00187. You work for...

    While Otto was a little arrogant when you challenged him or questioned his skill. He was actually very easy to talk to and Ezekiel found he really liked the man. After chatting for a while, Ezekiel agreed to do all the programming work for the man going forward. Since programming was his main skill set and he could easily use clones to get all of the work done. Besides he didn''t want Otto to become his super villain counterpart, so he would keep a closer eye on him going forward.

    Once he finished up his business with Otto and his wife, Ezekiel headed back to the medical lab to check in with Dr. Connors. He found Connors engrossed in a conversation with Orochimaru, Tobirama and a few other people about his research. Since that was the case Ezekiel headed home until he needed to portal the man back to his laboratory.

    A little while after Ezekiel arrived back home he received a phone call, but it wasn''t for Connors. Wilson Fisk finally called and wanted to talk with Ezekiel in person again. Ezekiel agreed on a time and place before he hung up the phone and went to go train until it was time for the meeting.

    Hours later Ezekiel portaled to one of the tallest buildings in Hell''s Kitchen where Fisk wanted to meet him. He stepped out onto the roof of the building to find Fisk. Fisk stood alone near the edge of the roof with his hands behind his back as he looked out over the city. As Ezekiel approached Fisk he asked, “So what did you want to talk about?”

    Fisk didn''t turn around as he said, “You said you could see the future... So you must know what I planned to do for this city.”

    “I know your overall goal was to help the city. But the actions you planned to take would hurt a lot of innocent people along the way.”

    “But it would help more people than it would harm.” Fisk said as he glanced towards Ezekiel for a moment.

    “The needs of the many, outweigh the needs of the few.”

    Fisk nodded in response as he said, “Exactly.”

    Ezekiel shook his head slightly before he said, “That''s only acceptable when you have no other choice... But you currently have other options, Mr. Fisk.”

    Fisk stared out over the city for about a minute before he asked, “I looked into you after our first meeting. Do you know what I found?”

    Ezekiel looked out over the edge of the building at the neighborhood below as he said, “No idea.”

    Fisk glanced down towards Ezekiel as he said, “Practically nothing. You appeared out of nowhere a few years ago. No formal ID, no birth records, no records at all from what I''ve gathered and only a handful of photos and video clips scattered around online...”

    Fisk turned to face Ezekiel before he said, “And yet as far as I can tell you are the sole owner of Vibe Media Corporation. One of the most talked about companies in the world since the launch of Stark’s phone.”

    Ezekiel shrugged as he asked, “And your point is?”

    “You''re a ghost that popped up out of nowhere and now you want me to work with you.”

    Ezekiel turned to face Fisk as he chuckled before he said, “You''re wrong. You won''t be working with me. You''ll be working for me.”

    Before Fisk could respond, Ezekiel held up a hand and said, “You would be like an independent contractor and I would only give you a general goal of what I would like for you to accomplish. If you''re able to do it, you''ll be rewarded and get more work.”

    Ezekiel turned back to looking out over the city as he said, “All of the goals I give you should be easy to do. They will just take effort on your part to accomplish. That being said, I expect whatever it is to be done correctly. I don''t need or want anything done quickly, I just need it done right the first time.”

    After Ezekiel stopped talking for a few moments Fisk asked, “And what exactly do you plan to have me do?”

    “Are you accepting my offer?”

    They would each get a handful of young people who would be taught to be craftsmen in different fields. It was almost like becoming an apprentice in a union, except Theo founded the whole thing himself and no one had to pay for it. If it worked well he planned to expand it to other cities where ex Hand members operated.

    Besides that, Theo just got out of school for winter break and was heading to his dad''s shop with Peter, Milly, Issac and Teresa. They almost always go there after school unless their parents pick them up. As they walked Milly was looking through a book on cakes she picked up from the library while Issac and Teresa chatted about when they should do their holiday homework.

    Peter glanced over his shoulder at his little sister as he said, “Let''s just do it once we get to the shop, that way we can have fun for the holidays and not have to worry about it.”

    Theo nodded in agreement as he said, “We can even help you with it if you get stuck.”

    Milly glanced up from her book and said, “But I wanna finish reading this book.”

    “You just wanna look at pictures of cakes.” Theo said with a knowing smile.

    Milly shook her head in denial before she said, “I am reading the recipes.”

    Theo quickly snatched the book from Milly''s hands as she said, “Hey! Give that back!”

    “I just wanna see if you learned anything.” Theo said as he glanced at the recipe on the page Milly was just looking at and asked, “What are some of the ingredients for this double chocolate cake you were looking at.”

    Milly glanced at Theo for a few moments before she confidently said, “I don''t know.”

    “I knew it! You were only looking at the pictures of cake because that''s all you can think about... Your brain must be full of cake!”

    “It is not!” Milly said as her cheeks puffed out and she placed her hands on her hips.

    “It has to be, that''s the only logical explanation for why you like cake so much.”

    “I just like cake! My brain isn''t full of cake!” Milly said as she tried to grab her book back from Theo.

    Theo dodged her and started to run away from her, so Milly started to chase him as she said, “Te-o, get back here!”

    Theo just started to laugh as he kept just out of reach of Milly as they ran down the sidewalk before Milly said, “If you''re brave, stop running!"

    "If you stop chasing, I''ll stop running!" Theo said with a smile on his face.

    "If you didn''t start running, I wouldn''t have started chasing you!" Milly said with her cheeks puffed out.

    "If you don''t chase, why would I run?" Theo asked before he stuck out his tongue and kept running.

    The chase lasted until they reached the shop where Theo finally placed the book down on a table but didn''t stop running until Milly stopped chasing him. The others caught up about five minutes later before they all headed down to the basement where they could do homework.

    Since part or the basement was turned into a private laboratory for Richard and Mary. They had a couple quiet offices that they kids could use to do homework in if they wanted. It was better than trying to do it in the upstairs office, since the sounds from the shop were pretty loud sometimes.