ArchivedLogs:Vignette - Doom Expo

Vignette - Doom Expo
Dramatis Personae Doom
In Absentia	2013-04-15 Doctor Doom arranges for a TV commercial to advertise his upcoming scientific expo.
Location Latverian Embassy & State-side TV
On this auspicious day that starts the work week off, Doctor Doom has summoned a small number of marketing specialists to a fittingly small room within the Latverian Embassy. Vertical blinds filter sunlight, drawing even stripes of light on the long desk around which the minds behind the future advertisement are gathered. Everyone is seated. Everyone except the supreme monarch of Latveria, that is. He is standing with a stance what will very soon be recognised as his trademark - arms crossed in front of his powerful steel chest, shoulders back and feet spread and planted firmly on the ground. Everyone is quiet, eyeing Doom's constantly disapproving expression. It is as though Doctor Doom has already read their minds and shot down every single suggestion they will ever make. Everyone looks confused, like a bunch of puppies looking at their owner, unable to understand what it is they have done wrong. "Well", one of them starts, "what if everyone in the commercial were robots? Serving drinks, and-- and handing people leaflets and selling tickets." Everyone else looks to the man and then to Doom. They tentatively nod in agreement. "Too simple", Doom decides with his impossibly low voice. "I want the speech." The customer is always right. Especially if that customer is a ruler of a country. Especially if that customer is clad in steel armour and towers over you. Still, another employee begs to differ: "Speeches are... kind of overdone. People need a visual feast." "I'm sorry, your... royalty... but perhaps we can be given more /time/? You can't shoot complex commercials within hours--" Doom shifts. His precise yet slow movement unsettles all present, and silence envelops the room. The monarch places both hands on the desk, the weight (whether or not it is all of it) causing the desk to moan and creak helplessly. "I have reclaimed the capital city of my country in two days. I have fully established an embassy here in one. My accomplishments are so numerous, by the time I retire, I will have contributed to the world more than the entire genealogical tree of every single person gathered here put together." Victor van Doom straightens, then, lifting his hands off the desk. "Do not tell me what I can and cannot do. I have given you the speech that I wrote. Design your... 'visual feast' for it, and let the superior intellect worry about resources." Whether or not the employees are offended by Doom's insults, they do not express it either way. One of the men who finds the bravery to speak up, takes a whopping six seconds before he breaks the silence. "Okay. Okay, how about this--" "Science is the endeavour of man to right Nature's wrongs." The voice comes on abruptly. It is low and it is rich in bass, which would be more noticeable on higher quality speakers. Viewers who like to set their volumes high might at this point consider turning it down a notch or a few. The advertisement starts with a man struggling to lift a heavy boulder. "You shall not carry more than the body I've given you will allow, It said." The scene shifts to two men lifting that boulder and loading it up onto a cart. "And so He invented the wheel." The next scene shows a bird elegantly soaring through the sky. "You shall not cut through the skies, It said." Predictably, the scene changes to include footage of the Wright brothers' first flight. "And so He invented his own wings", so booms the narrator's voice. The advertisement continues, the scene shifting to a filth-ridden caveman being chased by a lion. "You shall not hunt the hunters, It said." The caveman seen from before is now wielding a spear, lunging at the lion in slow-motion. The screen goes dark. "And so He invented weapons." Slow-paced music slowly fades in. As its volume increases, so does its pace. Yet it is still dwarfed by the unseen narrator - Doctor Doom. "Nature does not rule over man. Science rules over man." A montage of various contemporary advances are shown. It starts with a man in a chair lifting his hand and watching a nearby robot do the same. "The greatness humanity has achieved is at the brink of a second Renaissance. The crippled shall walk again, the skies will be brought to earth and the unknown shall become familiar... this week." By now, the montage has shown forklift-like machines lifting heavy objects. A man is making extreme facial expressions and the rubber face on the nearby machine mimics the motions with passable precision and no delay. Finally, close-ups of advanced mechanical joints are shown. Scene fades to show Doctor Doom. The timing of his appearance on screen and the next line is cheeky. "Everyone is welcome to come marvel at the extent of the human mind's wonders. Doctor Doom awaits you." The URL of the expo's official website and the dates are shown, followed by the sponsors, the largest of which is Latveria and its ominously coloured flag.