Tony stared at him for a long, long moment.

  Finally, he exhaled through his nose. “Okay. Look… I’ve been stuck in a cave, nearly died from shrapnel, and I’m working with a car battery bolted to my chest. So as far as weird goes? You’re definitely top five. But...”

  He pointed a finger at Aditya.

  “You're talking about systems, powers, and Third Eyes like it's Tuesday. If I didn’t see you pull that engineering tweak out of nowhere, I’d call it delusional sci-fi bull.”

  Aditya grinned. “I’d probably say the same in your position.”

  Tony narrowed his eyes. “And you copied my intellect.”

  “Not your memories,” Aditya crified. “Not your trauma or life. Just your genius. Your mental framework. And trust me—it’s overwhelming.”

  Tony was quiet again, gaze unreadable. Then:

  “Well... good. Because I could use another brain right now. Especially one that understands the mess we’re about to build.”

  A new notification blinked in Aditya’s vision:

  [Trust Level with Tony Stark increased: 32%][New Objective Unlocked: Assist in Building the Mark I Armor]

  Aditya let out a quiet breath of relief.

  “Let’s build a legend.”

  Tony cracked his knuckles. “Damn right.”

  The sound of cnking metal and the low hum of machinery filled the cave as Tony and Aditya got to work.

  For the first time since arriving, Aditya felt truly alive—not just surviving, but building. His hands moved with precision he didn’t possess yesterday, guided by knowledge newly forged into his mind. Each screw tightened was a promise. Each welded seam, a step closer to freedom.

  Tony noticed it too.

  “You weren’t lying,” he muttered, nodding as Aditya finished assembling a critical component of the repulsor core. “You’ve got the touch.”

  Aditya wiped the sweat off his forehead. “It’s like the designs are already there. I just have to let my hands catch up.”

  They worked in rhythm. Yinsen helped where he could, handing over tools, transting between guards and captives, and quietly marveling at the speed with which the two geniuses constructed the impossible.

  “You’re adapting fast,” Tony said during a break, watching Aditya sketch an energy loop modification on the cave floor. “Faster than anyone I’ve ever seen.”

  Aditya hesitated. Then he said, “It’s not just the intellect. The system… it’s evolving. I think being near you, helping you—it’s accelerating something.”

  Tony smirked. “So I’m a catalyst now? Add that to my résumé.”

  But Aditya was serious. He opened the system interface mid-conversation, flipping it to private mode.

  [Progress Tracking - Skill Synergy Achieved][Tony Stark recognized as “Prime Innovator” - +20% Engineering Skill Growth while working with/under][New Passive Skill Gained: Co-Development Boost (Level 1)]— Working alongside a peer-level intellect accelerates both comprehension and skill refinement.— Bonus applied when building advanced tech prototypes.

  He blinked at the screen, then grinned. "We're basically buffing each other."

  Tony raised an eyebrow. “Is that a gaming term?”

  “You’d be surprised how much the multiverse runs on game logic.”

  They dove back in.

  Days blurred together, filled with the scrape of metal and the pulse of arc energy. Aditya redesigned the servo joints on the Mark I’s legs, reducing mechanical drag. Tony rebuilt the chest mount to accommodate the arc reactor’s output. Together, they began to craft not just an escape, but a legend.

  It wasn’t all smooth. There were misfires, close calls, arguments over material stability, and one near explosion that singed half of Yinsen’s beard. But slowly, steadily, the suit took shape.

  At night, Aditya would lie awake on the cold cave floor, staring at the jagged ceiling, reviewing system prompts and mental diagrams burned into his mind.

  He had come here to save Tony Stark.

  But now, he realized—this cave, this project, this moment—was where Iron Man was truly born.

  And maybe… where he was reborn too.