Altogether, we had to hang around for about another 15 minutes until the time to start the tour actually arrived, as we got here fairly early. During this time the rest of our classmates that weren't already here slowly arrived, and even though I already recognized everyone, it was still interesting seeing more people who I was familiar with from the movies and comics in my past life in person.
Peter Parker and MJ were talking between themselves, split off from the rest of the class, while Flash and Liz Allen were the popular kids with their own group. Harry was in our class as well and usually hung out with them, but I couldn't spot him for now. To be honest, he is probably already inside considering he is an Osborn and his father owns the company.
Gwen and I were kind of middle of the pack. Not the most popular kids, but not total loners either. That being said, most of our friends were keeping a distance for now, as Gwen was too into the whole Oscorp thing and would talk the ears off anyone who dared come too close.
I had to take one for the team and listen to her. I don't know nearly as much about science as she does, so most of it went in one ear and right out the other, but I just nod along in a practiced rhythm all the same.
Finally, my salvation arrives in the form of an old gray haired man with a magnificent beard with a matching color and a white lab coat that nearly reaches the ground. Next to him is the already familiar Harry Osborn, who, as expected, was already here before any of us.
"Good morning students. I hope you're prepared to witness the future of science and engineering, courtesy of one of the leading technological innovators of the modern era." The old man greets in a loud voice as he approaches us to get the attention of everyone. He gives it a few seconds as everyone quiets down and turns towards him.
"I am Spencer Smythe, Director of Oscorp's Advanced Robotics Division. You may address me as Mr. Smythe. I'll be overseeing your tour today. Please behave with the professionalism appropriate for young adults. Do not interact with any equipment unless explicitly instructed, and kindly keep your volume moderate to avoid disrupting our researchers."
As the old man gives us the usual speech of behaving well, Harry walks past him and joins the rest of our class. I can't help but think that him coming out of the building with our tour guide is just a flex from him, but whatever.
"To start off the day we will be going to the robotics division of Oscorp which I am personally heavily invested in as the leader of said division. I hope I will be able to answer any questions you may have for me and I have set up some of our newest projects for interactive testing, so if you would all follow me, I will take you all there now." Spencer says, turning around to walk toward the sliding entrance of Oscorp Tower. After a few seconds of delay, we all start following him.
The first floor of the building is incredibly busy, with employees arriving in the morning for work, as well as businessmen and other trade partners making their way through the building. We are led to the elevators, which we take to the 6th floor. Overall, we occupy 3 of the 6 elevators with our entire group.
On the 6th floor, we are greeted by a wide arrangement of machinery and tech that I have no clue what their purpose might even be. Dozens of scientists and other workers are busily going about their work without even sparing us a glance, probably already warned ahead of time by Spencer that we would be coming.
"Now, as I said, please try to keep quiet to not bother those focused on their work. I have three things to show you today, the last of which you can also touch and interact with. To start off with, I wanna show you something that has been a bit of a passion project for our CEO Mister Osborn himself, a large drone that can also double as a hoverboard for aerial transport."
We enter a large room with visibly thicker windows that are heavily tinted as Spencer guides us all to spread out through the edges of the room.
"Now behold this…" He says, bending down to grab a hold of a handle to what looks like a very small garage unit built into the side of the room. There are three of these in total, and this is only the first one. Pulling it up to open the door, out comes what looks like a skateboard, only, it floats in the air.
Now that is pretty fucking cool. This is the shit that anyone coming to the marvel universe wants to see. Magic is cool, but advanced tech is even cooler. Who hasn't dreamed of riding on a hoverboard in their life.
"First, a personal project I've collaborated on with our CEO, Norman Osborn. This is a stabilized, low-energy hover transport platform, colloquially, a hoverboard." Spencer introduces as he drags the hoverboard out of its garage and into the center of the room for everyone to get a good look at, "This prototype uses high-efficiency repulsorlift technology, maintained via stabilized superconducting magnets and a graphene composite chassis. While structurally sound, the current lift threshold peaks below full adult mass. A smaller individual, such as a child, could ride it safely. None of you, regrettably, qualify."
A chorus of "Aaaw"s is heard as the dreams of every boy in the room are crushed at once. I think even I let out the same sound, damn. Despite this sad piece of news, we are still allowed to touch and guide the hoverboard around the room as it flies. Once everyone has their fill, the hoverboard is stored away by Spencer who goes to open the next garage door.
"For the second item you all will be shown today, I present you the early version of an exoskeletal assist frame designed for load-bearing augmentation and mobility restoration. This is revolutionary for anyone who might have impaired movement as they will once again be granted the ability to walk around on their own two feet… or well the exoskeletons feet technically, but they will walk all the same."
The exoskeleton shown is quite bulky, as expected from an early version. While most of us are busy staring at it with stars in our eyes, Spencer moves forward and steps into the exoskeleton itself as the limbs close in to enclose his arms and legs into it.
"As of right now, the main thing this can be used for is increased strength, as anyone wearing it would be able to lift upwards of a ton without breaking a sweat. While the armor is still in development, Oscorp has already been contacted by numerous corporations in businesses such as construction that want to get these for their employees to make work easier and faster."
To demonstrate what he had just said, Spencer walked out of the storage room with the exoskeleton, producing a heavy thud with each step that made me wonder if the floor of the building would give in and make him fall through. He easily made his way over to the other side of the room, where several students parted to make way for him. With no hesitation, Spencer's right arm moved and picked up a 4-person couch, lifting it into the air with a single arm as if it was as light as a feather.
Seeing the feat, the teachers from our school that came to supervise us were the first to clap, quickly followed by the rest of us.
After parking the exoskeleton back and closing its storage room, Spencer walked to the last door, but before opening it asked. "Is there anyone here who knows any martial arts or how to fight?"
A wave of confusion passed through everyone, wondering why he would ask this. It became apparent only a second later as he opened the door and out walked, on its own two legs, a robot. "This is what we call an "Enforcer Unit" a semi-autonomous law enforcement support model. It uses a neural-heuristic combat AI, trained on tens of thousands of human engagement simulations. Again, is there anyone here who is experienced in any form of combat and would like to give my creation a shot?"
The robot made its way to the center of the room. It was not a super sleek and modern design, more so very bulky looking but impressive nonetheless. I would be very excited right now if I didn't know what these would be used for in the future.
"I'll give it a beating if you really want me to." A blond boy, the tallest in our class, said with confidence as he cracked his knuckles.
"Very good." Spencer chuckled. "Hitting metal would hurt, so I'll give you these boxing gloves so Oscorp doesn't end up getting sued. What's your name?"
"Flash."
"Flash? Very good then Flash. Please go ahead, try to take on my creation in any way you see fit." Spencer said confidently, stepping back to give room to the two.
The robot stood still, not moving in the least, as Flash got in a boxing stance. With no hesitation, he threw out a quick jab at the robot's head with speed that showed he had extensive training.
Unfortunately for him, the punch would never connect with his target, as the robot did a quick sidestep and moved its own arm to catch Flash's hand.
"What the fu-" Flash wasn't afforded much of a chance to curse as the robot's other hand was already in motion, moving toward his stomach. He braced for the impact, but it never came as the enforcer's arm stopped just short of making contact.
"And that is it." Spencer said smugly. "Without feeling pain, getting tired and being both faster and stronger than even the best fighters in the world you can see how these will change the world yes?"
There was another round of applause for the robot as well as Flash who stepped up to fight it and before long the first part of our tour in the Robotics division was already coming to an end as sad as it was.
"There is just one last thing to show off that is vaguely connected to robotics, and that would be neural interfaces and the technology to control machines with your very mind. For this, we're heading one floor up to the Neural Interface Lab, where you'll meet Dr. Otto Octavius, pioneer in bio-cybernetic control systems."
We followed Smythe out of the room and took the stairs up to the next floor. There, the man known as Otto Octavius that would later be known for his role in many tentacle hentai videos was already waiting for us.
"Ah, welcome!" Octavius beamed. "I am Doctor Otto Octavius, and today, you'll glimpse the interface between thought and machine. Follow me and do be careful where you step."
He looked to be very excited to show off his work, as without even waiting for anything else, he turned around and walked through the door into the lab. It was only after Spencer urged us that everyone knew to follow after him.
The lab had dozens of men and women in white lab coats working with metallic artificial limbs. There were countless monitors strung up all along the walls showing absolute nonsense code and diagrams of brains that I could not decipher the meanings of.
"Please follow me and restrain from touching or breaking anything along the way." Octavius said, leading us past several smaller teams of scientists doing work all the way to the back where a small table was set up with two artificial arms along with other various objects.
Everyone gathered around the table, making a crescent moon shape around it.
"This," he gestured, "is our latest neural synchronization module, utilizing bidirectional EEG mapping and real-time feedback control. In layman's terms, it lets you move artificial limbs with your brain."
He sat down, picking up what looked like a soup bowl with wires connected to it, and put it on his head. "I would love nothing more than to have you all try it, but unfortunately it is still unsafe for inexperienced users as it can overload your brain if used incorrectly, but I guarantee that within a few months we will have working prototypes out for people to experiment with, so once that rolls around, make sure to keep an eye on your nearby tech expos to play with one yourself."
He presses a few buttons as lights on the helmet turn on. "Now watch this. My hands are idle in front of me, not touching anything, but the hands on the table? They will start moving on their own as if by magic."
I along with the rest of our class turn our eyes to the arms on the table. For a few seconds they don't move and inch but then suddenly without warning come to life as they slowly start to move.
At first, they awkwardly shuffle around in an unnatural manner, but after a bit of adjusting, the right hand picks up a ball from the table. Carefully and with precision, the ball is thrown into the air and caught by the left hand, prompting several spectators to clap. Without realizing it, many of the scientists from the floor have come to join us in the crowd.
As the hands throw the ball back and forth a few times, I turn my eyes to Octavius, who is heavily sweating as he concentrates on the hands doing the juggling. Under his guidance the hands pick up a second ball for juggling, then a third, then a fourth, and before I know it they are juggling 10 balls at once in a perfect rhythm.
Second after second, the spectacle draws gasps and applause from many of the scientists that work here, and the rest of us join in with them. That is, until the balls suddenly drop as the hands malfunction. Looking over at Octavius, one can see him pressing his eyes closed in pain as the helmet starts smoking. An assistant quickly helps take it off his head.
"And that, students," he said through gritted teeth, trying to laugh through the pain as he massages his own head. "is precisely why it's not ready for public use. Neural feedback loops are delicate, and overexertion leads to temporary neural fatigue. Or, more bluntly, brain pain. A malfunction can happen even to the best of us, but this is just part of the scientific process. Before long, any bugs will be ironed out and this life-changing technology will be available to any who need it."
With that 'little' mishap, our tour in the robotics section has finally come to an end. Octavius tries but fails to get up from the chair to see us off, but thankfully for him, Spencer is still there to continue the tour with us, and we set off to the bioengineering labs.