Later that night after the party, Theo made a bunch of clones and had them all look into why the game became so popular and to check the forums. Theo quickly found the reason for the unexpected success, so he had all the clones focus on the forums.
His main goal was to read all the forum posts and see what people were saying about the game and see if anyone found any bugs. It took a few hours but when his clones finished, Theo found that everyone was pretty happy with the game and that so far no bugs were reported.
Then he double checked all the backend he did for the site and merchant services. He set the site up to hide all his and his family's information, even the merchant processor was controlled by him. It took a while for the funds to land in the bank account his mom set up, but it was set that way so no one could trace the money to his family. As for the IRS… His mom thought the merchant processor would take care of it all like it normally should. But Theo routed it so it only looked like he paid it and then took that money and made it look like more people bought games.
After that he focused on his training for the night and had his clones work on the next major patch for the game. He would work on it with Peter and Milly, but with how successful it was. He wanted to sell it to Vibe sooner than he originally planned. He also planned to start his next project to help out his family.
The next day Jacob was still surprised at how popular Theo’s game was and double checked over breakfast a few times with Daniel that Theo was a millionaire. After breakfast Theo went to his father's shop for the day to help out, along with Peter.
While they were there, Theo brought up an idea to Peter while they were helping out and said, “We should make something to help out dad and Uncle Ben.”
Peter glanced over to Theo as he asked, “What can we make them?”
“We should make them a program to help out in the shop and that could tie into a website.”
“Aren't we going to make an update for the game soon?” Peter asked.
Theo shook his head before he said, “The game just came out, we can wait a while before we add more content. People haven't even found any of the fun content yet.”
Peter nodded along before he asked, “Well, what exactly is the new program supposed to do for the shop?”
“You've seen how dad and Uncle Ben work with customers on new projects right?”
Peter shook his head so Theo said, “They do everything on paper. They write out what exactly the customer wants in the build. The type of engine, if it needs to be stock or tuned, paint job, tires, rims, upholstery types and colors. Pretty much anything that the customer wants for the build.”
Theo glanced at Peter as he said, “I wanna make a program that a customer can use on the website. They would be able to customize their build and then we could see it in the shop.”
“Like a 3D model of the car they want? Can we even do something like that?”
Theo shrugged as he said, “Only one way to find out.”
Theo and Peter spent the rest of the day brainstorming ideas and when they got home. Theo wrote the ideas down in a design document. Later that night when he made clones, he had them start on the project. While he planned to make it with Peter, there was no reason he couldn't cheat a little.
Once his clones started to work on the project, he changed into Ezekiel and asked Tao to teleport him to Hel. Within half an hour a portal opened up in Hel and Ezekiel stepped through it holding a pizza box.
He waved at Hela as he said, “Sorry for not visiting sooner, I was busy with a bunch of projects.”
Hela looked at Ezekiel as she said, “I honestly wasn’t sure if you would be back or not.”
“Why would you think that?”
Hela turned back to the screen which was playing a documentary about world war two as she said, “I figured after you obtained the soul sphere and showed me how my life will most likely end. You would have no reason to come back.”
Ezekiel shook his head slightly as he said, “I told you, I came here to make a friend.”
Hela glanced back at Ezekiel as she asked, “Why would you wish to make friends with me, when you already know how my life will most likely end?”
Ezekiel shrugged as he said, “Because that's just the type of person I am.”
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.
Ezekiel pulled out a scroll and poured some chakra into it, which popped out a chair, a table, an ice chest and a small ring. He placed the pizza box on the table and moved the chair next to Hela. As he moved the table next to her she asked, “What exactly are you doing?”
“I was planning to hang out for a bit and watch a movie or two with you. We'll unless you don't want to do that.”
Hela glanced at the table, the ice chest, the ring and the pizza box as she asked, “And what are those for?”
Ezekiel turned to Hela as he said, “Well I figured pizza and a movie is always a good combination.”
Ezekiel turned and looked Hela directly in the eyes before he said, “But before that I have to ask you one very important thing.”
Hela tensed slightly at his gaze as Ezekiel turned completely serious and asked, “Do you poop?”
…
Hela froze as her mind blanked out.
As Hela tried to process just why Ezekiel asked that question Ezekiel said, “I didn't mean in general, I mean here. You've been trapped here for centuries with nothing to eat and no real way to go to the bathroom… Unless…”
“I do not!” Hela snapped, before she said, “If you must know, being in Hel not only keeps me alive, but relieves me of the burden of needing to do normal things, like eat, sleep or bodily functions.”
Ezekiel nodded before he said, “I thought as much, I just wanted to check first.”
Ezekiel picked up the ring on the table and said, “Give me your hand so I can give you this ring.”
Hela glanced at the ring for a few moments before she asked, “Why?”
Ezekiel held up the ring as he said, “It's a minor magic item that gives the user limited telekinesis. It's so you can eat if you want to.”
Hela glanced at the ring Ezekiel was holding with some caution before she asked, “How do I know that's not meant to enslave me after I put it on?”
Ezekiel gave her a flat look as he asked, “You think I would put this much effort into trying to enslave you?”
Hela shrugged slightly as she said, “Maybe…”
Ezekiel smirked before he said, “Well if I don't give you the ring, how will you eat some of the pizza I brought? Or would you like me to feed it to you instead?”
Hela turned back to the screen as she said, “I don't want any pizza.”
Ezekiel shrugged as he said, “Just means more for me I guess.”
Ezekiel sat down in his seat and opened the ice chest to pull out a bottle of rootbeer, which he opened and took a sip from. After he placed the bottle down, he touched a mark on the pizza box which seemed to unseal it. A moment later Hela could smell a fresh bread-like aroma with a hint of cheese and meat.
Ezekiel opened the box and pulled out a steaming slice of pizza topped with a bunch of meat. As he pulled the slice away the cheese stretched slightly and became stringy. Hela also noticed a red sauce-like substance underneath the cheese and meat. As Ezekiel folded his slice and took a bite, Hela couldn't help but watch.
After Ezekiel finished his first bite, he turned to see Hela watching him. He smiled as he asked, “Are you sure you don't want to try some?”
Hela glanced at the pizza again before she said, “Fine I'll try pizza.”
A second later Hela struggled to raise her hand out of the chains so Ezekiel could place the ring on her finger. After her hand disappeared into the chain's she asked, “How do I use the ring?”
“Just think that you are using your hand to do stuff and the ring will take care of the rest.”
Hela looked down at the pizza and a second later a piece pulled away from it and floated in the air. Then it folded slightly and moved to Hela’s mouth, where she took a bite from it. She showed almost no outward emotions, but Ezekiel thought her eyes lit up just a little as she ate her first bite.
When she finished that bite she asked, “Is this normal for Midgardian food?”
“What do you mean?”
Hela glanced at the pizza before she asked, “Is most Midgardian food a mix of different ingredients? When I last traveled there, grilled or smoked meat seemed to be the food of choice.”
“We've evolved a long way since then and everything else about us also evolved with us.” Ezekiel said as he pointed at the war documentary on the screen.
Ezekiel glanced at Hela for a moment before he asked, “Wanna watch a good movie?”
“I've already seen the movies you recommended, what would we watch?” Hela asked before she took another bite of her pizza.
“Play the movie, Back to the Future.” Said Ezekiel.
As the movie started, Ezekiel opened up another rootbeer and placed it next to Hela as he said, “In case you want to try a drink from Midgard.”
Over the next few hours Ezekiel and Hela ate pizza, drank rootbeer and watched a couple movies until Ezekiel needed to go back home. As he was packing up to leave Ezekiel said, “I’ll try to come back sooner next time.”
Hela nodded before she asked, “Will you bring more pizza and rootbeer?”
Ezekiel smiled as he said, “Possibly, but there are many different types of food I can bring that you’ll probably enjoy. So how about I bring something new each time I visit to keep things interesting?”
After thinking about it for a few moments Hela said, “That would be acceptable.”
As a portal opened up Ezekiel said, “Great! I’ll see you next time.”
After the portal closed Hela let out a sigh before she looked at the screen which was currently paused. She wouldn’t admit it, but it was nice to eat food and watch a movie with Ezekiel. A new experience in this place was rare… Well with the device to watch or read human entertainment it wasn’t as boring as it used to be. But Ezekiel seemed to make the place a little more bearable to be trapped in.