[X] - Tinker together a better battery.
[X] - Speak to Yinsen.
There was something soothing about wielding a hammer, and prodding the sizzling fire as heated metal poured into a desired shape. You forged circles of hair-thin metal that seemed utterly fragile, but they did not break. You were working in a rhythm that you'd gotten used to with years of practice, that you'd perfected, and it helped calm your nerves. You were an inventor first, perhaps, but a mechanic second. This was in your blood.
You knew all too well that your best work, the most impressive creations that you laid claim to, had been born from necessity, under pressure. JARVIS was one of them - an autonomous AI with startlingly human qualities, already far more complicated and convoluted than any one man could understand. Such were the benefit and drawback of evolutionary algorithms, of course. You'd built him on a dare, betting a rather substantial amount of money over an idea you had. It was only when dear old dad threatened to squeeze closed the money faucet, that you'd kept fiddling with it for half a year before you even dared flip the switch, just in case it was a dead end street. And yet, it had worked.
You'd have to be a lot less careful this time around.
As you labored on your newest project, working off half-faded memories of your father's work, you glanced at Yinsen. The man did not betray much in the way of emotions, only rarely showing his disdain for your captors, but you knew something simmered below the surface. He was a good man, after all - and those were the worst to anger.
"You've been here awhile, haven't you?" you muttered offhandedly, startling the man from his musings. "Tell me - what is the deal with these people? I've been trying to figure out what they're hoping to accomplish. These don't exactly look like luxury lodgings, so I doubt they've got much in the way of capital. I doubt they're used to doing this sort of thing." You sniffed exaggeratedly. "The place stinks, too. You'd think they'd have the cash for flowery perfume or something."
Yinsen smiled thinly, his eyes meeting yours for but a moment. "I had considered the matter. Our captors call themselves the 'Ten Rings', and they have been present in this region for some time. I cannot say why they have changed strategies." He sighed. "I had heard only a few mentions of them before my capture. I had assumed them a dormant cell."
"Not anymore, clearly." You shook your head with a frown. "If they've only gotten active recently, I'm guessing these Ten Rings guys radicalized only weeks ago. It's no wonder I haven't heard of them, if that's the case." You shook your head. "Let me guess, it's our fault? Americans? Seems like that's the theme lately."
"I assume so." The gaunt man agreed, looking away. "Though, I'm sure such people as these would have found an excuse sooner or later. Money, more than likely." He paused. "Let me ask you something in return, Stark. I know why I was in the region, of course - this is my home. You do not have such an excuse."
"Isn't it obvious?" You slammed your hammer down more strongly than you'd intended, startling even yourself. "Look, we've met before, you know what I do. I make guns, and bombs, and other nasty stuff, and people want to buy all that, especially out here." You grimaced at that. "These last few days haven't been good on my conscience, needless to say."
Yinsen smiled. "Ah. Then perhaps this gauntlet - is not entirely for nothing. The great Tony Stark, brought low with his own designs..."
You rolled your eyes in exasperation. "Yeah, yeah. We'll have to get out of this place first. I can decide what to do about all of this... afterwards." You soldered together the Palladium rings you'd made with a cobbled-together power outlet, aligning them as best as possible. It would be a glorious mess without robotic assistance, but you had no real choice. "Peacenik hippie crap will need some practice, you understand."
"Hm. There is nothing wrong with peace."
You rolled your eyes. "Right. Let's discuss that when we're sipping Martinis on the beach, not locked up in the dungeons, shall we?" you argued mildly. "Which brings me to our escape. You have been here long enough to notice things, and if you've got enough energy to take potshots at me, I'm sure you've thought of something. Any ideas?"
Yinsen hesitated. "There are… some things I have seen." He paced, frowning. "I know that we cannot wait out a rescue. Our captors' patience runs thin already, and we are eating their food, drinking their water. It is likely that they already consider prisoners an unnecessary risk, and only greed is staying their hand." He rubbed his forehead tiredly. "Even if we had weapons to fight back with, though , I don't see how we could hope to defeat dozens. We would die in minutes."
"Dozens, huh," you said slowly. "Well, one step at a time, we can save the blaze of glory thing for better occasions. If we can't charge through them, and we can't wait it out, then what's left? Sneakiness, maybe?" You picked up the soldering iron again, gesturing towards the door with it. "Maybe, with a proper diversion and a good helping of luck, it might be possible to sneak out. I'm not one for stealth, obviously, but I can manage."
Yinsen shook his head. "Very dangerous. The instant they'd spot our faces, they would kill us."
"I am well aware of that," you admitted shortly. "What other options do we have, exactly? We're in a glorified scrapyard, not a gun store..."
Yinsen nodded. "There is an unsavoury possibility, but one that at least has a chance," he said reluctantly. "We could - negotiate," he said carefully, frowning darkly. "You are being held for ransom, correct? You are more than rich enough to pay their demands, so you might be able to buy your own freedom…"
"And fund this place?" You looked around. "Granted, I could probably come right back and bomb this place to smithereens… Besides, given where my tech's been going anyway, I suppose I wouldn't make things much worse," you conceded. You paused for a long moment as your gaze lingered on one of the cameras. "I don't much like the idea, though."
Your eyes lingered on the crappy laptops that were among the supplies piled up in the corners. "...There is another possibility. We've got computers here, right? And something's bound to be hooked up to all those glorified webcams." You glance to the camera that is turned away from you. "Do you reckon these people have an internet connection?"
"Stark?" Yinsen inquired. "What -"
You raised a hand. "Hold on, I'm having a brainwave here," you muttered. "I'm thinking - I could build IEDs from all this crap around us; half of our supplies are already bombs, it's child's play. But they'd be essentially useless without knowing where exactly to plant them, or when to set them off. If we could see where everyone was, though... I could probably get us out of the caves. We'd still need a big diversion to break free. With the internet, that'd be a sinch."
The gaunt doctor raised an eyebrow. "Is it wise to rely on such things?"
"Maybe. I don't know yet." You raised the small device you'd been assembling, pushing the last connectors into place. With a hum the spherical device activated, lighting up with an unearthly white glow. "I'm done. I'll need your help with putting it where it needs to be. This beauty - this is an arc reactor on a tiny scale. It's old-school stuff, modernized. This'll work."
"...You intend to use that for something?"
"Well, there's one or two other ideas I'd like to pitch to you…"
XXXXXXXXXX
What's your escape plan? Choose one.
[ ] The Bomberman : You can cobble together enough IEDs to be a major nuisance, and if you place them in strategic locations, you might even be able to take out a majority of your captors. Getting out in the confusion should be relatively easy. It's a risky plan, but relatively easy to prepare for, allowing you and Yinsen the most leeway.
[ ] Applied Chemistry : You have enough supplies to build something powerful, but perhaps it's far better to make something subtle. You can make some makeshift gas masks from the materials available, and the missiles you have are filled with toxic chemicals. It doesn't matter if there's dozens of people out there, if they're all gagging on their own saliva.
[ ] The Negotiator : [Speak to Yinsen.] Yinsen's familiar enough with your captors that he might be able to convince their leader to negotiate, and he's shown willingness to attempt this. You could strike a deal, and figure out who arranged this whole mess in the first place. It's not a pretty solution, but it's not like you're shackled to staying loyal to the dogs that kidnapped you afterwards - and you'd get to the root of things.
[ ] Suit & Tie : [Build a better battery.] There's an idea niggling in the back of your mind - a shape of metal and fire, an exoskeleton to take the hits that you can't. It would not be pretty, and it'd be a mess to control for longer than mere minutes, but you could probably make it happen with your newly-built arc reactor. There's no telling what something like that could do, if you can get it done in time.
[ ] Plan Vlad the Third : With a bit of subterfuge, you may be able to hot-wire one of the cameras and piggy-back a signal to your captors. If anyone has internet access you could call in the cavalry - JARVIS and the army would be more than enough to face this threat. In any case, you might be able to use the information you retrieve to sneak out from under the Ten Rings' noses without causing a mess at all.
[ ] Write-In : Creative ways get a boost!
Notes : Later than I'd planned; work got in the way. Anyway, the canon way is open here, but there are more ways to tackle this problem. Remember, this is Stark Transcendent, not Iron Man - if you don't care to carbon-copy the usual solution, you don't have to. Hell, there's no reason why you'd have to stick with the canon power armor even if you pick that option...
