Beyond Responsibility

Chapter 11: Trigger Part 2

"Like how heroes are trained?"

"Precisely, the same applies to villains too. The resources we seek are the types who harbor explosive potential within. Ones who can pull the trigger on their own strength of will," He explained.

"Annoyiiiinnng. I mean, those types are usually a pain."

"Then deal with them at a distance as you're so fond of doing. So long as you deliver good data and DNA samples from the more promising test subjects, you're free to handle things as you see fit."

"Works for me, don't need any more of you guys cramping my style. Speaking of..." Her eyes darted to the next street over. "Seems the police and pros are starting to sweep the nearby area, that could be a hassle. Looks like my fun is over." With that she stood up from her rooftop perch, dusted herself off, took out her earbud and walked off without a care in the world. "Let's see... I think I could go for some karaoke right about now."

≈*≈

"Thanks for all the help, Raptor. Here, take this:" Spidey shot a spider tracer so that it stuck to the inside of his vest. "That's one of my trackers. It'll let me find you if you come across any new information, or if you get in trouble and need help. It's solar powered, so you won't have to worry about the battery unless you leave it on for more than an hour at a time. Unfortunately, it's still a prototype; I haven't found a secure frequency to attune it to, so I haven't calibrated the transmitters yet to prevent the chips from being traced back to me. The only thing I've got worked out is my GPS receiver that lets me pick up the signal whenever you ping your location. That means I can't find your location on my own, I need you to signal me."

Raptor furrowed his brow. "I'm not a tech guy, but if the tracker isn't always turned on, then how exactly does that help either of us if the signal only goes one way? You won't be able to track the location of any druggies to hunt these guys down. And what am I supposed to do, just hope and pray that you're available and nearby and you see my signal in time?"

"Unfortunately yes. There's a small secret button on the side of the tracer. You push that button for three seconds and it'll send out a beacon that'll be picked up by my receiver and alert me until you press the button again. That way, even if I'm tracking multiple targets. However, because the tracers' transmitters aren't linked to my device yet, the only signal they can send out is a generic one. That beacon would be picked up by every radio receiver in the city. Of course, no one's going to be out searching for random radio frequencies in a world where everyone is using their smartphones to access the internet via random radio signals all the time. But the point still stands: only push that button if it's for something important, otherwise you might just attract unwanted attention."

≈*≈ Speak of the devil. Peter thought as the familiar sense of impending dread began to creep up the back of his neck. It was faint now, but he was wise enough to know it wouldn't stay like that for long.

Raptor, for his part, was none the wiser to Spider-Man's sudden alertness. "Well that's rotten, but I guess I owe you. If I see that trigger dealer again, I'll be sure to let you know right away."

"If you understand, then let's hurry up and get out of here before the police start asking around about that dinosaur villain that was rampaging around earlier," he hurried along, his spider-sense building by the second. He had just raised his arm to shoot out a webline to swing away when his arm was caught in a bind and yanked back.

"Hold it right there. You're both under arrest. I'm off duty today so let's make this quick: come quietly for questioning and you might get away with a light sentence." a tired yet stern voice ordered from the entrance of the alleyway.