19509/A Disturbance in the Forcefield

A Disturbance in the Forcefield
Date of Scene:	14 November 2024
Location:	Phoenix Towers
Synopsis:	Something is testing the forcefield that protects the auxiliary Arrowcave, The Quiver, under Phoenix Towers in Hell's Kitchen. After getting just a glimpse on drone footage, the Green Arrow goes into the tunnels himself to set out some motion-activated cameras.
Cast of Characters:	Oliver Queen, Felicity Smoak
Tinyplot:	Phoenix Towers

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Oliver Queen has posed:
If nothing else, the constant travel back and forth between Starling City and New York City insures that they are going to lead pretty busy lives. And no matter what city they happen to find themselves in on any particular day, chances are there is something that they will have to catch back up with.

Somethings are a little more pressing then others though.

Like a security threat to the New York City Arrowcave. That sort of thing doesn't happen often. There has been a close call or two, that is part and parcel of choosing to locate it in the basement of the Phoenix Towers housing project. But thus far their security measures and precautions to camouflage the entrance to the secret Team Arrow facility have proven up to the task of holding up to scrutiny.

Instead the problem has come from the other direction, rather unexpectedly. 'Borrowing' some of that Justice League technology that secures the moon-based Watchtower, it wasn't exactly difficult for Felicity to adapt that tech, to turn it to their purposes in creating an energy field to seal off the Arrowcave access into the network of tunnels that riddle the underground beneath Hell's Kitchen. Coupled with a few stealth enhancements to make said field also project the illusion of a solid walled tunnel in place of that gaping opening seemed like the perfect solution.

Except someone - or something - has been testing that protective energy field, either seeing through their efforts to camouflage their defenses, or happening to blindly stumble into them. Given the tenaciousness of the Triad that they're up against, they can't exactly take chances.

Which is why Oliver and Felicity are down in the Arrowcave even now - though for clarity's sake and because he has a thing for names, the New York Arrowcave has been renamed 'The Quiver' to set it apart from it's Starling City brother.

Ollie is decked out in his Green Arrow garb, bow close at hand though for the moment he stands behind the chair where Felicity sits, one hand tensely perched on the back of it as he leans out over it, staring at the same display as Team Arrow's resident tech expert, watching the feed from the drone currently moving into position to see just what's up.

He could have gone himself. In some ways he would have preferred to go himself. But Felicity's argument that it made more sense to let a drone see just what they are dealing with is hard to argue with. It's both safer and a little more subtle then him charging in, with bow ready to unleash a barrage of arrows at any threat.

So he waits. And watches.

"How do you stand this every night?"

Felicity Smoak has posed:
"Well, for starters, I'm not usually looming like sexy Robin Hood -- which would have been a great Halloween costume for you, by the way." A smile tugs her lips. "Most of the time, I'm doing about fifteen things at once."

Felicity's words are only half-focused. The other half of her attention is on the drone, which has three forward-facing live-views up on her central screen at the same time -- visible spectrum, IR, and night vision, all looking the same direction with the same field of view. She's controlling the thing with what looks distinctly like a Playstation remote, but her keyboard and mouse aren't far, and there are plenty of other readouts on her other screens -- GPS position, ambient temperature, laser-measured distance to the closest obstacle on all sides, etc.

"Also, at one point, I was super into guided meditation videos on YouTube which really help with with both boredom and panic attacks. And, when that doesn't work, I just sort of space out thinking about you on the salmon ladder."

The drone stops moving long enough for Felicity to look up, over the back of her chair, at the green-cloaked man that does, in fact, loom over her. Her bright-pink lips curl into a playful smile that reaches all the way up to the blue eyes behind her rectangular-framed glasses.

"We're not going to discuss how long ago those fantasies started."

It's a pretty good guess that they started the first time she watched him, though. Images of him shirtless and sweaty that were burned indelibly into her memory, even if it was a decade before they started officially dating.

There's a flash on the screen. A digital beep to alert her to the movement, and she tears her gaze from Oliver to pay attention to what she was doing again. With a few keystrokes, she plays back the footage from the last ten seconds on another screen, freezing the frame on a... shape. Not a person. Definitely not a rat. Closer to a big... what? Balloon? Bird? It's moving so fast it's blurred.

"Thank you, by the way, for not insisting on going in there yourself," she says, starting to run the shape recognition search on yet another screen while she goes back to steering the drone closer. It's been slow going up until that moment, but at least now it's not as nail-bitingly tense as Oliver crawling around in there after whatever is in there moving around. At least if it's Triad and they shoot the drone, they'll have data rather than a potential medical emergency.

Oliver Queen has posed:
There are reasons that Oliver is not quite as prone to grim brooding as the Gotham set. He is capable enough of it, there are times that he has been guilty of it. But more then anything else, it is Felicity that keeps him a little more grounded. Who brings a smile to his face, no matter how stressed he might be.

This evening is no different.

That comment makes the corners of his mouth curl up a little and for just a moment he pulls his gaze from the screen in front of him, the tension broken at least momentarily. "You know, whether you planned to or not, you just picked out at least one of your holiday presents. You're definitely getting a sexy Robin Hood costume," he points out, fingers straying from their perch on the back of her her chair to stroke lightly across the back of her neck teasingly.

"I might - might - before willing to put on one for you too." Promises, promises.

Then he is all business once more, or at least mostly business, eyes glued to that screen, to the multiple displays. There is a reason that his effectiveness has increased so dramatically over the years, and she is a big part of it. Experience helps, but so does good intel and it is little advantages like this that add so much to the total package. Being able to scout of the location like this, without confirming just what anyone has potentially stumbled over is very good for them in the long run. It means that they shouldn't have to completely seal off that exit. That they won't have to look to relocate the Quiver to somewhere else. That none of them are directly at risk.

Oliver might not object to putting his body on the line given what he does. But there's no reason to be completely reckless or foolish about it either. Not when there is an alternative. It's the kind of patience, the kind of long-term approach that he has slowly taken on and grown more comfortable with, in large part from working with Felicity these past years.

He manages to restrain whatever it is that might pop into his mind at the confession that one of the ways she copes is imagining him during his workout routine, though the line of his mouth curves upward once more and those fingers stray again to the fringe of her hair, slipping through it lightly. But his eyes remain fastened on the screen.

His brow furrows when there is that flash of movement and he leans in closer, a frown threatening to replace all of that as she rewinds the footage long enough to try and confirm just what it is that's down there.

"What is that? It didn't look like any animal. No sewer rat," he says, some of that tension starting to creep back into his voice.

Felicity Smoak has posed:
You're definitely getting a sexy Robin Hood costume.

"Wait, is that my present to you or your present to me?"

There's another curl of those hot pink lips, another glance stolen up at him, even as a shudder of pleasure slips down her spine from the way his fingers brush against the back of her neck.

I might - might - be willing to put on one for you too.

"Now we're talking. We can definitely add that to our holiday traditions."

It's not that Felicity has ever wanted to keep this side of Oliver all to herself. She's spent more than a decade doing everything she can to help him find some lightness -- to get him to smile, to tease, to remember that he's not alone in any of this. Still, she feels a quiet pride knowing that she's the one who can coax him into these little moments of ease, even in the midst of everything.

They may have only been officially dating for the past couple of years, but after spending countless nights together, fighting side by side and saving each other more times than she can count, 'normal' doesn't come close to describing their relationship. There's no one on earth or any other planet she'd trust more than Oliver. That kind of trust -- well, they earned it, and she wouldn't trade it for anything.

Which is why, even if he's always ready to dive headfirst into danger, she's quite happy to point out safer alternatives when she can. After all, she's got a special appreciation for Oliver's particular, uh, assets, and she's not keen on putting any of that on the line unless it's absolutely necessary. Tonight's situation is a perfect example. Better to send in the drone first, even if they're only up against Rodents Of Unusual Size, or what New Yorkers might just call 'sewer rats.'

"No clue," she says, eyes flicking to the screen, "but whatever it was, it was eye-level with the drone. So unless we're talking about a flying sewer rat..."

The image search results aren't helping much either: highway signs at strange angles, bulbous logos, even the top of an amusement park ride, but nothing that adds up.

With her fingers working quickly, she nudges the drone forward, maneuvering it to peek around the corner, only to see...

Nothing.

"Or... maybe we're seeing things?" She frowns, tilting her head. "Could have been debris? With... an active heat signature?"

Oliver Queen has posed:
It's a pretty fair question. And a pretty easy answer.

"I have a feeling that it might just end up being both of our presents. Definitely looking forward to the holiday season now," Ollie murmurs in reply, even if he otherwise keeps his attention very much on the matter at hand.

Another time admittedly the whole notion might distract him a little more, might provoke more teasing from him. He has come to rather look forward to their back and forth exchanges even out in the field. They make his evenings a little brighter, a little less grim, which, considering what he gets up to is no small thing. Constantly dealing with the worst of the worst could take a toll on anyone.

For Oliver, Felicity is his meditation tape. She is his little oasis of light in an otherwise very dark world.

But this particular issue is hitting rather close to home. Quite literally. Having the Quiver compromised would be... problematic, to put it mildly. It would necessitate them sealing off this part of the basement completely, permanently. It would require them to relocate to a new location, to start over from scratch. It's not the financial resources that it would take that concerns Oliver. It's the time lost.

It also might make the Triad take a closer look at the Phoenix Towers and it's connection to Team Arrow if they figure out this is where they are operating out of. They have already tried to torch the building once and while Ollie has insured that Queen Consolidated has beefed up building security along with all the other improvements made, it's not designed to repel a full-blown attack by a horde of criminals.

So he's taking the matter seriously. Very seriously indeed.

"Something that was moving, had a heat signature and now is completely gone," the blonde billionaire says, a hint of the brooding grimness creeping into his tone as he straightens a little, still staring at the frozen video image, blurred and unrecognizable, even, apparently to Felicity's image recognition software.

Eye flicker back to the live feed, back to the seemingly empty passage where the... whatever it is... disappeared and gives his head a little shake.

"I don't like this. Maybe I had better head on in, see it I can flush something out," he says, already reaching to reclaim his bow from where it rests on the edge of the desk.

It's not that he doesn't have faith in Felicity and her tech. He has come to rely on both, not to mention her advice. But from the get go, from the moment he left Lian Yu he has been something of a hands on problem solver. And when in doubt, he can pretty much be counted to return to form.

Felicity Smoak has posed:
Something that was moving, had a heat signature and now is completely gone.

Felicity's lips press into a concerned line. Even she can't really argue with his tone. It's... not ideal. It wasn't shaped like a human, but it was definitely bigger than a rat -- even a flying rat. No offense to Batman.

Yet, even as Oliver reaches for his bow, her hand reaches out for his other arm. Her eyes lift to him, but there's a kind of helplessness in them.

She doesn't like it, either. Whatever has been setting off the sensors of their forcefield, it's been doing it systematically. Testing it. The chances of it only being a rat or a bird or anything like that is miniscule. But she doesn't have a better alternative. If she did, she'd already be vocalizing it instead of just staring up at him with concern.

"Oliver..."

This was the part that was hard for her every night. The thought of him going into a situation with minimal intel, alone. And it's one thing to be going up against a bunch of goons with guns. This feels like something more out of a horror movie.

But maybe it really is just a big bird or something.

Underground.

Suddenly, her eyes flash.

"I have an idea."

Then she's on her feet, moving over to a table full of gadgets she's arrayed out by use -- defensive, surveillance, comms. She scoops up three cameras about the size of her palm, each with fish-eye style lenses on one side.

"You know I'm not in love with the idea of you going in there before we know what's doing this, but if you're going to do it anyway, put these up -- at least one close to where the drone is. They're motion activated, active transmitting, full-spectrum, and have about two weeks of battery life. Even if you don't see anything, they'll ping us if they pick something up. Maybe we'll get a better video of whatever's setting off the force-field."

She holds them out to him with a small, knowing smile. She might be worried, but this is who they are.

"I'll send another IR drone in with you and be on comms the whole way."

Oliver Queen has posed:
Technology is great, there is no denying. But sometimes there is no replacing actually eyes on the ground. The drone, with it's multiple video feeds, it's ability to look into spectrums that the human eye just can't is a nice advantage. But it can't help but miss things, can't help but potentially fail to miss a small smudge, or a flash of movement outside of the range of its cameras.

It's not the risk that bothers Ollie. Oh, he's gotten used to being well informed about just what he's up against. And like she says, about the only thing that they know for sure here is that is almost definitely not just some animal. This isn't a sewer rat, or a bat, or anything else. Is it living? Is it another piece of tech, a drone like their own? They can't be sure. And they need to be. The security of the Quiver is at stake. Potentially the security of the entire Phoenix Towers project is at stake.

Still, it is a daunting task. As they discovered when they tried to map out the entire tunnel complex beneath Hell's kitchen there are miles and miles of tunnels out there. Even more when one starts to factor in the service tunnels. And the subway tunnels. Those miles and miles become tens of miles, even hundreds of miles in short order. Felicity's drones helped simplify the process considerably. But it's still a lot of ground to cover and impossible to properly monitor long term.

The Emerald Archer does pause though when she stops him, turning back as she comes up with her idea and gives a slow nod. "That's a start. Put one outside the entrance proper and then on both the main approaches. If we can get some more footage of what is testing the defenses maybe we can at least narrow down what we're dealing with," he agrees.

That's her influence. Once he would have plunged ahead, dived in and spent the next several hours, the next several days scouring those tunnels, searching out the threat.

Now he's a little more willing to play it sensible, to not run himself ragged. To let the threat come to them. To find out what they're dealing with before rushing into a confrontation.

With cameras in hand, Ollie slips down the passage leading out of the Quiver and into that tunnel complex, waiting for Felicity to give him the all clear from her drone vantage point before deactivating the security field and slipping out into the dark, illumination provided by the light scope attached to his bow and of course the waiting drone.

It only takes him minutes to get the discrete cameras positioned and activated, again confirming with his girl in the chair that everything is up and running, that they have the approaches monitored. And while Ollie does do a sweep where the drone caught that blurred footage, when he turns up nothing he stiffles that brief flicker of annoyance, that urge to head off into the dark, cramped passages to see if he can find something on a broader sweep.

"Alright, everything looks to be a go. I'm headed back in. Once diagnostics are done, I guess all there is to do is wait," he offers up, starting back into their hidden base proper.

"And maybe hit the town, get a bite to eat. And see if we can wrangle up a pair of sexy outlaw costumes."

There's no reason why the holidays can't come early while they wait, right?