Lex Luthor (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
luthorcorpceo) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
capitalh2014-05-04 08:38 pm
luthorcorpceo) wrote in capitalh2014-05-04 08:38 pm
Entry tags:
You may be wondering why I called you all here...
Who: Lex Luthor, Miko Nakadai, and you???
Where: LuthorCorp HQ
When: Shortly before the Level 4 outbreak has been contained
What: Lex Luthor tries to communicate with the world; always a bad idea
Warnings: Rampant condescension, snarky sarcasm, and perhaps a bit of real science
Luthor put down the phone while suppressing a grimace. So far his efforts to contact Dr. Baelheit have been fruitless. A man less preoccupied with his own business might consider that the Level 4 outbreak going on may be distracting the head of Mintaka Industries, but as Luthor considered that the disappearance of a few freaks was no concern of his, it never occurred to him that it might be of concern to Baelheit.
There were other ways to gain the resources that he would need to develop the new device. He may as well start with the, ah, less messy approaches. He touched the surface of his immaculate glass desktop.
"Miss Hammersmith."
A casual observer would not have been able to locate the speaker from which the response came. "Yes, Mr. Luthor?"
"Contact the public relations department. I need one hundred press packets prepared; I am calling a conference Monday morning at 9AM. Contact the usual outlets."
He lifted his hand from the desk. There was no need to wait for Miss Hammersmith to reply; she had certainly started to execute his order the moment he had given it.
He now had a little over 48 hours to decide what to say and how to say it. However, a green light hidden in the glass started to flash, and he pressed the desktop again.
"Yes Dr. Tsao?"
"My progress report on Project Achilles is ready."
This was news for which he had been waiting for some time. "Come to the executive conference room to present it.".
Preparing for the press conference could wait a little while...
Where: LuthorCorp HQ
When: Shortly before the Level 4 outbreak has been contained
What: Lex Luthor tries to communicate with the world; always a bad idea
Warnings: Rampant condescension, snarky sarcasm, and perhaps a bit of real science
Luthor put down the phone while suppressing a grimace. So far his efforts to contact Dr. Baelheit have been fruitless. A man less preoccupied with his own business might consider that the Level 4 outbreak going on may be distracting the head of Mintaka Industries, but as Luthor considered that the disappearance of a few freaks was no concern of his, it never occurred to him that it might be of concern to Baelheit.
There were other ways to gain the resources that he would need to develop the new device. He may as well start with the, ah, less messy approaches. He touched the surface of his immaculate glass desktop.
"Miss Hammersmith."
A casual observer would not have been able to locate the speaker from which the response came. "Yes, Mr. Luthor?"
"Contact the public relations department. I need one hundred press packets prepared; I am calling a conference Monday morning at 9AM. Contact the usual outlets."
He lifted his hand from the desk. There was no need to wait for Miss Hammersmith to reply; she had certainly started to execute his order the moment he had given it.
He now had a little over 48 hours to decide what to say and how to say it. However, a green light hidden in the glass started to flash, and he pressed the desktop again.
"Yes Dr. Tsao?"
"My progress report on Project Achilles is ready."
This was news for which he had been waiting for some time. "Come to the executive conference room to present it.".
Preparing for the press conference could wait a little while...
She just doesn't get it; neither does he
“Perhaps I should not have used the quantum electrodynamic picture of the device. Consider instead the quantum mechanics of the simple harmonic oscillator, the ‘spherical cow’ if you will”. He inwardly smiled at the old joke. “As I am sure you are aware, the energy content of a simple harmonic oscillator is proportional to the number of excitations plus one-half, so that even when there are no excitations, there is still some energy in the oscillator. This is what physicists mean by ‘zero point energy’, but what has long been a mainstay of science fiction has now been turned to reality: a device that feeds from the zero point energy of the universe.”
Surely she was able to follow that!
no subject
"...Sorry, still kinda lost." She shifts uncomfortably in her seat; maybe this wasn't such a good idea. "If you could maybe just... say what the thing does, as simply as possible, that would be good."
no subject
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"No, actually I DON'T know that, I must've missed the quantum physics course in high school, sorry."
no subject
“The LuthorCube is a battery that last forever, and it works by magic. Is that simple enough?”
no subject
But... nah.
"Hmm... maybe, but if that is the case - Mr. Luthor, would you like to explain when, exactly, your corporation started using magic? I don't believe we have that on record at the moment." Her voice is so exaggeratedly sweet and earnest that there is basically no way not to parse it as sarcasm.
no subject
"Asimov once wrote that any sufficiently advanced technology would be indistinguishable from magic."
But some things just need to be said anyway.
"I suppose that to the Times' horoscope editor, a light bulb works by magic."
not sure if this is a case of "low blow" or "it's worse than that"
It wasworse than he thought...
Today she probably would have said that it feels like being in a poorly written situation comedy.
“Little lady, what is your name?”
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Two security guards entered the poorly lit rear of the auditorium.
"Gentlemen, please escort Miss Nakadai to the front door. It appears that she arrived here by accident, and has not been able to find the exit."
He waited at the lectern while the guards came down the center aisle, approaching Miko.
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"Are you kidding me?!" She leaps from her seat, darting away from the guards before spinning to face Luthor again. She point accusingly at him - "You asked for a reporter, you got one! And if you're not satisfied, maybe you shouldn't have held this thing right after a major disaster- HEY!"
One of the guards catches hold of her arm, starting to pull her toward the exit. She twists around to shout over her shoulder at Luthor. "Fine, I'm sure the Times will love to hear all about how the great Lex Luthor can't even put together a press conference without it going completely to shit!"
How to make lemonade out of lemons
On the other hand, did she realize how much he needed this press conference to succeed? It was one of the vital steps of his plan, and the only path to success was through this whelp.
Of course, one had to admire both her audacity and her tenacity. No, this is no situation comedy; it is more like listening to a sermon on persistence given by a teenager. A particularly spirited teenager. That spirit could serve her well in the rough-and-tumble world of journalism, and giving her a leg up at this stage of her career could leave him with a valuable ally at the Times in the years to come.
He held up a hand. “Miss Nakadai, I apologize if I confused you. I was merely offering to have you brought to a place of refreshment while I arranged to have a press packet prepared for you. Would it be agreeable to have an exclusive interview with the CEO of LuthorCorp over lunch in the executive lunchroom?”
The guard dropped his catch and waited for orders.
no subject
She pulled away from the guard, crossing her arms. "...Sure, that'll work."
no subject
He stepped down from the podium and gestured toward the lobby entrance. “Miss Nakadai, after you.”