NOVEL WEB Arc Fifteen. Chapter Four Hundred Forty. Circus Act
As with all great nations after a tragedy, the first thing America did was look for someone to blame. Trask had been blamed, but he was dead and everything had been wiped from his systems. The military had been blamed, but as Ross had predicted, they were given a pass.
It had come down to Peter. His team had swung around New York battling Sentinels, making the whole thing into a farce. So, he had been officially summoned to a Senatorial hearing to explain his actions. They weren't even tagging him for what he did as Venom. Tony had been true to his word, and once Peter lost all patience and changed his armour, Tony hid it. The extra Iron Legion drones weren't there to fight. They were there to create a web of electronic noise and light to hide the battle. Nobody knew or could prove Peter was Venom, and the press conference sealed the deal.
The clean-up of the city took a few days, whereas the clean-up of the new law would take a lot longer. Months rolled past as Gwen took the stand, followed by Tony, Ross, and soon enough, it was Peter's turn.
Which was why, at nine am on a dreary Autumn Monday, Peter was sitting facing a congressional panel. Officially it was to determine if, under the new ARCA, his team had acted improperly. Unofficially, it was to see if they could get him to admit to breaking the law. He had already been told it was lawyer-speak for ‘fucked up so badly we’re going to throw your ass in jail forever.’
He was smiling though. Right in front of him was Senator ‘totally not using this to gain political clout’ Gideon Malik. Right where Peter wanted him. They all knew Malik was dirty. He was involved with Shaw, all the way up to the Hydra attack. He was also a slippery bastard who bribed, killed or removed all evidence against him. But Peter had a hidden ace, one even his lawyer knew nothing about. Loose lips sank more than ships when it came to Hydra and their schemes.
After the usual pomp and ceremony, Malik started the impromptu interrogation,
“So, Mr Parker. We are all here today to discuss your team's part in the mess the Sentinels made. If and what actions you took, and ultimately, decide if you should face criminal charges.” Malik leant back and smirked. “But we would also like to hear how a young man such as yourself decided to interfere with a government program. One aimed at keeping our non-powered citizens safe.”
Peter smiled, took a small sip of water and looked around the room.
“Easy. It was a stupid idea, thought up by idiots, and implemented by an even bigger idiot.”
Gideon banged his gavel on the podium in front of him. “May I remind you that this is not a discussion about the ARCA. This is a discussion about your destruction of over one hundred government drones. Of how you and your people caused over a million dollars worth of property damage to the great city of New York.”
Peter raised an eyebrow. “Because it was a stupid idea, thought up by idiots and signed off by an even bigger idiot." Peter leaned over and whispered to Matt, who was his council, "Is he old, deaf, and senile, or just old, deaf, and senile?"
Malik banged his gavel again. "Comments of an inappropriate nature will see you held in contempt, Mister Parker. Now, answer the question."
"Okay, A stupid idea. Giant robots? Seriously? Do you know how hard it is to actually make a bipedal robot? Second point. Implemented by idiots. The scanning technology used in the Sentinels was developed in the seventies. Nobody updated it, and right now it is so far behind I have an app on my phone that does a better job. Point three, Signed off by an even bigger idiot. You Senator, signed off on an idea when we had Ultron, Modok and Osborn all using drones in the city." Peter shrugged, "and none of them succeeded. So, you're either old and don't understand modern technology. Deaf, as I'm sure you were told, this is stupid." Peter smiled, "Or Senile, in thinking that it would work after people much smarter than you all failed. So, yeah. I think my comments stand."
Malik scowled as he banged the gavel once more, silencing the room.
Peter's comments had the effect he wanted, to inflame the emotions of those around him. They could try and blame Peter and AIM for the mess, but it was all on Malik. Peter was just going to prove that.
Malik snorted. "And to distract the real blame you resort to unfounded attacks of a personal nature. Peter Parker is held in contempt, and fined fifty thousand dollars." He banged the gavel again as the room erupted, "And I will clear the room if there are any more outbursts. This is a hearing, and you will all act appropriately."
Peter waited, "Oh I can prove my claim. Well, not that you're deaf or senile. Dammit Jim, I'm an engineer, not a doctor." He got a few laughs, but Matt touched him on the arm. He was going too far, and needed to keep to the plan. "The Sentinels acted without authority, scanning a person's DNA without medical cause. Kinda like this.” Peter pointed his phone at Malik, and it beeped.
‘Gamma Variant Detected. Gamma Variant Detected,’ His phone announced.
“See. Gwen Stacy knows about all three gene variants. Yeah, three. And Mr Malik, it seems that you register as a Gamma Enhanced. So, under the current law, you need to report for containment.”
Malik snorted, “A phone app? A gene scanner is a highly specialised piece of equipment. I and many of my colleagues doubt a simple app would be able to determine if a person had one of these X-Genes or not.”
Peter shrugged. “Which is why, as part of my deposition, I have two authentic, and approved, gene scanners waiting. One from a Sentinel, and one from Stark Enterprises.”
Malik shook his head. “This is highly irregular. I refuse to let this become a show for you to weasel out of your responsibilities.”
Peter smiled, “This isn't a trial, and so far you've asked why I interfered. It is my right to defend myself and my property, even from the government. Second amendment. I have dealt with drones before and after they attacked my home, I knew they would hurt innocent people. It was my duty, as you are well aware, to make sure that the public is safe. I am registered as an Enhanced, as are my security teams. We all watched J. Jonah Jameson being assaulted on television, and nobody helped him. I spoke to Steve Rogers afterwards. You gave the order for the Avengers to be benched. So nobody was protecting the people.”
"You used an untested AI, and right after both Ultron and Modoc. We all saw how without proper security protocols, they go rogue, and they did. You used alien technology that proved to be unsafe. You, Mr Malik, authorised all of this. But instead of asking you to justify your actions, I am the one sitting here answering your questions.” Peter waited for the murmurs of the room to quiet down. “All because of a piece of legislation that you championed.”
“And a separate panel is being assembled to deal with that, but we are here as right now. Other than Tony Stark, AIM is the largest holder of mutant and powered individuals-”
Peter slapped his hand on the table in front of him. “Augmented and Enhanced. Anything else is a slur. Do not make me tell you twice.” Peter said sternly, and Malik narrowed his eyes at him before clearing his throat,
“The largest collection of Augmented and Enhanced individuals. And you saw fit to interfere in an issue of national security?” Malik leaned forward. “Especially as the New York accords had been repealed and replaced.”
“When national security threatens me and my loved ones, then yes. Second Amendment I believe. The founding fathers never mentioned what kind of arms. My guys just have better than most.”
Malik snorted at Peter's reply. “A power is not a gun, Mr Parker.”
“It says arms, Senator, not guns. I think your buddies at the gun club use that fact to push out larger and more deadly models each year. Augment crime was actually very low, as Hank McCoy's case proved. Most are Augments defending themselves against people like Humanity First. It makes you think to what purpose the Act actually serves.”
Malik shook his head. “Again Mr Parker, we are not here to discuss the Act, but your involvement in the chaos that ensued. The Sentinels had been nonviolent until one of your ‘friends’ used their power.”
“Oh?” Peter lifted his phone. “Security footage from my home.”
He cast the recording to the screen that had been set up. The room was silent as they watched as the Sentinels attacked without provocation.
“And add in the problem that Shield gave them my home address. My DNA was scanned without permission. Which also breaks a couple of laws itself." He waved a hand. "Permission for medical procedures, unless a person is unfit to give permission. That does not fall under the ARCA. Not a lawyer either, but people have rights, rights you ignored."
He could feel the anger rising from Malik, but more interestingly a young senator. She agreed with everything he had been saying, and was angry that Malik was avoiding the real issue. He couldn't read her mind, but the daggers she was glaring at Mailk were enough for him to give her a little push.
She didn't even need a nudge. She knew the backroom deals had been struck, and those responsible would walk free. She was pissed off and while it might cost her her career, she needed to speak up.
“I think we should allow it. If the technology used was faulty, then we need to investigate that first. Miser Parker is an expert if a little reckless,” she said. “And as Mr Parker is an expert in these matters if we cannot count on his testimony, whose can we rely on?”
“A vote then,” said Malik gruffly, “in favour?” As the chamber voted, it resulted in four for, two against, and one abstention.
“We will have a recess, to allow the machinery to be set up.” With that, the panel rose and exited the hearing chamber.
Outside another older gentleman grabbed Malik by the arm, “What the hell? If he shows the Sentinels were faulty we’ll all burn for this.”
Malik shook his head. “Even if he does, he still committed several crimes. We can show it was only that one batch, and update any surviving models. He can show they were crap all he likes. From that batch, there are less than ten left.” The other sentor tutted but knew not to push Malik too far. As he turned and left, Malik made sure nobody was too close and tapped a message out on his phone.
Parker is a problem, we need to get rid of him.
It is being taken care of. We have a new ally who will aid us.
Malik snorted and closed his phone. He knew who they meant, and they were just as big a threat as Parker. He couldn’t argue though, even the Red Room had its uses.
⁂
Malik banged his gavel once more. "This session is back in session. “So Mr Parker, go ahead and do your presentation.” Malik said, waving his gavel at him, “But I will not have this devolve into a circus. One more petty stunt and I will have you, and whatever evidence you present, removed from my hearing. Do I make myself clear?”
Peter smiled a shit-eating grin and stood. “Crystal. I need volunteers. A simple cheek swab, nothing invasive. As you're so adamant we do this by the book. Why don't you be our first test subject, Senator.”
Malik, the senator who spoke up for him, two security guards and a stenographer all agreed.
“Good. Take one of the kits from the table, open it, and then rub it on the inside of your cheek. Then one at a time, slide it into the machine. This particular one can handle up to twenty samples at a time, so we can do them all together.”
Begrudgingly they complied and once the machine was loaded Peter then moved. “It takes a while, but first,” and lifting the gene scanner from the table, he pointed it at all five volunteers. It beeped for each of them.
“The scanner registers what is known as the X-Gene. Even a dormant gene still registers as it gives off a small amount of energy. As the scanner in a Sentinel is so shoddily built, it registers every possible variant. Active or not. And as you can see.” Peter lifted his phone and cast its camera to the monitor in the room. Each sample showed a positive result for each member he scanned. “It registers you all as carriers.”
Peter put down the scanner and then moved to the more delicate instrument.
“And as we can see here, two of you have an active X-Gene, but are not Augmented, and the other three are harmless.”
Malik snorted, “So you proved the Sentinels are fallible. That doesn-” but Peter shook his head
“The Sentinels were built this way, Senator, and cleared by you. We have the paperwork from Trask Industries, co-signed by Alexander Pierce. We have the requisition orders, signed the same way. Everything from their deployment to their approval was signed by Alexander Pierce. All approved by you. I was a Shield Agent, Mr Malik. Do you think I don't know a Hydra agent when I see one?”
Malik snorted, "This again. I was cleared. Alexander Pierce was found post-humously guilty of engineering evidence against me. I am no more a Hydra Agent than you are."
He was about to finish his speech when the doors to the chamber opened. A well-dressed and young-looking handsome man walked in. After he adjusted the cuffs on his suit he brushed the longish brown hair from his face. He smiled, giving everyone a roguish grin. “So sorry I’m late. I do apologise.” As a security guard moved to escort the man out he shook his head and the man stepped back and stood still. “I apologise for being late, not for what comes next.”
