A/N Triple update whaaaat? Chapters are too small for my liking, but my brain isn't functioning right now. Part of me just wants Chaelisa and Jensoo to kiss so bad rn.

Lisa POV

I send the Orcas to get Dr. Hewett from the sick bay. Jisoo's a bit preoccupied with leading the party like Indiana Jones or something.

Moving him will be risky. I'm not sure what kind of medical facilities this secret base has, but Seulgi said to bring him. I hope their cutting-edge tech can do more than camouflage the island and bake garlic bread.

'No aggressive moves,' I tell the rest of the crew.  The Sharks look at me like, Who, us?

It hits me that I just gave an order to my classmates, and they took me seriously. Three days ago, they would have laughed or ignored me, or at the very least teased me for acting like an authority figure. A lot has changed. I'm not sure if that's good.

 I lead the way into the shack, which turns out to be nothing but a sort of foyer. The rubber welcome mat reads BLESS THIS MESS. Against the left wall is a stand-up shower. Against the right is a rack of dive masks, tanks, fins and spearguns. A security camera peers down at us from the ceiling. At the back of the room, a tunnel has been bored straight through the volcanic rock, leading into the heart of the mountain. I half expect Seaulgi to lead us into lava.

I glimpse Seaulgi's silhouette up ahead in the gloom. Her voice echoes back to us. 'I have turned off the lasers, so they probably shouldn't cut you in half. Please, come!'

Roseanne clutches my hand. At Rosie's side, Hank sniffs the air. He doesn't look worried – more like he's hoping for some of that bread. Hank is usually a pretty good judge of danger. I forge onward, following the scent of garlic butter. 

After about a hundred feet, the corridor opens into a large rectangular space like an artist's loft. More corridors branch off in different directions. How big is this place?

The ceiling is lined with ventilation ducts and big industrial light fixtures. The polished stone floor glistens like melted chocolate. Worktables overflow with bits of disassembled alt-tech.

In the left corner, a living-room area has been set up. Two cushy sofas make an L around a coffee table. A tyre swing hangs from the ceiling. (Why?) A jumbo television, attached to half a dozen gaming consoles, is playing what looks like a cooking show. Stacks of Blu-rays are piled next to the screen. I guess the island doesn't get satellite or streaming services. 

In the right corner of the room, a chandelier made of abalone shards glitters above a long metal dining table. Sitting alone at the far end is a diminutive woman with a magnificent mass of braided brown hair like a heap of wool. 

She's cross-legged and barefoot. Her thick steel-rimmed glasses glint in the light of her laptop computer.  Her black leggings and yoga top don't look so much like athleisure wear as a diabolical-acrobat costume.

She gives Seaulgi a guarded glance, as if she's ready to press a very dangerous button on her laptop. 'Should I vaporize them?'

'No, no, they're friendly.' Seulgi holds up her bread pan. 'I must check the oven. Jupiter will kill me.' 

'Fine.' The woman waves her away. She looks a bit disappointed. 

Seulgi smiles at us. 'This is Irene, my wife. Please, make yourselves at home.'

She hurries off down one of the side corridors. 

Irene rises. She is decidedly not tall. She pads over to us like the Steel Ninja Leprechaun of death. She appears ready to say something – perhaps an explanation of how she will incinerate us if we misbehave – when our Orca team arrives with Dr. Hewett's stretcher.

Irene scowls at our comatose patient. After three days in the sick bay, he looks terrible. He smells even worse. 

'Theodosius, you idiot,' Irene grumbles. She snaps her fingers at us. 'Come. No time to waste.' 

We all start to follow, but Irene clicks her tongue. 'Just the medics, thank you. The rest of you, wait here.'

Off they go down another corridor. Roseanne starts to drift towards one of the worktables until Irene yells back, 'TOUCH NOTHING.' 

The rest of us stand there uneasily, looking at one another like, Well, here we are. Now what?

'Make yourself at home!' Jennie says, mimicking Seulgi. Then she switches to Irene's voice: 'But touch nothing!'

Nayeon sneezes. 'Well, she didn't say we couldn't look. I'm going to check out those game consoles.'

'Me, too,' Solar says. 'Whoa, is that a Nintendo 64?'

Hwasa gestures at her fellow Sharks. They fan out to examine the room. Jennie and Jisoo conduct a purely visual inspection of the disassembled gadgets on the nearest table. Roseanne drifts towards the kitchen, stopping herself before she entered.

Sana sidles up to me. 'Cad a cheapann tú?'

The other Dolphins gather around.

 'I'm not sure,' I answer, also in Irish, though I doubt any language is safe, given the level of coding we had to do just to get in the front door. 'They seem friendly enough. If they were with Land Institute...'

I let that thought drift away unanchored. How would we know if we had walked into a trap? I'm starting to wonder if I've made a terrible mistake bringing us here ...

Then Moonbyul does the unthinkable. She stops the video playing on the TV.

I guess she assumed the touch nothing order didn't apply to entertainment options. As she rummages through the Blu-rays, an outraged howl erupts from one of the side corridors. A humanoid creature waddles into the room, flailing his furry orange arms. My god. It's an orangutan. And he's wearing a cooking apron decorated with smiley-face daisies.

The orangutan bares his fangs at Robbie, then says in perfectly clear sign language, NO TURN OFF MARY BERRY.