Arrow (Book One)

Chapter Seventeen

"You're kidding. What else does it say?" John asked.

"More information on the stock auction and, you know, the latest on what the media's calling-- The Unidac massacre." Felicity pulled up some articles.

"There's no way this timing is a coincidence." I stated.

Felicity looked through some more articles. "Oliver, there's a website claiming the police suspect a copycat archer." Felicity said.

"What?!" Oliver asked.

"So the other archer works for Merlyn?" John asked.

"He's tying up loose ends. Erasing all evidence this device exists so no one can trace the devastation back to him." I said, turning to look at Oliver.

"All right, so you're going to have a pointed conversation with Mr. Merlyn." John said to him.

"Well, even if I take out Merlyn, the other archer is still out there. He can set off the device. We need to find it. Then Merlyn can get his." Oliver stated.

"I think you are forgetting something." I said, getting Oliver to look over at me. "Have you thought about how your best friend may take that?"

"He's killing people. I don't have a choice." Oliver said and that is all I said about that.

"Well, maybe there's another way to get Merlyn to tell us." Felicity said, getting us to look back at her.

"What do you have in mind?" John asked.

"As I keep proving, people keep secrets. Computers don't."

"Felicity, are you hacking into the Merlyn Global mainframe?" I asked.

"Hacking is such an ugly word. No. I'm... Yeah, totally hacking into the Merlyn Global mainframe."

"I've never been so proud of you."

Felicity smiled at me. "So, sweet."

Yeah, it was 'sweet' for about an hour. Then it was boring. Then exhausting. Then...painful. I was sitting on one of the tables with my legs crossed and a milkshake with fries. I already ate my burger. I was complaining so much Oliver got me food to shut me up. He didn't say that, he just gave me the food, but we both know what it was for. The computer beeped and Felicity scoffed. "Anything?" John asked, moving to sit next to her.

"Just for the record, I will pump my fist in the air and scream, yes! If I get in."
Felicity stated.

"You know, you can just say this isn't working." I stated, finishing off my milkshake.

"This isn't working!" Felicity snapped.

"All right, there has to be some other way we can find out where he's keeping this device." Oliver stated, stealing one of my fries.

"Unless I can waltz up to Merlyn's mainframe and plug in my tablet directly, there's no way of getting that location."

Oliver paused for a moment. ""Then we waltz." Oliver said, getting us all to look at her.

"Excuse me?" Felicity asked.

"You need direct access to the mainframe, so we get you direct access to the mainframe, and we figure out where the device is being kept."

"Oliver...I did mention that the mainframe is located inside Merlyn Global Group's main headquarters, on the 25th floor? It's only accessible through a restricted access elevator."

"I know. We're going to have to break in."

I couldn't stop myself from smiling, looking over at Felicity. "The first robbery is always the most exciting." I said, but she looked more scared than excited. I don't know why. I'm sure she's going to be fine.

Oliver, John, and Felicity all had a role to play in the robbery. But I, the skillful thief, was stuck on the sidelines. You know who does that? Crazy people. What didn't help was the fact I was waiting long enough that I was getting even more mad. It's like having a Ferrari and letting it waste away in the garage. Like buying a Prada purse and keeping it in the back of your closet. Buying an iphone and never hooking it up. I hate everything. They got back and I was pouting in one of the chairs. "Next time we do a robbery, I get to be involved." I stated, crossing my arms.

"Sorry you feel so left out." Oliver said.

"You should be. I steal things all the time." I pointed out, and the boys may have chuckled, but I'm completely serious. For a period, I was doing it for fun. Keep the things in a storage unit. I don't plan on selling it. I might give it back. But they can never take the fact I was able to take it away from me.

"In addition to the download, I also took the liberty of uploading a trojan to Merlyn's system. Figured it might come in handy." Felicity explained.

"That's smart." Oliver said. "If Merlyn thinks he's been compromised, it'll help if we know first. Can you locate the seismic device?"

"I'm working on it. But there's at least a teraflop of data to go through."

Oliver nodded, turning away from her. I could tell by the look on his face that he was thinking really hard....about something that made him...happy? "You all right?" I asked.

"My father, he told me that he failed the city. Asked me to right his wrongs, but I never knew what he meant until now. It's the Undertaking. I promised myself that when I crossed all these names off the list, I'd be done, but... Taking down these people, it doesn't honor him. I was just treating the symptoms while the disease festered. I stop the Undertaking... I wipe out the disease." Oliver had a soft smile on his face.

"What are you saying, Oliver? You would hang up the Hood?" John asked, stepping away from Felicity's desk.

"Merlyn's plan is what I returned from the island to stop." Oliver said, walking away from us.

"Where are you going?" I asked.

"Out." Oliver just walked out of the room.

I looked over at John, not bothering to hide the concern on my face. "I don't like this."

"Why not?"

"You never plan for the future until the mission is done. This is going to get a lot worse before it's over." I sighed, crossing my arms over my chest. I've been there and I barely made it out of the mission alive. I learn then and there that you can't make plans when the mission depends on it.

It took some time to go through all the information, but Felicity was able to find the information that we needed. Where we could find the device and where Oliver needs to go. She headed out and I grabbed my coat to go with John. The only thing left was to call Oliver. "What is it?" Oliver asked, answering the phone.

"You need to learn how to answer the phone." I stated. "Felicity found the Markov device. Merlyn's keeping it at a warehouse his company owns in the Glades."

"Good. Coordinate an attack. You take the device, I'll take Merlyn. Got a location?"

"Yeah. According to Felicity's trojan, Merlyn's logged on to his computer from his office." I said, reaching over to pick the keys off the table.

"I'm on my way." John said and I hung up the phone, tossing the keys to John as we both walked towards the exit. We made it to the warehouse, to the truck, and it was empty. Of course it was empty. It would be too easy and my life has never been easy. We're screwed and so is everyone else.