So I just watched Inception and I decided i needed to do a Fanfic for it! I don't own the characters except for Alyssa! Enjoy!
I stared out the window of the cab as we drive through the crowded city. I've talked to almost everyone here but they offer no more than I already know. I frown and look out the other window.
"Turn here," I say quietly.
"I know. You tell me to turn here every time. I know you are going to say it yet you insist on saying it every time," said the dark haired man driving the cab.
"Yeah. It's a habit I guess," I said rolling the large marble in my fingers. The cab driver stopped in front of a large building in the heart of the city.
"Same stop as usual."
"Thanks, Jake," I said stepping out of the cab onto the bustling street. He nodded and drove off. I paused and looked up at the blue, glass building, squinting at the sunlight coming off of it. I squeezed the marble and walked inside. The building housed the strongest, most secure bank and the vault was reserved for one person: me.
"Good afternoon, Alyssa. Here for your usual inspection?" said a very handsome man in a crisp black suit.
"Yeah," I say thinking my dark blue Jeans, worn t-shirt and light jacket weren't dressy enough. I reminded myself that it didn't matter and followed after the man.
"I will assure you as always that your items are secure as always," the man informed.
"I appreciate it but you know my routine, James," I said sounding bored. Even though I knew it would be there, I was still on edge. I guess I was just paranoid. We arrived at the impressive looking metal vault door. Every one in the city knew the combination but I wasn't worried about them stealing anything. They were my subconsciousness after all. James watched with an amused look as I put in the vault combination. I turned the leaver and opened the large but perfectly balanced door with one finger. Rows of lights flickered on and highlighted the small stack of papers on the small pedestal at the end. I stepped inside and flicked through all the papers one by one, breathing a sigh of relief once I saw they're all there. James chuckled softly as he waited patiently for me at the vault door. I turned and gave him a scolding look.
"I told you they're all there," he said with a heart-melting smile. I looked at him carefully knowing that he was everything I wanted in a guy. He was just slightly taller than me with dark brown hair and eyes. He had a great sense of humor and knew just what I like. I felt my heart break a little more as I remembered that he was just another part of me. I created him for the sole purpose of being the head of my subconscious security. He was my first line of defense if anyone decided to come in without my permission.
I set the papers down and walked out of the vault. I stopped on front of him and gently kissed his cheek as music echoed through the halls.
"It's that time isn't it?" James said almost sadly. I nodded and pulled the gun out of my jacket. He frowned disapprovingly at the gun.
"You know I don't like it when you go so violently," he said quietly.
"I know. It's just quicker," I said bringing it up to my head. He stepped close and wrapped his arms around me, kissing me, twisting my stomach in guilt. Before he could stop, I pulled the trigger, waking myself up from my dream.
I lay in my bed, wishing I could just stay there. I sighed and listened to the bouncy pop song playing on my alarm. I groped around in the dark and fumbled with the switch to my bedside lamp. I winced as my room bursts into light. I groaned as the song bursted into yet another chorus and hit the sleep button. I flopped back onto my bed knowing I should get up. Another five minutes of sleep would put me back in that world for another hour and who knew what could happen in an hour. I sat up and grabbed my robe off of the hook on my wall. I rubbed my eyes and stumbled into my bathroom to take a quick shower.
I'm an Architect, or at least that's what Arthur calls me. He's our leader and Extractor now since Dom left. I've only met Dom once but he seemed like a good man. I don't know the whole story but from what I heard, I would have left if I were in his position too. He didn't want to go in any more and when I asked Arthur about it he only said that he's free from Mal, whoever that is. Before I joined the team, Ariadne was our Architect but she left to be a real one. She taught me some tricks and I've become a better Architect than even her.
I'm special. While none of the other team members can dream anymore, I've gained the ability to twist my own dreams. I get tired of being trapped there though. If I sleep for eight hours, I'm in my own little world for four days. I guess I'm just living a bit more than the average human.
I thought about my life as I dressed in my usual jeans and low cut shirt, my long, wet hair dripping on my shoulders. I dried it with a hair drier quickly, turning it from black to a chestnut brown, and left my house just as the sun started to rise. I had houses around the world, that one in northern California. I moved where the jobs did. I drove my worn Audi A4 out to a small office building, not far from where I lived. I pulled into the parking lot just as Arthur did. I turned my car off and sat there as he got out of his car and into mine.
"Hello, Darling. How did you sleep?" he asked after kissing me quickly.
"How do you think?" I replied grumpily. He gave me a sympathetic hug and turned slightly in his seat.
"Want to talk about it?" he inquired quietly, his chocolate eyes piercing my soul. I smirked at how much he and James looked alike but how they were so different. James wasn't real and Arthur was. He was also my boyfriend.
"There's nothing to talk about. Just the usual. You should come over again tonight. Tell James to back off," I said weakly. I knew that I was making things worse by being overly friendly with James but it was hard sometimes. Only one fifth of my life was real. It was easy to forget sometimes.
"Okay. I'll come over," Arthur said stroking my hand. He turned as another car pulled up. "Ah that's Eames…" he muttered, "Showtime." He got out of the car and I followed closely behind.
"Ello, Artie," Eames said with a grin, swinging a silver briefcase back and forth. I smiled knowing that Arthur hated being called that. I took his hand and squeezed quickly. He looked at me and sighed. Eames laughed, "I see that she's got you on quite the leash."
"Yeah, well I'm the one with the girl, aren't I?" Arthur said triumphantly. I raised an eyebrow as Eames snorted and walked inside. Arthur shot me a grin as we walked inside. We took the elevator up to the fifth floor in silence and met the last member of our team in the conference room. Jake, our newest member and Point Man was playing solitaire with a pack of trick cards that doubled as his totem. I quickly checked that my marble was in my pocket. He swept up the cards and shoved them in the case.
"Finally," he said, blonde hair swaying across the tips of his ears as he leaned back in a chair on the far side of the table, resting his feet on the table, "What took you?"
"We're early, Jack," I said dropping into the closest chair, Arthur sitting next to me.
"Well that's not my problem," Jack said. He annoyed me so much but he was good. His previous occupation as a criminal gave him access to a lot of information that we would have had trouble getting otherwise. Eames set the briefcase on the table and opened it up as a man in a blue striped suit came in. He frowned at Jack who had his feet up on the table. I scowled at him and he rolled his eyes as he put his feet back on the floor.
"Good morning, Mr. Allan," Arthur said standing to shake his hand. Mr. Allan looked to be in his early thirties with short black hair and bright blue eyes.
"Good morning, and call me Mark please," he said sitting at the head of the table, "Shall we get right to it then?"
"Okay, Mark. We're going to give you a demo and discuss this in a more secure place" Arthur said nodding to Eames who started pulling out the wires in the briefcase. I grabbed my wire and pulled it out to the proper length. Arthur walked over to Mr. Allan and instructed him to pull up his sleeve. I noticed he didn't seem very nervous so he must have done this before.
"Who's our dreamer?" I asked pulling my sleeve up. Arthur turned and smiled.
"How about you this time? Lets show Mr. Allan, er Mark, what you are capable of," Arthur said with a knowing smile. I felt my stomach drop but nodded, composed. I expertly placed the needle in my arm and came up with a quick design to put in place. I knew Arthur had chosen be because my unconsciousness was used to being manipulated but I had a feeling he wanted to have a word with James.
"Okay, you ready to go?" Eames asked placing the needle in his arm. I nodded and closed my eyes and listened as Eames pressed the button putting me back into the dream world.
I found myself in the middle of a four way intersection along with the rest of our group. I quickly scanned the projections around us and found James sitting on the steps of a corporate building. I frowned and turned to Arthur, taking his hand. I knew James would be jealous, as he always was when Arthur was around.
"Welcome to Alyssa's world," Arthur said walking towards the sidewalk. Eames, Jack and Mark looked around. There wasn't much out of the ordinary but I could change that very quickly. I slowly started to tilt the ground downwards. The gravity still pulled towards the ground buy everyone would have the sensation that they were standing on a wall. Everyone but Arthur and the projections yelped in surprise as the world tilted. My hair dropped forward as we moved. I pulled the ponytail off of my wrist and tied up my hair. I reached in my pocket and pulled out the colorful marble.
"How is she doing this?" Mark asked stunned. Arthur smiled and put his arm around my shoulder.
"She's our most gifted member," he said looking off towards the building James was sitting near. He kissed the top of my head and looked back at Mark.
"Oy! What about me?" Eaves asked. We looked at him and he had taken the form of Mark. Mr. Allan gasped and took a hesitant step forward, still stunned by the change in my world.
"One thing at a time, Eaves," Arthur said scolding, "You see, Mark, Alyssa is our Architect. She creates the worlds we go into. She's also our Dreamer for today. These people you see here are her Projections. They are part of her subconscious. Normally they wouldn't like having their world twisted around like this but Alyssa is special and I'll leave it at that." I started moving my world back to normal. "Now Eaves, here is our Forger. He can take on the look of anybody. He's very handy. I'm the Extractor meaning I'm the one who breaks in and get the information we need. And Jack here is turning out to be quite the Chemist. He puts people under for tricky deals."
I looked over at the building again as saw James was gone. I searched the crowd but no one was there.
"Looking for someone?" I jumped and saw James standing next to me.
"Jeez! Don't scare me like that!" I complained, turning red as Arthur, Eaves, who had turned back into himself, Jack and Mark all stared at us.
"And who's this?" Mark asked.
"I'm James. Pleasure" he said shaking Mark's hand.
"He's Alyssa's Head of Security here," Arthur said.
"Security?" Mark asked.
"Yeah. In case someone tries to break in and try to mess around," James explained. I tried to unclench my jaw and relax but I couldn't. James didn't like Arthur at all and I was afraid he would say something I didn't want him to. Eaves noticed my tension and spoke up, "I'm gunna go out and prep you guys to wake up." Arthur nodded and handed Eaves a gun. Mark stared after him, wide eyed.
"What's with the gun?" he asked, nervously.
"It's one of the ways to get out," Arthur said simply.
"Oh," was all Mark could say. There was a sharp gunshot around the corner and Mark flinched.
"So," Arthur said with a clap of his hands, "Any questions?"