"You may be wondering why I have gathered you here." Otto sat beside his computer and leant backwards.
"Nope." Shelby, of course, immediately felt compelled to clarify.
"Well, stop your wondering-"
"We're not wondering-"
"And behold my wondrous plan: Operation Escape."
Laura raised her eyebrows. "Nothing's happening. What are we beholding?"
"As you all know," Otto went on, ignoring her, "You all here because you have a compelling desire to leave this island. Completely understandable, of course. I want to help you escape, and I have a brilliant plan to do so. I take it you have all noticed that our jumpsuits replace themselves overnight?"
"Yes, we have noticed," Wing said.
"I have taken it upon myself to investigate, and realised that at two o'clock every morning you can't open the wardrobes for a few seconds. Then afterwards, when you open it, the new uniform is there. The old ones are presumably taken to the laundry system, which could be our only way to escape unnoticed."
"Where do I come in?" Shelby interrupted, sticking her hand into the air. "I came here because I was told I was needed to find equipment."
"Patience, young one. To exit from there, we need to switch off HIVEmind. We need to create a button that can do so."
"Oh, okay. Fair enough. What do you need?"
"It's a big list," Otto warned her.
"I can manage."
"You sure?"
Shelby looked annoyed. "Just give me this list, I'll take a quick look and see how easy it'll be."
"Okay, okay."
"Hold up a second," Laura said. "Are you telling me we're escaping via the wardrobes? I think it's a great plan, if we're trying to escape via Narnia."
"Don't worry, this plan doesn't involve any trips to snowy forests full of fauns - I don't even like Turkish Delight," Otto joked. "Remember though, Narnia had a happy ending."
"Right, Malpense, I took a look," Shelby announced. "They might as well have put everything you need into a box and label it 'free equipment for escape aid'. I'll have everything in two days time. And please don't look so doubtful or I might change my mind."
"Sorry, sorry," Otto said sheepishly. "But since you're so good, can you make it one day?"
"Don't push it."
"Knock, knock." Shelby barged in and carefully began to lay out a bunch of electrical equipment on Otto's bed. "One SD card, one micro-SD card, one motherboard, three ports, two USBs, one network interface card, one micro-computer, an eight-inch screen and about a thousand wires."
She straightened her back and looked meaningfully at Otto.
"Did I miss anything?"