Chapter 30

I feel the truck start up again, and then we begin to slowly drift into the darkness, that is before a light pops on, and then another and another before the entire passageway is illuminated, highlighting the path forward. I keep flat against the top of the truck as it begins to chug onward down the new road, and I watch behind me as the section of the wall slowly moves back into place, seamlessly slotting back into position.

There is a way more significant operation going on here than I initially thought. Those guys back at that hideout probably had no idea about this stage and were merely mooks that provided the people. However, whatever is going on here is way more than just a simple human trafficking ring, and this high-tech secret entrance proves it.

Usually, when it comes to these sorts of operations, they have all these people just locked up and chained to the inside of a container at the dockyard, or something, a quiet place where there isn't much traffic, and the traffic that does go through is usually easily bought. I have memories of running into a few of these as Spider-Man and dealing with them, but this is the first time I have seen a set-up like this.

The fact that it was underneath a regular old office building alone would be enough to raise an eyebrow, but it also had a secret wall that blended in seamlessly and opened and closed on command. No doubt that is not on any blueprints of this place. To have such a thing built underneath a part of the city with no one the wiser, and with the way the truck is travelling downwards in a spiral, they have obviously built underground as well. I think I may have stumbled onto something big.

We continued to go round and round for a while, surrounded by nothing but plain grey walls, floors and ceiling, with only the bright white lights sticking out of the top breaking up the monotony, but that harsh white light only worsened the atmosphere. Thankfully, the road soon straightened out, and we were travelling straight, and I was happy to see something new in the distance.

I lifted my head to get a closer look at the new place in the distance, but I was confused by what exactly it was before I figured out exactly what it was. In the space is a checkpoint, or perhaps it would be more accurate to call it a border since the place ahead of us is a security feature. I can see a contraption filling the area ahead of us, machinery lining the left wall and ceiling before coming down to the floor, attached to a room that fills the right side.

It leaves enough space for the truck to go through and be subjected to the mercy of the machinery. But, whatever it is that the machinery does, I doubt it will be good for me, and that inkling is fed and made into a premonition when I catch sight of the people guarding this barrier. Dressed in a yellow hazmat suit with a square head, a built-in glazed visor, black boots and black gloves, a brown utility belt around their waist, and a black metallic backpack on their shoulders are a bunch of guards, each wielding a high-tech-looking machine gun.

"Damn it, I hate this place. This creepy fucking place with those even creepier motherfuckers lurking around the place and watching us nonstop without saying a word." I hear one of the goons in the front of the truck say, disturbed by the people ahead of us, and rightly so. These AIM soldiers, or scientists or whatever they are, are really strange with how they all stand there in the same sort of stance and move around with the same disciplined movements. Really creepy. I listen in closely to the driver's conversation because I need all the information I can get.

"Shh, man, you don't know if they are listening in on us. All we have to do is drive through there and let them X-Ray the truck to make sure there is no funny business going on, and then we drop off the guys and get the hell out of here." So the driver says to his compatriot, explaining precisely what is going on and informing me just what is going on.

This X-Ray machine is terrible news for me since they will see me on it, but there is no other way in as there are guards everywhere that would see me if I get off the top of this truck. The X-Ray machine covers the entire left side, and the room on the right is entirely guarded. I am between a rock and a hard place.

"Shit, man, what do they even need all these people for? We bring in a whole bunch of these guys every week, and yet they are always asking for more. I am getting tired of this, every week picking up a whole bunch of new people and shuffling down here where they are never heard from again." Woah, this is a weekly thing? This is way bigger than I could have thought, and since this is AIM, we are talking about those people who are no doubt being heavily experimented on, suffering each and every moment of their lives henceforth.

"Don't pay it any mind, Gary. That has nothing to do with us. These are the boss's orders, we deliver a bunch of people to these guys every week, and that is it. Now shut up, and don't do anything stupid." So the driver tells his buddy as they begin to near the X-Ray, panicking me as I have little time before I am found out, and then I won't be able to go any further and help the people within.

Quickly I delve into my utility belt, knowing the exact pocket I am going for, having practised and organised each one meticulously. And so it is with an efficiency that I took out a mini little laser pointer that I commissioned from the Tinkerer, that actually fires a precise little laser that is capable of cutting through anything but the hardest of metals.

Using it, I quickly start to carve into the middle of the truck without hesitancy, assured that all the prisoners are tied to the sides of the truck's insides and no one will be accidentally hurt by my laser if I use it in the middle. Thankfully the little thing proves to be incredibly silent and strong, which it should be as that is what I requested it for. Batman is supposed to be stealthy, after all, and so should his tools.

I quickly cut out a very squiggly circle into the roof of the truck, stopping the laser before actually joining up the point I started at, allowing me to grab the circle and lift it, exposing the insides of the truck without actually ripping it off the truck itself. I then quickly slither into the hole and attach myself to the top and place my hand on the circle, sticking my hand to it with my powers and wrenching it back into place so it won't be shown jutting out on the X-Ray.

I then gently hop down onto the floor of the truck with no one being aware of it. Even the prisoners in the truck were unaware of my presence as my movements were so light, having been trained to be after all of these months of being a thief. I hurriedly seek out an empty space between the prisoners and walk over to it, pressing my back against the side and then slinking down to sit on the floor, taking a similar position to the other captives inside the truck.

Now with this, hopefully, the X-Ray will just show me as another one of the prisoners inside the truck, and hopefully, it won't focus too much on me to get a good luck at me and the things I have on me. Afraid it might make me stick out from the others, I press a finger to the side of my neck and allow my cowl to disconnect from the rest of my costume and quickly place it between my legs, and then cover my entire body with my cape.

I am glad I didn't go through with the decision to lead line my costume since this would prove to be a problem under the X-Ray. Plus, there is no Superman equivalent in this universe that I will run into any time soon. So now, I just have to stay here and keep calm, as well as listen to the world around me with all my focus in case they pick up on my deception, ready to move if my cover is blown, and I need to act fast and protect the people around me.

Like it or not, I have made the decision to be a superhero now, at least for the time being, until this Fisk business is finished, and I will be damned if I don't do an excellent job of it, better than Peter at the very least. I unconsciously start to hold my breath as I feel the truck suddenly come to a stop, no doubt now being inspected by the X-Ray, a moment passes, and nothing happens. I think I am in the clear-

"There are only supposed to be twelve specimens in this delivery. You have thirteen. Explain." I hear a bland voice calmly say, clearly belonging to one of the AIM soldiers that is monitoring the X-Ray device. Clearly, I spoke too soon, goddamn it. Am I just plain cursed? Even if I had changed my name altogether, especially my last name to Reilly, am I forever condemned to have the Parker luck?

"Well, you know how it is. One of the guys must have added another one to the back, we sometimes need to make people disappear, and when people come down here, they are never heard from again. We need to get rid of people, and you want people. It is a win-win. Waste not, want not, right?" The driver hurriedly gets to convincing the soldier, desperately not wanting to get into any trouble and upset his boss. And to be fair, he does make some good points. These guys apparently want as many prisoners as they can get, so why would they have a problem with this?

"...Go on through." The AIM minion says after a moment, waving the truck on through, and when I feel the truck moving again, I sigh a breath of relief. Then, picking up my cowl, I place it back on my head and connect it to the rest of my suit before standing back to my feet after feeling that the truck has moved far enough away.

Jumping back up to the ceiling, I push the cutout circle in the roof up and slink through back to the top of the truck, where I lay down flat, but I still have a ruined truck that has light coming through the top of the vehicle into the darkness. Diving into my utility belt again, I pull out some glue, this item I made myself as a derivative of my web fluid that is permanent and spray it along the cutout circle before placing it back into place.

I then put more glue over the seam to seal it appropriately shut and not let any light through. This way, when they open 5up the back of the truck, they won't see any light entering through the hole now and will be none the wiser to my presence here. With that done, I once more hunker down on the top of the truck and prepare to wait for the truck to arrive at its destination.

I have now infiltrated the facility, and with this place being an AIM-run institute, I must prepare for anything and everything.