799/Completing the Syllogism

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Completing the Syllogism
Date of Scene: 05 June 2017
Location: Unknown
Synopsis: Summary needed
Cast of Characters: Doctor Doom, Brainiac 5




Doctor Doom has posed:
Over the course of two days, a targeted malware program makes its way through the Internet toward its target. A STUXNET-like worm that lies dormant on every device it locates--until it finds the one it's looking for, the alien source of the recent strange broadcasts.

The payload? A simple message: the address of the Latverian Embassy on the East Side of Manhattan.

In that embassy, Doom prepares to harvest the fruits of his labors.

Brainiac 5 has posed:
When Brainiac 5 picks that Worm apart, he studies what's left on his computer screen and then takes a moment to get caught up on his history. "This is a terrible idea." He says. "Which is why I'm not going to tell any of the others about it."

The next day, a nondescript, skinny young man in a long coat and dark-framed glasses walks into the reception of the Embassy and then puts his hands down on the desk. "Hello. I believe I'm expected?" The image inducer is basic, easy enough for the tech this place is loaded with to pick up. As is the force field generator. The ring he's wearing is an interesting bit of tech. What is that metal?

Doctor Doom has posed:
An elderly man stands at the ready, nodding as the young man arrives. "Yes, sir. I believe you were." He begins shuffling to a large doorway that he opens slowly, with some effort.

"Follow me, if you please. I will take you to the master." He walks down a hallway to an open room decorated to look like a throne room, complete with a high-backed chair on a small dais.

Sitting on that chair is Victor von Doom, outfitted from head to toe in his unique suit of armor.

"My lord," the elderly man calls out, his voice shaking. "Your...visitor...has arrived. Mister...?" he turns, raising his eyebrows to the young man.

Meanwhile, Doom leans back in his chair, appraising his visitor. "Leave us," he says sternly.

The servant disappears back towards the reception area.

Brainiac 5 has posed:
The visitor looks around, slowly, and then removes his glasses, which are folded up and put into his long coat. "Good afternoon, Doctor von Doom. I will dispense with the pretense." He kills the Image Inducer, showing himself for the alien he is -- green skin, glittering silver cybernetics in his forehead and face. Young, though. And arrogant.

"...Is it true that you invented a fully-functional time platform? Remarkable, especially in this era. I always wanted to ask how you were able to calculate the infinite divergence points in the time fractal so accurately."

Doctor Doom has posed:
"There is nothing Doom cannot do once he puts his mind to it," the Latverian responds with a scoff.

He pushes himself to his feet and steps off the dais, walking toward Dox.

"The answer may surprise you. Doom has found that many men of science are ... less and less surprisingly resistant to the notion of alternate paradigms of thought and existence." Doom stands tall, leaning his head back so as to literally look down his nose toward his conversation partner.

Brainiac 5 has posed:
Querl finds himself looking up and says, "The trap of dogma, yes. Science opens vistas of thought, it does not close them. A Scientist must be prepared for the eventuality that any theory at any time may be changed or proven outright wrong when new information is uncovered. But when your life has been built on a body of work, the idea of new information throwing that into doubt can be... frightening."

"But I have never been afraid of new ideas. And I love challenging and invalidating my own work. But I admit, I have no talent for magic." He squares his shoulders. "Why am I here, Doctor?"

Doctor Doom has posed:
Doctor Doom stands motionless as the visitor speaks, offering a slow nod once he has finished. "Well spoken, stranger." The tyrant clasps his gauntleted hands behind his back.

"Just as it is the flawed scientist who closes his mind to new knowledge, so too is it the failed craftsman who passes up an opportunity to investigate other engineers' work. To see what new ideas might be incorporated into an existing bricolage of capability." He nods again.

"I have heard of your endeavors--successful and otherwise. And I wanted to judge your mettle," he adds, his voice cold. "I have known other men who vainly deemed themselves geniuses and polymaths who could change the world. And I have known their failures."

Doom stares at Dox. "I would know whether I look at another, here and now."

Brainiac 5 has posed:
"Ah." Querl looks down. "I'm not sure I can give you a good answer." He puts his hands behind his back. "We may judge the same things based on different criteria. You know I'm a time traveler. I've heard of you. They were still attempting to decipher some of your time travel equations at the Time Institute of my era. There was an argument that you were the first human to discover the sub-atomic particles that fix the mass and density of matter in four dimensions."

He looks up, and says, "Science is failure. In part. It is failing until you succeed, by design."

Doctor Doom has posed:
"I see," Doom replies, a brief sigh escaping his lips.

"It is your perspective that itself is the problem. Science has nothing to do with failure--and it far too often defines 'experimentation' as a 'blind probing' rather than a crucible to burn away impurity and uncertainty." Doom looks at one of his armored hands.

"An informed scientist," he continues, "can construct a hypothesis that is /not/ fated to fail. Too many, unfortunately, believe themselves to be informed when they grope in the dark for knowledge. It is a shame that your peers have not yet freed themselves from their bonds in Plato's cave."

Brainiac 5 has posed:
That makes Brainy look down again, briefly. Then he says, "I am confident in my ability to solve any problem put before me, Doctor. And I know how it feels to be surrounded by those less intelligent than I, who not only refuse think on my level, but are incapable of doing so." He tilts his head. "How ungrateful they can be. How they extract a..." He shakes his head, "Puerile joy from belittling and denying true genius."

"But this is also not my first ride on a rocketship, Doctor. The debate is nice, but I'm standing in a room with one of the hungriest intellects the human race ever produced. You want something from me."

Doctor Doom has posed:
"Indeed," Doom says, the tone of his voice still cool, but remarkably less snide than it was a moment ago.

"The people of Latveria--my people--are proud and deserving of the love and care I can offer them. But, despite my abilities, I /am/ unique in the worst as well as the best way. There is but one of me." Doom waves a hand up and down before himself.

"What I seek--why I evaluate you now, through our discussion--is to measure whether you may be capable of assisting my citizens. I can accomplish much. You can contribute to its being accomplished that much faster," Doom continues.

"Take note," he nearly snaps, "this is /not/ a request for help. This is an offer for you to show your worth. If you are, in fact, capable, then perhaps I will agree to share some of my own knowledge to aid you."

Brainiac 5 has posed:
Querl looks up, at that. He's stepping into deadly dangerous territory here. But the old overconfidence and curiosity war with caution on his face and then he says, "I would need to know more than that before I agreed. But you have my attention."

He falls quiet, listening, now. He may be in over his head. But the possibility you've offered him... he's not passing it up.

Doctor Doom has posed:
"Of course," Doom says, stepping toward a nearby window to gaze out at the city.

"Negotation is so exhausting," he adds. "But such self-interest is always the primary concern, is it not? 'How will this benefit me?' 'What can I get out of this?' 'Why should I exert my energy to help another?'"

He stands silent for a beat. "I appreciate such questions. They are signs of an enlightened mind. So be it."

Doom turns back toward Dox and displays a small 3-d holographic display in the air over the palm of his gauntlet. The visualization is of Latveria--a topographical map with a number of economic and civil statistics provided about its population.

"Latveria is frequently the target of international tariffs, embargos, and other censures. Its citizens are hard-working and loyal to their lord. But many go hungrier than they should, due in part to the industrial crises the global community causes." The Latverian ruler nods to Dox.

"You have an opportunity to be remembered in Latveria's memory for centuries," Doom states. "Will you step up to demonstrate what the future can hold for my people?"

Brainiac 5 has posed:
Querl furrows his forehead at Doom's statement, but he is either lulled or wary enough that he doesn't argue the point. He tilts his head to the side, and then he says, "A mountanous country, little arable land, little land for cattle gazing, even for a small population. Hydroponic farming installations built into the mountains to catch maximum light, maybe?"

He looks up, and says, "What do you want me to do?"

Doctor Doom has posed:
"You are an intelligent man," Doom replies, turning off the visualization and placing his fists on his hips.

"Propose a solution--any solution--and if rational it will be implemented. My attention can be turned more fully to solve the remaining matters troubling my realm." The Latverian glances back toward his 'throne'.

"If you need time to calculate a solution, so be it." Doom shrugs. "What matters is not the speed of the response but how it can be weighed and measured. After all," he adds, "I would not expect all problems to be so quickly eliminated even in the future."

Brainiac 5 has posed:
Querl is quiet, for a time. Then looks around. "There's a computer behind that wainscoting." He walks towards it, and after a moment, he finds the switch that causes it to slide back, and he steps back as the console presents itself to him. He leans in, and begins working, furiously. "The answer never lies in just one thing, no 'miracle cure'. A multiaspect approach needs to be taken. It's not simply the solar-powered hydroponics installations, it's what's being grown IN them."

He works through designs, furiously. "This installation with this solar panel configuration and this hydrogen battery configuration can provide you with a one hundred and fifty percent return on solar energy absorbed, barring protracted periods of severe weather. This installation can accessed by air vehicle and tended by robots, which you have in abundance. The robots can also load and unload supplies and pilot the vehicles, meaning minimal human worker presence is needed. They can even perform most of the maintenance on themselves. I won't presume to instruct you in robotics design."

"And finally..." Now he switches to various vegetable plants, and he begins taking genes from across the board, and building something new out of them on the screen. His fingers move like lightning, "You create an entirely new crop. Every part of the plant can be consumed, every part is nutritious. Tenacious, high-yield, bacteria and fungus-resistant."

Doctor Doom has posed:
Doom watches the other man work, one arm across his chest, the other's elbow propped on it. He holds his chin between a finger and thumb.

"Clearly, this technology would benefit from aeroforming cloud patterns to optimize UV reception and develop a predictable rainfall schedule," he says quietly. "And human labor can be focused on other areas requiring focus. Acceptable."

As the conversation turns to vegetation, Doom narrows his eyes and watches the gene-splicing in action. "I had desired not to upset Latveria's natural speciation--but it is logical that I must intervene here as elsewhere. The nation is in need of Doom's shaping hand in all things."

He turns to look at his conversation partner. "We shall see how such ideas are implemented, scientist. Then, perhaps, we will talk of your needs."

Brainiac 5 has posed:
Querl murmurs, "The answer to that is simple, and already in use in this era. Without being treated with a specific enzyme, the plant's seeds don't sprout. As for hybridization with native plants, a second enzyme cocktail needs to be introduced for the plant to grow fertile flowers. Admittedly this example does require constant tending - it can only be grown in a controlled environment and it requires the hand of the farmer, as it were, to produce the next generation of plants. I could provide something more elegant if I had more time. It was actually a colleague of mine who specialized in enzymatic compounds -- he induced the meta-ability in himself to refract ambient light around him by altering his physiology to contain enzymes that reacted to his conscious manipulation of his autonomic functions. The most brilliant piece of biological science I've ever witnessed. Not that I'd tell him that to his face."

He looks up at the man in the iron mask, and says "The exercise itself was enjoyable. I haven't had the opportunity to approach this kind of--call it a humanitarian problem--in some time. So thank you for that."

Doctor Doom has posed:
The Latverian tilts his head slightly to one side. "Doom is nothing if not generous."

He looks the man up and down. "You understand that so much more could be accomplished with Latverian resources? To work free of these oppressive American presences that seek ever to demand conformity to a pitiful status quo..." He trails off.

Doom begins walking back to his dais. "Doom will not demand such an arrangement from you. But...consider it. Consider the impact you could have on /generations/ of faithful citizens."

Brainiac 5 has posed:
Querl strokes his chin. "It's tempting." He admits. But then he's toying with the ring he's wearing.

"The history files say that though you remain a figure of... debate, you were acknowledged even by your enemies as a man who scrupulously kept his word as a point of honor. I... made an oath, once. A promise, one I have to uphold."

Doctor Doom has posed:
As he pivots to slowly lower himself into his seat, Doom pauses and nods. "That is...understandable. An oath is a demonstration of will manifested in the world through speech. It is science. It is magic."

Doom rests his hands on the chair's armrests. "Doom will not ask you to break any oath. Doom is in no need of aid. However," he adds, "that does not mean one should limit himself too strictly to parameters of an oath that may have never been spoken."

He leans back against the chair. "This much will I share at this moment: the letter of what is spoken is all that matters. The spirit thereof is too ambiguous to be upheld or broken. Adhere to what you promised, but do not bind yourself to anything else."

Brainiac 5 has posed:
Querl stares into the computer screen, and then he says, "You are a man of vast intellect, Doctor von Doom. This has been an enlightening experience for me, speaking with you." His face is smooth, carefully composed. He will remember to breathe when he's outside.