Although he had arrived that morning still grumpy about his thorough dousing in last night's rain, Stark rolled his eyes as he listened to Quetz's message.
"Ugh, excuses," he scoffed to his Golem as the two of them headed to the storage facility.
"Natural disasters and Beastclan attacks
are regular occurrences, sir," Jarvis reminded him in a reproachful tone. He paused, eyes sparking as he recalled some data. "May I remind you of the probability simulation you requested that I run before we left? I calculated an 84% chance of an encounter with aggressive Beastclans during our journey, a 90% chance of unfavourable flying conditions due to lightning --"
"OK, OK, I get it," Stark replied, flicking his tail in Jarvis's direction and forcing the Golem to swerve through the air to avoid a hit. "It's not the Coatl's fault. Fine."
He remained in a sour mood until they reached a room labelled Storage 1, but once he stepped inside the array of machinery and parts displayed in front of him was enough to distract him from his irritation. As he rooted through the junk and peered beneath tarpaulins, the prospect of building something new cleared his head and soon enough a familiar thrum of excitement was building between his ears.
He found an interesting shape hidden beneath a sheet, and without a moment's hesitation whipped it off. His jaw dropped open: it was glorious. A five cylinder car engine! It looked to be in fantastic condition - and would provide ample power for anything he cared to come up with.
"Awesome," Stark muttered to himself. Then he raised his voice to call out to his Golen: "Hey, Jarvis! Come look at what I found!"
The Golem flitted over to look at Stark's discovery. He was silent for a moment, quietly scanning the engine. "Very good, sir. However, I have also found -"
"It's
perfect," Stark purred, running his dextrous paws over the oily surface of the engine and feeling the metal.
"Really, sir?" Jarvis asked, incredulity seeping into his tone. "It's rather ... unwieldy. I think it might be a better idea to -"
"Jarvis, who's in charge?" Stark asked in a rather obnoxious tone.
The Golem's jaw-joints let out a hiss of escaping steam that might well have been a sigh. "You, sir."
"That's right. Me," Stark said, and tried to pick up the engine to carry it to his workspace.
It didn't go so well. He heaved and pulled and hauled on the engine, but it would not move, no matter how he tried to lift it.
Eventually, Jarvis gave a quiet cough that sounded like two gears grinding together. "Perhaps, sir, you might consider this?"
He glided across to another heap of scrap, where he had unearthed a set of tubed with copper coiled inside. Stark wandered over to look at them, picking one up to take a closer look. They looked ... OK. Not as exciting
an engine, but they would probably due the job.
"
Fine," Stark sighed, and scooped up the tubes in one arm. "I just hope they're powerful enough."
"A very good choice, sir," Jarvis replied, and started fluttering towards the door.
Stark followed him out, but not without a final lingering and covetous stare at the five cylinder engine on his way out. "Probably wouldn't be able to find any fuel, anyway."
At least there was plenty of electricity tap into here in the Shifting Expanse, and if all else failed he could shock it himself ...
C) You find three tubes with copper coiled inside. Looks like it uses electricity to run.