Rivers have meanders, human life has phases

Chapter 9

"... As Spiderman, I have extremely enhanced senses. But I wanted to develop my powers further. When I did, I found I could now see on a microscopic, or even telescopic level. This led me to the discovery of never before seen things."

"Infinite numbers, smaller than a quark, things which connect our universes together. Tapping into this network of sub-subatomic particles, I can travel the multiverse."

Linh slowly unclenched her fists, as Miguel's words quelled her anxiety. She was fascinated by his descriptions. Although her field of expertise lies in the medical sciences, she understood chemistry and physics - to a certain degree.

What Miguel was saying, is that there were particles even smaller than quarks? Those elementary particles that make up protons and neutrons, which then form atoms alongside electrons?

That was... amazing. Scientists have been researching for years whether there were things smaller than a quark. And Linh had just gotten confirmation that there were.

She looked at Miguel with excitement, wanting to question him further. "So these smaller-than-quarks... every universe has them?"

Miguel dipped his head, acknowledging her query. "Yes. I've found there to be varying levels of them depending on the universe, but they exist in quantities enough to enable travel."

"Varying levels?" Linh tilted her head, unable to grasp Miguel's meaning.

He nodded. "That's right. While they're infinite because they span across all universes, I've found that certain universes have more than others. For example, universes where Alchemax or super colliders exist, have more of these sub-subatomic particles."

It felt like a lightbulb had turned on inside Linh's head. "Oh! So that's how the colliders are able to bridge the gap between dimensions!"

Miguel smiled. "Exactly. From my own universe, I can observe other worlds. What I've discovered is that it's easier to find those with more sub-subatomic particles."

Linh stood up, starting to pace back and forth, with her hands behind her back. She stopped, turning her gaze to Miguel. "And my universe... must be less abundant... which is why you've never come across it before?"

Miguel frowned. "That must be the case. Usually, the particles exist in such quantities everywhere in a dimension, that they can be caught by my gizmo."

"Your watch... can capture those tiny particles?"

"Correct. It then stabilizes them into a portal." He paused, thinking. "But your dimension... it has such a low quantity, my watch is useless. Without it, I can't travel, and neither can I use it to contact anyone."

Linh felt dismayed. "So what happened to the particles where you woke up? Did they disperse? Decay?"

"It's not a problem in universes with greater quantities... but yours has seemingly so little, I can't replace them from the current surroundings. I would have to go somewhere else to detect them, capture them, and create a portal home."

All of this information was amazing, but also overwhelming. In just a couple of days, Linh's scientific views had been completely changed by Miguel.

She sat back down on the couch, more questions swimming around in her mind. "If your watch isn't built to detect particles, do you have to... build a detector?"

Miguel let out a frustrated sigh. "I suppose so. My gizmos never had that function, because they didn't need to. Particles are abundant in many universes... but yours is not one of them."

Linh left Miguel to go find her trusty notepad, and a pencil. When she came back, Linh and Miguel began writing another list. This time, it was a checklist of things Miguel needed to do.

The list was as follows: earn money for food and other necessities, learn more about the technology and history of Linh's world, find a way to establish an identity for Miguel, get the components needed to build a detector...

Linh felt that there was a lot on Miguel's plate already, but he was adding to it by refusing to be a burden. He was so used to being in charge of things, he didn't think much of taking on more.

"Um, it's not that I'm doubting your capabilities, but... I'm concerned about the amount of work you're handling. I know you were a superhero, but, maybe you don't have to carry so much?"

"Am. I 'am' a superhero." Miguel made sure to emphasize his words. "That doesn't stop, no matter what universe I'm in. I appreciate your sincerity, but it's fine."

Linh frowned at Miguel's lack of concern, but hesitated to argue her point further. She sighed, deciding to observe Miguel's condition after days had passed.

"Well, if you're so sure... wait here, I'll be back with my laptop, and you can start your research."

🕸️🕸️🕸️🕸️🕸️

When he began explaining the multiverse to Linh, Miguel thought it would simply keep her mind off of Spot. He didn't expect Linh to actually understand him.

It was not because Miguel saw her as unintelligent. Rather, it's because they had different fields of expertise. He was a genetic engineer, and physicist; she was a nurse.

But Linh surprised Miguel by asking him questions, even a couple that he didn't have answers to. Furthermore, she helped him come up with a theory as to why his gizmo wasn't working.

Linh's universe must have been at the far edges of the multiverse, to be previously unknown by Miguel's technology. In an infinite multiverse, there was such a thing as smaller and bigger infinities. The space between them was still infinite, but some universes were closer than others.

Miguel knew it was a daunting task, but he was Spiderman 2099. He could find his way home. He had to. Aside from the unconventional way he had traveled here, it was still a universe that was part of the multiverse... right?

He ignored the doubts in his mind that whispered about Spot, about everything in Linh's world that didn't align with what he knew.

Miguel O'Hara had once lived in a universe that wasn't his. And that universe no longer existed.

He'd be a fool to let it happen again.

Notes:

So, that stuff Miguel injects himself with? Many people have theories on what it could be - the most popular being that it's supposed to be the drug Rapture, that Miguel in the comics had an addiction to. However, this would be wrong, since the lab accident that turned him into Spiderman also got rid of his addiction.

My theory is that it's something that makes Miguel's powers stronger. If you look closely, you can see the vial Miguel injects himself with has a spider on it. Ergo, it's most likely related to his spider powers. In the comics, Miguel can see energy rays with his enhanced vision. So it's not a stretch to have his powers enhanced even further, so he can see molecules.

Everything in this chapter is complete science fiction. But like science fiction, I tried basing it on real life science. Everyone knows about protons, neutrons, and electrons. But did you know quarks can combine to forms protons and neutrons? Scientists have not been able to split electrons, which is why they are in a separate class called "leptons".

Scientists are trying to discover if there are things smaller than quarks and leptons with particle accelerators. They are even trying to uncover dark matter. So it all relates to Spot, whose body is made of both dark matter and whatever the super colliders supercharged him with.