Spider-Man 2099 #19
Meltdown
Miguel O'Hara's virtual assistant, Lyla, has malfunctioned and is now sending security drones to attack him and Dana D'Angelo.[1] After Miguel recovers an unconscious Dana from the bathroom, he seals off his bedroom from incoming security droids. As Layla mocks him, Miguel changes into his Spider-Man costume and climbs out one of his bedroom windows with Dana slung over his shoulder. As the hero scales down the side of Babylon Towers, he curses ever moving into an apartment with that was completely automated. During the climb, Dana wakes up and see where she is, instantly passes out again, much to Spider-Man's relief. He figures things could be worse, his mother, Conchata, could have insisted on staying with him instead of his brother Gabriel.
Meanwhile, Conchata checks in on her youngest son who has been alone in his room for hours. She is horrified to see that Gabriel has wired himself into virtual reality once more. As he was recovering from a VR addiction, Conchata tries to pull the headset off of Gabriel's head but is jolted back by an electrical charge that is protecting him. While back on the side of Babylon Towers, Spider-Man is almost finished climbing down to the ground when he suddenly hears an explosion. Looking around, he sees that everything from moving sidewalks to Mag-Lev cars is going haywire. When he gets Dana to safety, he spots a woman who is shoved over the edge of a moving pedestrian bridge. Quickly, the masked hero swings down and saves the woman, although she isn't very grateful. Suddenly, one of the massive electronic billboards informs the people that the nearby shopping mall is experiencing technical difficulties. Suddenly, the video feed is interrupted and replaced with a strange ribbon-shaped person, who informs everyone that things will continue going straight to hell. When the video feed cuts back to its original broadcast, someone has digitally added a mustache to the female announcer.
These malfunctions have also hit the head offices of Alchemax, much to the anger of Tyler Stone. He is furious with his technicians for not only getting his assistant Winston up and running but for failing to stop this viral invasion that is infecting all their systems. When he demands to know who is responsible, the technicians tell him that it is someone named Discord. Upon hearing this name, Tyler Stone becomes immediately frightened as he figures they're all going to die. While down on the street, a Stark-Fujikawa limo carrying it's CEO, Hikaru-Sama, comes to a dead stop on a rail track. Before the mag-lev train can strike them, Spider-Man lands on the roof and rips it off with his finger talons. He then carries the driver and passenger to safety and swings away. Watching Spider-Man leave the scene, Hikaru wonders what do to about the situation, as the man who saved his life is also the same person Stark-Fujikawa has a blood feud with.[2]
Back on the streets, Dana wakes up in a Doc-In-A-Box just as Miguel arrives with a change of clothes for her. As she gets dressed, he tells her about how everything in Nueva York has gone haywire. Needing to know what is going on, Miguel suggests that they go to Gabriel's house since he is the closest to them. When they arrive, they are greeted by Miguel's mother who shows them that Gabriel has plugged into virtual reality again. Miguel explains it is unsafe to unplug his brother until they know what condition his avatar is in. In order to do so, someone has to go into cyberspace and find him. Since Gabriel created an avatar for Miguel during his last virtual reality binge, he volunteers to go in and pull Gabri out. Plugging in via a "shareware" connection, Miguel finds himself in cyberspace. His avatar is wearing a variation of his Spider-Man costume that is wearing inline skates and a helmet. At first, Miguel is shocked to see himself wearing a version of his Spider-Man costume but then remembers that Gabriel patterned his avatar after the Day of the Dead costume he wore on vacation some time ago.[3]
After getting his bearings, Miguel begins looking for his brother, remembering that Gabriel's avatar was a fast driving racer named Firelight that comes complete with a virtual woman that follows him on his adventures. He eventually finds the wreck of Firelight's car and assumes the worse. That's when the strange ribbon man appears before Miguel who is juggling the head of Gabriel's avatar. Introducing himself as Discord, he welcomes the newcomer to enjoy cyberspace while it lasts as he intends to shut it down within the next 22 minutes.
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, Dana D’Angelo, Conchata O’Hara, Gabriel O’Hara, Lyla, Discord, Tyler Stone, Hikaru
Continuity Notes
Layla has been malfunctioning since she had a system crash in Spider-Man 2099 #12.
Stark-Fujikawa has had it in for Spider-Man since he defeated their operative, the Specialist, as seen in Spider-Man 2099 #5-6.
Spider-Man's costume was recycled from a Day of the Dead costume made out of Unstable Molecules as explained in Spider-Man 2099 #2.
Orientation
Young Miguel O'Hara has just been dropped off at Alchemax's School For Gifted Youngsters. His arrival is greeted by the boy getting a bucket of water dumped on his head. The headmistress, Angela Daskalakis doesn't see this but sees that Miguel is now sopping wet and asks what happened. Unfortunately, Miguel doesn't know who pulled this prank on him. As Angela gets him inside, Miguel is quite cranky given the situation. As she gets towels for the boy to dry off Daskalakis apologizes for what happened, telling Miguel that this wasn't the welcome she wanted to give him and promises him that things will get better at the school. She offers to do whatever he can to change his mood. Miguel then asks for a horse, even though they have been extinct since 2032.
After seeing Miguel to his room, Angela pays a visit to Kron Stone, the son of Tyler Stone. She has correctly assumed that it was he who dumped the bucket of water on Miguel O'Hara's head. When she demands that he apologize, Kron tries to attack her with a knife. However, Angela is faster than the youth and quickly disarms him and then slams his face into a wall. She returns to Miguel's room where the boy has finished changing into some fresh clothes and shows him around the campus. As they walk the halls, she tries to tell Miguel about Kron Stone and how she wants him to apologize to Miguel. O'Hara is already beyond his soaking and insists that Kron doesn't need to apologize. They soon pass another student, a young girl named Xina Kwan, who Miguel takes an instant interest in.
Angela takes Miguel to a virtual reality room where she has pulled up a simulation of a ranch, complete with a horse as an alternative to his request. She explains that not all the technology was lost when the heroic age ended.[1] When she offers Miguel a chance to ride the virtual horse, Miguel tells her that horses scare him and he walks out, much to Angel's frustration.
Recurring Characters
Miguel O’Hara, Angela Daskalakis, Xian Kwan, Kron Stone
Continuity Notes
The last heroic Age of Earth-928 is similar to that of the Modern Age of Earth-616. According to X-Men 2099 #1, the heroic age came to an end after a massive war between humans and mutants.
