Disclaimer: I still seem to have no rights to Inception... :( Hehe, enjoy this chapter!
"Yes, I understand that this might sound unusual..." Dr. Mouton started. "But hear me out."
"I'm sure you all know that research has shown us that animals dream as well. Recent tests have been done and when cats and dogs sleepwalked, they acted as if they were awake." She smiled and took a deep breath before continuing. "My clients have different issues where we must see what the animal might have seen, heard or experienced in a certain situation. They might not be able to speak, but we could provoke some reactions or see how the scene plays out by itself."
Everyone was quiet, contemplating what she had just said. Ariadne seemed very intrigued and looked over at Dom to see if he felt the same way. He had a certain expression that was both curious and serious. Arthur, after thinking for a while, picked up the photo of the dog again.
"How many levels do we need?" Yusuf spoke up, wondering how much would he have to give an animal to be just lightly sedated.
"Theoretically, we'd need two at the most for the current jobs." Valerie noted, taking out a pile of papers with her research and putting it on the table.
"When can we start?" Dom spoke up, provoking a few smiles all around. This seemed to be quite a change in scenery, so why not try it?
"Please follow me." Dr. Mouton opened the door and led them outside. They had been inside a small office building and were now talking the elevator down. Inside the small space, there was a paper on the wall that indicated on which floors had professionals working. The elevator stopped on the second floor, where it was written Veterinary Clinic next to the number 2.
It was currently empty, despite the fact that it was 11 o'clock in the morning. The doctor unlocked the front door with her keys and turned on the lights as she went in. The waiting room had a nice warm feeling to it, even though they were somewhere that animals didn't seem to like to be. They kept walking past the reception desk and to a door with "Dr. Valerie Mouton" written on it in gold letters.
"Welcome to my home away from home." She simply said, opening the door and turning on the lights there too. It wasn't the usual veterinary room, which was often small and only had objects to inspect an animal. Here, it had a lot of space, a bookshelf full of books, a desk with two chairs on wheels, a computer and many other things. In the far right corner, there was a couch next to the vast windows. There was even a tv and a small kitchen.
Valerie brought out a few more reclining chairs so that they could sit down and be comfortable. "You have brought the PASIV with you, right?"
Arthur nodded and put the gray case on a small table. "Who are we testing it on?"
She smiled and walked out into another room. She brought back a small critter, who seemed to be already asleep. Looking closer, they all saw that it was a white ferret, wrapped like a ball around itself. "This is my little girl, Vanilla." She picked the ferret up and it just hung like a dead creature. "Ferrets experience Dead Sleep. That's when they're in a state that is difficult to wake up from. I thought that this would save us the trouble of testing out the chemical reactions on a pet at first."
"Are you sure that we should just go in without any preparations?" Ariadne asked, unsure of what to do for the location.
"Well -" Dr. Mouton stopped as she felt the ferret moving and waking up, wondering where it was. "I guess we'll keep it at the first level."
The vet walked over and put the ferret in a small bed that was next to her desk. She took out some photos and brought them over to Ariadne. They showed a home and a hallway that was inside of it. "This is where Vanilla loves to run around and play the most in the house. You can make a much longer hallway for now, since she shouldn't notice it. Otherwise, small differences can mean a lot for an animal."
The team started preparing, making sure that they would be ready for whatever would await them in the dream world this time. Ariadne finally organized the hall to turn a little bit every few inches so that it would more maze-like and longer. The small tubes from the PASIV were adjusted a little to be used on the ferret. When they were as ready as they could be, each person sat down in a comfortable chair. Valerie put the ferret in her arms and they all drifted away to sleep.
At first, everything seemed normal. They were standing in the hall that Valerie had shown Ariadne. There were a few ferret toys on the ground and Vanilla was up and about. The whole team saw that Vanilla rushed over to Valerie and started chasing her. She laughed and explained that the little one loved this game.
Dom looked around, wondering what where the ferret's projections. There weren't any humans here or animals for that matter. Right on cue, when Ariadne started to change the scenery little by little, a cat walked in. It carefully watched them, with a small smile.
The ferret started fighting with one of its toys, which surprised all of them. The toy was actually fighting back! Obviously, the toy had lost as Vanilla brought it back to her home.
When Ariadne pushed her luck and started changing things a little more, the cat started hissing at them and approaching. What scared everyone was that the toys seemed to come to life and all started crawling, jumping or approaching them too.
~This reminds me of Toy Story...~ Dr. Mouton thought, not sure if anyone else had the same feeling.
Suddenly, they all attacked at the same time. Some toys even had teeth now and claws, with which they started hurting the team.
As the cat jumped at Valerie's throat, she woke up, throwing the little ferret into the air. Luckily, Vanilla landed on her and was also awake. She ran to the mirror and looked at her throat, seeing that it was all right. She wasn't hurt. Putting a hand to her neck to double check, the woman took a deep breath. She never expected it to feel so real.
Turning back, she heard a few gasps as her teammates all woke up.
A/N: Vanilla was inspired by my ferret, who often goes into dead sleep. xD Oh, and also, reviews help me write faster... okay? *Hint* xD Because adding this to your story alerts is just fine and all, but I need to know if I'm on the right track with the characters or not. :)