, and flailing about, he finally regains his balance.

"That was clos-"

He trips again. This time on an array of wires sprawled recklessly on the floors and atop of any other surface imaginable. Sparks flying from the rubber insulation that has since worn out. Miles opts to follow the path of the cables. They all lead in wildly different directions, but one finally takes him to a large, bulky desktop computer. He gingerly clicks the mouse, thankful to find that it powers on without him having to enter a password. As its added light begins to brighten the room, he can see more of the carnage. Deep gashes and claw-like marks litter the wall. Dents in the infrastructure and even a broken light hanging precariously from the ceiling.

'Whoever was here last, definitely left in a hurry.'

When he returns his attention to the computer he finds a disorderly mess of files cluttering the desktop. 'God damn.Y'all work like this?'

At a loss, the boy resolves to click on random documents one after another. For a moment, he's stuck shifting through useless junk. Pirated movies, some off color jokes about the working class, a recipe for apple pie. Soon enough, he stumbles across something that makes him pause.

It's a photo of a woman and a man posed in front of the Earth-42 collider. It takes him a second to recognize the man. His long hair reaches past his shoulders and his full beard and mustache obscure his face. Under closer inspection he could deduce that it was Jonathon Ohn, the well natured scientist he had just become acquainted with. The woman however, the woman he could discern as clear as day...

...It was Olivia Octavious, or as he had known her, Doc Ock.

'Well that explains the messy desktop,' he joked internally. Though it failed to quell the unease that followed. Jonathan and Doc Ock were co-workers? Or did he work under her? The Prowler mentioned something about a hit being placed on him by a superior of his. She couldn't be the boss conspiring to kill him, could she? Surely Jonathon would know... right?

Miles clicks around fruitlessly again before he stumbles on another well of information...

A folder aptly named Rapture Video Logs... It couldn't be that easy right?

He opens the folder and skims through a plethora of video files. Pages and Pages long. Dated from as far back as two years ago. He clicks the first file. When the video finally loads, his jaw drops and his blood runs cold.

The man on video fiddles with the camera, struggling to mount it on a secure surface. His face uncomfortably close to the lens as he mutters indiscernible nonsense.