I've always chosen to believe that Cobb woke up and made it back to his family. That the top stopped spinning and fell over. That he was in the real world. But what if he and Saito didn't wake up? What would the Team do then?
Run
"New reports out of L.A.X this morning." The news reporter was saying. "Two businessman, as yet unidentified, fell asleep on a plane trip from Australia to Los Angeles and both had what appeared to be a severe stroke or seizure. Haz-mat, working alongside homeland security, have been called in to investigate a possible viral brake or terrorist threat. The nature of this bizarre event has stirred worries over a bio hazard. Making many people fearful of traveling, and stopping many flights in and out of L.A.X. The two men were traveling in the first class cabin and seem to be suffering from the same symptoms. At this time, local authority have not released any information on the conditions of the other passengers..."
~ "So what were you doing in Sydney?" The young government Drone asked.
"I'm a student at Stanford. I came to photograph the Opera House." Ariadne said.
"Your a student who flies first class?" He asked. She smiled. He was young and handsome for a government worker. He had been assigned to her, hoping she would fall for his good looks and charm. Ariadne didn't fall for it.
"I didn't pay for my ticket. A girl friend of mine was going to Sydney for the summer to see her boyfriend. They broke up. She gave her ticket to me." The Architect gave a shrug. "She didn't pay for it either. Her boyfriend did. No sense in letting it go to waste."
"You went alone?" He asked with a smile.
She nodded and smiled sweetly back. Sipping the cold drink she had asked him to bring her.
"No boyfriend of your own to go with you?" He asked with a grin. She laughed stupidly and didn't answer.
"What's your friend's name?" He asked. Attempting to try and do his job.
"Sophie*." She told him casually.
"Do you have her number?" He asked
"Sure." She said writing it down. "Do you have any idea how long this will take? I mean, I know you have a job to do, but I have exams back at school."
"It will take as long as it will take, I'm afraid." He apologized. He gave her a warm smile. "But I'll see what I can do to get you out of here quickly."
"You can do that?" She asked with a surgery sweetness. Faking at being impressed. "I don't want you to get in trouble."
"Don't worry." He said catching her eye. "Just sit tight for a few more minuets."
~ "What was your business in Sydney?" Another government Drone asked the Point Man.
"I had a possible job offer." Arthur said curtly. His easy posture towered over the slumped overweight drone even while both of them were sitting down.
"With who?" The tired looking Drone asked. The pair were alone in a small uncomfortable interrogation room.
"An R&D company." Arthur said.
Not willing to give any more information then necessary. This Drone had to work for his paycheck.
"Do you have the name?" The Drone asked.
"I do."
"Can I have it?" The Drone asked feeling agitated.
"Yes, you can." Arthur said. Lazily retrieving a business card out of his breast pocket.
"Your unemployed and you travel first class?" The Drone asked. Felling like he had been worked too hard.
"I never said I was unemployed." the Point Man said casually. Picking invisible lint off his immaculate suit. A far cry from the wrinkled cheap shirt of the Drone.
The Drone rolled back more blank yellow legal paper.
"So you do have a job?" He asked.
"I do."
"Can you tell me what it is you do?" The Drone snapped. Irritated.
"I can." The Point Man said casually.
"What is it you do sir?" The Drone shouted.
~ "So, I made a bucket list to get kicked out of a bar, on every continent in the world." Eames said with a wide evil grin. He was sitting in the chair backwards in a casual fashion. Showing his own Drone he didn't take this matter (or any matter) to seriously.
"I made a wicked a killing in the casinos in Vegas and I can't piss it away fast enough." he continued. "So far, I've been kicked out of bars in London, Ireland, Amsterdam, Belgium, Rome-"
"Thank you, Mr... umm... Smith?" Another nameless Drone said. This one was a woman.
"Right, Darling. Smith." The Forger smiled a charming smile at the bookish lady Drone. He was comfortable with any ails. "Now I don't want you falling for me, Darling. I would only break your heart, but I would love to take you out for a drink. You Yanks have to have some fun right?"
"I'm afraid that won't happen." The Lady Drone said adjusting her collar.
"Why ever not, Love?" He teased. "I'm quite the fun boy to be around. Do you have any idea how hard it is to be thrown out of a bar in Ireland? I'm very committed to my goals." The Lady Drone looked uncomfortable.
"I've already been thrown out of bars here in America. Don't worry, Darling. I can behave myself if I really have to." He offered.
"Why were you traveling first class?" She asked trying to hide her blush.
"Oh, I never fly coach." the Forger said with a shudder. "I'm a first class man all the way. You run with me and we travel in style." He said leaning closer to her. She blushed harder and moved away.
"Mr. Smith... now... will you please... just answer my questions?" She asked. Frustration written plainly on her face.
~ "When did you notice the two men had gotten sick?" Yet another Drone asked the Chemist.
"I didn't know they were sick!" Yuseff cried. "It that what happened? Is it contagious? I haven't been feeling well since we landed! Do you provide a doctor?"
"Calm down, Mr..." The Drone looked at his notes and furrowed his brow. "HI-OR-ERIC?" Yuseff sighed. Why even bother with an ails?
The Drone was an older man. He looked bitter and tried, and not willing to put up with this hypochondriac. The Chemist ran with it.
"Whatever, I knew I shouldn't have taken that free trip to Australia." Yuseff said sitting back into his seat. Sweating. "It was a radio contest, you know. I thought 'Oh its my lucky day' No such thing as luck. Now I'm stuck here in a paranoid, foreign country. Now I'm going to die and be covered up just like in all those movies." Yuseff talked very fast.
The old Drone sighed and popped another antacid.
~ "My father passed away." Robert Fischer said honestly. I was escorting the body back from Sydney for the funeral."
"Did you notice anything odd about the two men who became sick?" The Drone asked. This Drone looked more competent. Professional.
"Not really." Fischer said. "I had dropped my passport and he handed to me. We talked briefly. I fell asleep after take off. Slept the whole way here. When I woke up, they were... well I... I don't know what happened to them." The young man admitted.
"Did you smell any strange smells or hear anything unusual?" The Professional Drone asked.
"Not really." Fischer said. "Like I said I just went to sleep. My father had been ill for a long time. I guess it took a lot out of me."
The Professional Drone nodded.
"You have my sympathies for your loss, Sir." He said.
~ Ariadne was released first. The handsome young man who interviewed her flirting shamelessly. Asking her stupid questions about herself. Ariadne's face hurt from smiling so much.
The Alpha Sight, a Arthur called it, was an emergency meeting place for the Team to gather if anything had gone wrong on the mission. Things could not have gone more wrong for them. Cobb and Saito had woken up in a daze. Confused and slurred speech. They looked like they had both had a stroke.
Such a thing might not have been unusual for one man, but for two of them? Both on an international flight in the first class cabin?
Ariadne was glad Arthur had prepared for all of this. There would be someone pretending to be a girl names Sophie at the other end of that phone call. Someone who would back up her story. Back up all the Team member's stories. Arthur did his job well. She was glad he had made them all rehearse back stories. Glad the Point Man had created fake reasons and documentation for them to be in Australia. Glad he had prepared her for the interrogation she had aced. She wasn't much of a flirt.
Arthur had been right. Government officials had sent her a young handsome man. Attempting to seduce her into admitting everything. She had been ready. She had gotten him to bring her a soda. Pretended to be a silly girl. Try and make as much eye contact with the Handsome Drone as possible. She smiled at the memory of Arthur telling her to open her eyes wide whenever she would speak to any Drone. The Point Man had blushed a little when he said that.
The Alpha Sight was nothing more then a run down motel. Clean, but far out of the city. Ariadne had rented a car and made the long solo drive out. She had seen Eames flirting with one of the Drones but ignored him. She had to pretend they were all strangers on that plane. She didn't see Arthur or Yuseff anywhere. She checked in under another name and settled in her room.
She felt an intense feeling of failure. Like a dead weight on her shoulders. It had been so scary to see Cobb and Saito like that. All the more terrifying to know she could not go to them. Had to pretend they were all strangers.
On the plane, when she saw Cobb come out of his dream, looking so... lost. She started to go for him. To try and shake him back into the waking world. Arthur had grabbed her from behind. The plane was about to land. He had hissed in her ear to sit back down and pretend not to notice. Pretend not to be involved.
She trusted Arthur completely. He was so devoted to the mission. She always felt he would do whatever it took to get everyone out. Hopefully, everyone would get out.
Her room was clean at least. It's decor had not been redone since the 1960's.
"Time warp." She sighed heavily.
She set her travel bag on the bed and proceeded to go through it. The security at the airport had gone through all her things. Arthur had prepared her for this as well. All her things had to be checked carefully for bugs. Tracking devices.
She had dumped her cell phone in the garbage at a local convenience store after she bought a new pre-paid cell phone. At a local hospital she used the free computers and internet service to post her new number on the obscure fishing wed sight message board. The Team would be able to call her now.
She examined her clothes for the tiny little sticker like tracking devices Arthur had showed her to look for. At the time, she didn't think it would be necessary. Now, she was grateful Arthur was so tyrannical about an escape plan.
She found nothing. She looked over every inch of her wardrobe and even her underwear. She examined her personal effects. Her books, her journal, her MP3 player. She turned her bag inside out and looked it over. She relaxed a little and sat on the bed. It was growing dark out.
'Where were they?' She wondered.
She decided to take a shower. Thinking she might not get much down time now. She repacked her bag and tried to get some sleep. Headlights in the motel parking lot snapped her awake.
She went to the window and spied out. Three cars, each more alike then the other. Nameless cars that could blend into any traffic in any city. She smiled as she saw Eames, Yuseff and Arthur each exiting their own cars and coming to her room. She opened the door to meet them.
"I was getting worried." She breathed.
"No worries." Eames smiled. He had changed his clothes, they all had. "Government workers had given Arthur more trouble then the rest of us." The Forger pulled out a napkin with a phone number on it and red lipstick kiss.
"Cindi." He said with a giddy laugh. "With two I's. Even dotted them with little hearts."
Eames balled the napkin up and threw it away before he relaxed in a over stuffed tacky arm chair.
"Thought we would never get out of there." Yuseff said heading to the bathroom and shutting the door.
"That's about the tenth time he's gone for a wee since we left the airport." Eames smiled.
"What kind of trouble did they give you?" Ariadne asked as the Point Man came in. Arthur said nothing as he shut the door and locked it. He snapped off the lights and looked out the window.
"Trust me, Mate. We weren't followed." Eames offered.
"Did you check all of your things?" Arthur ignored Eames and turned to Ariadne. "Lose your cell phone?"
"Yes." she told him. He nodded.
"Good." He sighed and sat on the bed. Instinctively, she went and sat next to him. Finally feeling safe with the Point Man around.
"Arthur, what do we do now?" She asked. Allowing her fear to get the best of her.
"We run." he said coldly.
*Sophie, is my husband's dog. If the government comes for the Team, she will take the fall! HA! HA! HA!