2462/Another Hire for Kord Co!

Another Hire for Kord Co!
Date of Scene:	15 July 2020
Location:	Penthouse - Kord Co
Synopsis:	Kord Co has a new hire: Doug Ramsey!
Cast of Characters:	Ted Kord, Douglas Ramsey

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Ted Kord has posed:
Ted Kord is actually wearing a suit. No tie. He sits at his work station and his fingers fly over the keyboard. The present endeavor is a mere side job, maybe worth a few million? A simpler and more powerful, to replace HTML and all the annoying languages that keep people from designing their own websites. The initial idea were jotted down on some sticky notes, then expanded into a composition book and are now being edited. Let Lex Luthor's Lexos language just suck it. As he is working a phone chimes and he swears a little as he stops to answerm "Hello? No, no, It's fine. Send him up. Douglas Ramsey... hmmm."

Douglas Ramsey has posed:
Not a lot about the kid. His resume is neat enough - during high school he transferred to the Xavier Institute, where he achieved some pretty impressive college degrees - before he turned 19. Linguistics, Computer Sciences, MS Cybersecurity Engineering, minor in Literature. Not a lot of work added on top of that, but then, he is only 19 - though he did provide a copy of an app he created, which is a little puzzle game that adapts to the player's problem-solving techniques, becoming more difficult to solve using those tactics and forcing them to change how they play.

He's neatly put together, hair combed, black slacks, nice shoes, sweater vest over a white shirt - though he is wearing a snug-fitting glove over his right hand. He's checking Twitter in the lobby right now.

Ted Kord has posed:
Ted Kord gets up to greet the young man as the elevator doors open. He notes the glove and decides to wait for Ramsey to extend his hand. "Hello Doug, I'm Ted Kord. You can call me Ted. It's only Mr. Kord if you mess up badly. I was just doing research on you." He points to the monitor displaying Doug's computer app, and at as fairly high level of play. "Interesting stuff. Tell me do you do much work with hardware?" He escorts the potential recruit to the living area and indicates the sofa.

Douglas Ramsey has posed:
Doug extends the gloved hand and gives a handshake - he has a very solid grip, firm pump of the hand, two shakes, and then he lets go. He's the sort of young man who's practiced giving the perfect kind of handshake, it seems like. His expression is keen, interested as he looks around and takes everything in, his expression cool. "Well, Ted," Doug says, "My friends call me Doug - but if you feel the need to be more formal, you can call me Douglas, it's fine-" He raises his eyebrows, and then says, "I know my way around a machine, sir, though I freely admit coding was always my first passion." He walks over to the sofa and sits, primly.

Ted Kord has posed:
Ted Kord takes a seat at his work station. "Okay Doug. I assume you read our hiring and personnel guidelines. I'm pretty flexible as an employer--provided you get the job done. I'm not big on overtime. I expect work to be done during regular hours or whatever else we arrange. Kord Co has a lot of proprietary technology, defense shields, anti-grav, solar power systems. You're going to have a few dozen NDAs to sign. The Xavier Institute is a pretty prestigious school. I got to meet some of the X-Men at the Mutant Town benefit. Honestly I was more interested in the Fantasticar Franklin Richards flew in on. My forte is aerodynamics and propulsion sooooo... why Kord Co? We're nowhere near as big as LexCorp or WayneTech."

Douglas Ramsey has posed:
Doug thinks about that, his eyes half-lidded. "Because I don't believe in Technocracy, sir. Technological progress is only sustainable when it's wedded to ethics and rooted in-" He thinks, "Call it principled thinking." The corner of his mouth turns up, and then he reaches down to take off his sweater vest and he unbuttons his dress shirt, revealing that underneath it he's wearing a t-shirt. https://i.pinimg.com/originals/a3/f8/a4/a3f8a4172f32993b11071b608112b6c1.jpg

He proceeds to button his shirt back up. "LexCorp and Stark have... soiled ethical records. Wayne's is better, but still presents an autocratic vision of humanity's future. Your corporate goals are different. They have a sort of... techgnostic outlook to them. A consideration for the people who'll be using that technology and what it might do to them psychologically - spiritually, if you're a religious man."

Ted Kord has posed:
Ted Kord looks a little concerned when Doug begins disrobing. He laughs at the shirt until he has to wipe his eyes. "I'm more spiritual than religious. No one fighting killer robots is an atheist. All right fair enough. I do look after my people. I just hired a young man who was fired from Stark, never mind his reasons, he broke policy for his own reasons and he was removed. But... here he or you could get to see me before you would have to do that and hopefully we would work something out. I'm hiring a lot of bright, talented people like him, and you Doug, I intend to train you and eventually finance your own ventures should you prove able. The downside is everyone starts at the bottom until they learn the way we do things here. The ones who get me to change the way I do things usually are on the fast promotion track. This app and your background, I might want you to develop apps for our new ultra slim phone, the Kord Less. I might also want you to work with our security teams. What would you like to do?"

Douglas Ramsey has posed:
Doug raises his eyebrows, and then leans back in his chair. "Well, sir. I'm a very good programmer. You've seen that. I created that game as an app that punishes entrenched modes of problem solving and rewards effort and lateral thinking." He gestures, with his gloved hand. "You've seen my degrees from the Xavier school, and I'm justly proud of them - I can do everything from coding to social media management. I can play the piano and I'm not a half-bad DJ. I speak --" He thinks, and comes up with a good technical truth, "...Several languages. Fluently. I'm conversant in others. And - to get to what I'm guessing is your next point, I know you can't pay Stark or LexCorp money. I don't care about that. What I want to do is -- extend myself."

Ted Kord has posed:
Ted Kord chuckles. "I've been told by 'experts' I can't pay that well too. It's one reason we aren't as big as say Stark. We pay comparably. We treat our people very well, medical, vacation time and such. I celebrate progress and reaching goals by inviting teams or individuals up here and opening the pool and penthouse to them. We had a nice little party here just recently. Anyway, you're hired. You can start next week, but we will have a work station set up for you immediately. If you want to come in early and poke around feel free. I'm going to put you on developing a language I created for web design. Pay with it, see what it takes to break it. You can report results to me. You start as an assistant, how long you remain there is up to you. Not long is my guess. Sound good?"

Douglas Ramsey has posed:
"I like to work remotely sometimes, sir. I still reside at the school as part of its alumnus ongoing training program. Sometimes I travel as a part of it." Doug murmurs, "But I can provide my own equipment to do that. I'll sign any NDAs you need me to. I do like having access to a gym - Mens sana in corpore sano." He tilts his head, and then says, "That sounds good, sir. I'll be happy to start as early as my station is ready - I assume I'll be working with a team? I'm used to it. Team-building is one of the cornerstones of Charles Xavier's educational methodology."

Ted Kord has posed:
Ted Kord nods. "I'll have to speak to the school about the security issues but we could work something out. You will have to be here sometimes. Since you're working on software and not hardware, security is easier to work out. Ted hands Doug a slim binder. "Here's what I did with KorLang so far. Look at it over the next few days and give me a report on it say, midweek. Carol will have the employment forms and NDAs for you downstairs. Good to have you aboard." He gets up to give Doug's hand a shake.

Douglas Ramsey has posed:
"Oh, you don't have to worry about that." Doug says. "I'm a man of my word, and I assure you any remote connection I log into your systems on will be completely secure." He picks up the binder and quickly riffles through it, studying it. "Hmmm. It's not bad." He says. Doug gives Ted's hand a shake, "I'll send you some notes as soon as I can." He says, before he puts the binder under his arm and departs. "Pleasure to meet you, Ted!" He looks around, and then writes his number down on a piece of stationary. He... didn't get Ted's.

Notes start coming into Ted's private messages, an hour later - while Doug is sitting in the park, reading the binder - and feeding the ducks. Corrections to security vulnerabilities. He throws out one whole section of the code and rewrites it on the spot. "This is better." Is all he says about that.

Ted Kord has posed:
Ted Kord, still sitting at his desk reads the messages with interest. He looks down on three folders marked, Parker, Hayes and Ramsey, tapping their covers as if to assure him they are real. He looks at a drone hovering nearby. "Bobo, this may be ur best year ever." He leans back in his chair, knitting his hands behind his head.