9210/Fight the power!

Fight the power!
Date of Scene:	21 December 2021
Location:	Arrowcave
Synopsis:	Thea and Felicity, a writing-duo!
Cast of Characters:	Felicity Smoak, Thea Queen

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Felicity Smoak has posed:
'Tis the season when everyone is headed home, or already there for the holidays. Families are enjoying each others' company around large tables, festooned with decorations from red and green holly to grotesque-looking nut-cracker soldiers. Music undoubtedly is played loudly, and sing-alongs burble up when a 'oldie but a goodies' comes round on the DJ's list.

Felicity, however, is downstairs in the aptly named 'Arrowcave' in front of a trio of monitors, each with their own messages spelling out things that only the keyboard genius can understand. She's dressed down in sweater and jeans, ending the look in a pair of sneakers. The only real nod given to the season are a pair of snowflake earrings obviously purchased from a five-and-dime. Larger than they should be, it does announce some semblance of holiday spirit while not actually //celebrating// it.

Hanukkah has passed, after all.

Felicity's attention is most decided on one monitor in particular, her glasses reflecting the glow of the unit. As is her usual, she's talking to the screen even as her fingers hit upon the keyboard.

"Okay, okay.. you don't like that? I really don't think Everett should be all that worried about a firewall if he's able to..."

*click*

She hits that enter key with a flourish and leans back, still watching the screen. "Great.. now what.." and she leans forward once more, her mouth moving in silent words as she puts them 'to paper'.

"'I think you should be more worried about the silent alarms that are rigged in the system, boss..'"...

Thea Queen has posed:
'Tis the season indeed. And if Thea hears more christmas carolling in the streets there will be blood. Hers most likely from pulling her hair out. Sure, she might be in a bit more of a festive mood these days due to various reasons but there are limits! She has chosen to spend Christmas at the Mansion as has been tradition these last few years and having arrived only last night it means she has yet to come meet everyone else!

Which is doing now.., going down the stairs to the arrowcave. Being home it means she is a bit more lax on her clothes, just some designer jeans and sleeveless black top and indulging in a pair of sneakers (maybe Felicity has rubbed off on her!) It also makes her rather quiet, perhaps even undetected when she finds herself in the cave, looking around...

Things looks normal, as they should be? The armored suits on one end, the weapons. Felicity at the computers talking to herself. Yes, some things never change. So she skulks closer...

And Felicity will feel someone slipping a santa hat on her head.

Yes, Thea is wearing one too. "Hello, Felicity." a feline smile on her lips, "Who are you talking to? Is it my brother?" oh, she knows. Her tone is a teasing one.

Felicity Smoak has posed:
Motion alarms.

Why wouldn't there be motion detectors in the 'cave? How many times has she been snuck up on in the past, only to suffer some heart attack by a friend that is dead set on surprising her? Still, those alarms aren't any good if one doesn't actually pay attention to them.

Go figure.

The detector notification is blinking down on the third monitor, but Felicity is pretty much focused on that first one, her head bobbing back and forth as she tries to brainstorm, digging deep, and--

"Oh god, Thea!"

Spinning around in her rolly-chair, she is now bedecked with a matching santa hat, Felicity is pushing up on her glasses and taking that deep breath, her other hand on her chest in that 'time to breathe' gesture. One second, two.. and she swallows her heart that managed to fly up into her throat.

"Don't do that." She's laughing in her relief before shaking her head. "Nope.. though it did sound pretty realistic, didn't it?" As she considers, she's looking pleased with herself.

"That," and spins in her chair again and points to the screen, "is the computer where 'Brute force' is written." That is, of course, a television program that relies as much on hacking as, well, brute force to make entrances. "I mean, did you see last week's episode? It was horrible. And, some rich, petty snob gave me an amazing idea."

Thea Queen has posed:
Opening her arms to the side Thea shows the matching santa hats, even canting her head to the side. And yes, there's a little grin on her expression. She even looks ..., happy? Suspicious! But hey, maybe it's the season. It's always good to return home to be with family, right? Right?!

Maybe it's different with the Queen...

Anyway, the talk about a tv show has Thea quirking a brow, then sliding to rest her behind on the table, head to the side as she looks at the screen. "I must say I did not see last week's episode." and most likely she hasn't seen a single episode of that show ever. But she is smart. And she knows what's up.

"Are you hacking into the show and ..." she looks at the screen. ".... you are rewriting it, aren't you?" her eyes flash.

"What do you have so far?" she asks, rubbing her hands and immediately getting into it. Every good hacker needs an accomplice!

Felicity Smoak has posed:
Felicity glances back at her friend, and there's a momentary pause before, "Okay, first this, then you really need to dish. That 'happy' sure isn't because you're home and get to spend time with your mother." Because, really... Moira?

Her attention is caught to the screen once more, and she has that 'cat that's eaten a canary' look, nodding quickly. "I am, absolutely. I mean, I'm not looking at their accounting sheets or anything, but really. Some of this is really pathetic." Her tones turn deeper, as if imitating a male actor from the series, "'I have to recalculate the time for the exe-file to run in order for you to be able to access the mainframe.'" A huff of air is pushed out in annoyance, irritation, and a hand rises again to gesture at the screen, "Do you see what I have been putting up with? This is.. I mean, I don't even care if I don't get credit for co-writing, but this has got to stop."

Shifting her seat over, Felicity spins half in her seat, her hands moving as they gesture in the air, underscoring her words, "Right. Everett and Amber are talking in the panel van.. yeah, I know.. but Everett is the computer specialist, and Amber is the one that has to go in. He has to shut down the security without making it look like it's shut down. You know, old school security feed loops, that sort of thing."

Thea Queen has posed:
Thea? Happy? She gives Felicity a look, then a raised brow, "Are you calling my mother draconic?" because if Felicity doesn't, Thea will.

But there will be time for that, because now she is looking at the screen. The talk of exe-files. "Like in that old series? The Exe-files?" It's the X-Files, Thea. But yes, that quirky expression on her face even if she tries to deliver it deadpan means she knows it has nothing to do with some series about aliens! "I thought that one ended a while back..."

"But I like it, you have taken it into your own hands. Time to end the tyranny of badly written tv shows. Even if a lot of the stuff you do here is still magic to me." she fingerwiggling towards Felicity.

Yet it's when Felicity actually goes further deep into the show itself that Thea nods. Yes, she knows feed loops! "Like we did with the Van Hartens." crazy european drug dealers trying to make a push into Starling. Oh yes, they didn't even know what hit them when Team Arrow came crashing down on them.

Felicity Smoak has posed:
Felicity grins at the question regarding Moira, and adds more under her breath than actually //saying// it, "She and my mother should get toge- no. No, no they shouldn't. Bad idea. Very bad idea."

This television episode, however, really is all important, all consuming of her time. Thus is the 'slow period' of vigilantism. "So, I was passing a store window in SoHo. Don't even get me started as to WHY I was in SoHo, of all places to be in the City. At night. During the holiday. And in the window, they were replaying the episode from last week. After a few words with someone else on the street, I came up with the conclusion that I really don't have to suffer through it any more." Of course, she's smart enough that it's not that she covers her trail- she leaves no trail to begin with!

Brows rise at the X-Files joke.. it is a joke, right? Yes, and Felicity laughs, "Yeaaah, no. Though Mulder? Guh.. I would not throw him out of bed for eating crackers.." is murmured as she spins back to the screen.

Ahem.

Pointing at Thea, blue eyes widen behind those glasses of hers, and she nods definitively and points, "Yes, exactly. Like, we had control of the lights, the sound, the security feed..."

They really never did know what hit them when Team Arrow came to call. And they never had a chance.

"After this, what show do you want to look at? Maybe put in a suggestion for a new character? One with grace, charm, wit.. and a really good shot with a bow?"

Thea Queen has posed:
Thea is nodding through it all, now having pulled one leg up to her chest, a bit hunched forward with her chin resting on her hand. Yes, slouching a touch. Moira would be quietly adverting her by now to 'get her posture straight'. Yes, full on draconic. But good thing it's only the two of them here so far. "Mysterious, broody types with a little crazy to them. That's your type, is it?"

Yes, Thea doesn't lose the opportunity to tease her friend a little more. It's very easy after all. And she loves the reactions. Who doesn't?!

"Well, why doesn't Amber get a bow in her infiltration? Too on the nose?" she looks thoughtful. "They might think something is amiss too..." she squints her eyes, "Maybe she finds one on the way and has to shoot a bad guy with it." yes, much better. "Or maybe a mysterious stranger drops in, hooded, saving the day with a hood, bow and arrows.."

Felicity Smoak has posed:
"Anything else would be bor- hey!" Felicity is pulled in and rides right along until the end, and she laughs soon after, nodding towards the salmon ladder. It's positioned right in FRONT of her monitors. "Arms. And arms. You ever see those arms on Mulder?" Yeah, she's talking about Agent Mulder. Right. Sure. "Who doesn't like arms?"

Felicity is soooo glad that there isn't nor has there really been an 'Ick, my BROTHER?!' sort of reaction, because there are simply times when Felicity can't help herself. Oliver is handsome in that broody, mysterious way.. complete with that little crazy. Only problem is, there are lots of girls that like that look, and to be honest, who'd really see a blond hacker that can't get out of her own way when it comes to fighting? She's one of the team.

"Bow? Nah.." and Felicity is back to the show's script. "Not everyone is good at it. I don't want to give the impression that anyone can pick it up and be good. A mysterious stranger, though.." Where did that pencil come from? The one so chewed up, it looks like someone was raising a puppy. Felicity is clicking the wood against her teeth, ready to chew on it again before she starts to furiously type. "There.. a mysterious agent that was looking at the same mark, with a bow. Interrupts the mission, and they work on it together, even if they don't know it."

Thea Queen has posed:
"Mmhmmm, sure. Arms." Thea is nodding her head, looking at the salmon ladder, then back at Felicity. A bit of a smirk on her expression. And yes, no 'ick, my brother!' comment. People deserve their happiness. Even her brother.

"Will he disappear in the end of the mission like the tuxedo stranger?" She then asks with a grin. Yes, she saw Sailor Moon when she was a kid. Guilty pleasure! And now Felicity knows about it.

But soon she speaks up again, "But anyway, you are going to come and have christmas dinner with us, right?" she suggests, "And no, not taking a no for an answer. So you will." she also knows how Felicity's relationship with her family is. Will her mother even be around? She thinks not. And certainly not the father.

Felicity Smoak has posed:
"And abs. Definitely abs."

Nothing like being distracted with that ladder right in front of her! "I'll fight anyone who wants to move that." There's a pause before she adds, "Including John."

Then, back to the storyline as she considers. "Or she?" Felicity raises her brows as she glances towards her friend. "Could always be a she." If it is, the uninvited guest writer does need to change a few things, which is easily done with a few quick taps of the keyboard. Within a few minutes of silence, the final *thwack* of the enter key, along with the removing of her ghostly presence from the other computer signals the end of that particular 'mission'.

"No, I was-- I was planning on ordering Chinese take-out." She's being quite honest! "If it's not an imposition? I mean, I'm sure it'll be better than something that was probably once a chicken and some parboiled rice from a bag." Thankfully, Felicity's mother has come and gone. 'Gone' being the operative word.

"Now, talk to me. I didn't forget..."

And so? Felicity is insisting on that 'girl chat' in a quiet cave, uninterrupted.