Abstract
by
A huge thank you to Neverlandspirit and Chinagirl18 for their review/follow! It's a huge encouragement, especially since this movie is already a few years old. It's great to see that it's still attracting an audience. Christopher Nolan had a huge breakthrough with this idea.
Disclaimer: I don't own Inception. Can I have it, Chris Nolan?
Chapter Two - Goodbye Tokyo
"The apartment is clean, I swept it as soon as I got here," Eames said as Arthur stepped inside. "Did the landlady see you?"
"No. Does she know anything?"
"She wouldn't tell me anything until I flashed my FBI badge."
"You have an FBI badge." Arthur deadpanned. Eames almost rolled his eyes.
"Yes, darling, I'm a forger, that's what I do, that's my job. Anyway, I asked about the general happenings of the place, security check ups, protocols, excuses like that. She mentioned a few unfamiliar men coming by lately, but never staying long."
"Security footage?"
"In these apartment blocks? No, Arthur."
The Point Man pulled out his laptop, frustrated. Ariadne's wifi was easy to hack into (seriously, redvelvetcrete528?), allowing him to pull up her information.
"According to her phone card, she should still be here," he said in a low voice. Eames nodded.
"Her phone was on her bedside, plugged into the wall. There wasn't much info I could get from it, not without some equipment."
Arthur stuck out one hand as he continued research with the other. "Give me."
There wasn't anything he could see that would set off any red flags. He very nearly ran a hand through his carefully-gelled hair in irritation- there were no signs, no clues, no nothing. He got up, pacing around the apartment, when he saw her stack of unopened letters. The Point's trained eyes caught something stuck in the pile, a slight angle off, that revealed a corner of itself. Carefully, he slid it out0 a small envelope that only had Ariadne's address scribbled on it, along with a 'PG' on the top left hand corner. Eames emerged from the bedroom, giving his friend the phone as he was handed the opened envelope.
"Look familiar to you? Can you tell who wrote it or where the paper's from?" Arthur asked, unlocking Ariadne's phone. Her background, the picture they took in Greece, greeted him. The Point Man momentarily closed his eyes (too dangerous, too dangerous, why- delete- no), trying to keep his emotions in check.
"Well, it's sent from 'PG.' It's nice paper, a nice envelope, so it's not cheap and store-bought. Whoever sent it must be someone higher up. Most of Ariadne's friends are staring college students. That means that this came from either a loaded professor, someone who really admired her, or someone in dreamshare. Most likely the latter, since she spends nearly all her time with Miles at the college anyway. Of all her contacts, 'PG' fits only one-"
"-Proclus Global," Arthur finished for Eames. He gripped the phone tightly, taking one last look at the screen before switching it off and taking the battery out.
"Arthur, if she had gone ahead of us, she couldn't have gotten far, even with Saito's help. She left her phone here, switched on, probably to prevent people tracking her wherever she's going. We know that her last anything in Europe was Wednesday, so she would have left either Wednesday or Thursday. That's only a couple of days' headstart tops."
The Point Man nodded. "Then let's go see Saito. If he won't tell me anything, we're going to corner him."
With money on their side, Arthur and Eames managed to get onto a last-minute flight. The journey from Paris to Tokyo, where Proclus was based, was twelve hours. To Arthur, who checked his watch every few minutes or so, it was pure torture.
"I'm going to kill Saito when we get there," he said through gritted teeth. The Forger sighed.
"You'd have to get close enough to hi first," Eames pointed out.
"It'll be 6 in the morning when we get there. Can you forge business papers from Fischer-Morrow saying we have a business meeting with Saito by 9?"
"Fischer-Morrow?!" a few heads turned at his outburst, causing the Brit to hurriedly duck his head. "Arthur, are you insane?!"
Usually, Eames would roll his eyes at the glare he received from the Point, but both men refused to back down.
"It's the only way we'll get immediate attention," Arthur said. "Fischer-Morrow is Proclus Global's biggest competitor. Fischer announced his dissolvement only a couple of weeks ago. If he suddenly wanted a meeting with Saito, he would drop whatever he's doing to see what Fischer wanted."
"Yeah, and if this leaks to the press our heads are on the chopping block," Eames argued. "Two people from Fischer's dreams, strangers on a flight from Sydney to Los Angeles, simultaneously appear at Proclus Global? Doesn't that seem really fishy to you? Fischer's been trained, if you remember. He'll know something's wrong. If he looks into it, we're all in trouble, no matter how good you are at covering tracks."
"Maybe," Arthur rebutted. "But you and I are the best at what we do. I'll triple check to make sure we're all clear." He really hated flaunting his skillset and having to talk about retracing his steps. "If anything, you could forge us IDs within some obscure branch of the company."
Eames sighed. "Good forgery can only get you so far, Arthur."
The Point wasn't going to give in. Not now. Not when he needed answers.
"It can get us to Ariadne."
"Miss Nageshiko, there are two men here from Fischer-Morrow who are asking for an immediate meeting with Mr. Saito," the woman at the front desk said in crisp Japanese into the phone. Arthur and Eames, ever the immaculate businessmen, sported sharp suits and designer shoes, playing their parts well. Point Man and Forger looked around at their surroundings, taking in the glass-filled lobby and marble floor, matching it up to the floorplan of the Proclus Global tower they memorized at their hotel during the few hours they were there.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Saito is in a meeting at the current moment. He was not expecting you."
Eames glanced at his watch- 9:04. Who has a business morning at nine in the bloody morning? Clearly, the Brit was not a morning person. With minimal sleep, he longed for a good, strong cup of English breakfast, milk with three sugars. Japanese green tea may be good, but just not good enough.
"We were assigned to this meeting only last night," Arthur said smoothly, his accent remarkably less than what anyone would have expected. For being fluent in English, French, and Italian, his Japanese really deserved applause.
The woman frowned, but Eames slid up next to Arthur, giving her a carefully calculated smile. A natural charmer, he could tell just how much he needed to give to achieve what he wanted. And with Arthur here, well…it would be overkill.
"It'd be nice if you could send Miss Nageshiko a message saying we'll wait outside of Mr. Saito's office; you may have missed an email regarding our arrival, but we do need to close out this business deal today, with the timeline Mr. Fischer has set with the dissolving of his company," the Forger said in Japanese with a thick accent, "you have heard about that, haven't you?"
Pink dusted her cheeks, eyes going wide. Arthur easily put a smile on his face, knowing exactly all the angles Eames was playing.
"Yes, yes, of course I've heard. I'll send a message to her. Take the last elevators at the end of the hall." She pointed to the left where a set of six elevators were. "Go all the way up to the thirty-fifth floor. Miss Nageshiko will greet you there."
The two men nodded their thanks, Eames giving her a wink as they walked away. It was only after the elevator doors slid closed did he mutter out the side of his mouth very softly (everyone knew there were mics and cameras in these elevators; this was the twenty-first century after all), "If we get caught, I'm going to kill you before Fischer or Saito get to you."
Arthur allowed a tight smile as the doors opened to a carpeted waiting room sporting four armchairs across from the enormous desk that could only belong to Saito's secretary. The Forger let out a low whistle as he looked out at the Japanese capital from the window-walls. For all the holing up he does, he harbored an admiration for the view of landscapes. There was a wall at the other end of the room just past the desk made of a light-colored wood with clouded glass windows and doors. The door cracked open, and a tall, slim, Japanese woman in a black business suit emerged, her heels barely making any sound on the carpet.
"Mr. Raymond. Mr. Setzer," she said in clipped English. Eames struggled to keep a straight face; he just pulled two random names out of the air for the forged papers and receptionist downstairs. It sounded ridiculous. "We do apologize for the wait. We were not expecting you."
"It's all right. We just need to settle some details with Mr. Saito." Arthur replied.
Miss Nageshiko nodded curtly. "Mr. Saito will be with you shortly," she said, walking over to her desk and sitting down. Eames, hands on his hips, pursed his lips and shot Arthur a look as he turned around with raised eyebrows. It was only a few minutes before the door opened and two men walked out, eyeing Arthur and Eames before walking to the elevators. Something tugged at Arthur's memory- he had seen them before…where? Where?
"You may enter," the secretary said, breaking through his train of thought. The Point's eyebrows furrowed, an uncomfortable feeling stirring in his gut. Years of being Point Man, years of dreamshare had taught him to trust his gut instinct, and instinct said it didn't like this situation- or the two men he just saw- one bit.
Saito's office was an enormous space. Two cubed bookshelves lined both walls, fancy lamps next to them. There were two leather armchairs in front of a large desk made of glass, a giant leather chair to go along with it, and a fan-spanking-tastic view of Tokyo through the windows behind said desk at the other end of the space. The man himself was standing with his back to them, holding a small shot glass of clear liquid- sake, the alcohol fanatic in Eames deduced- in his left hand. He quietly closed the door behind them.
"Mr. Arthur. Mr. Eames," the businessman said, turning around. "Please, have a seat." He gestured at the chairs in front of his desk. The Brit frowned. His tired tone and facial expression could have been considered normal for the top dog of energy, but sake this early is cause for alarm.
Eames didn't hesitate, but the Point Man remained standing, his eyes hard and face unreadable. He had made two international flights in barely two days because his Architect was missing; he wasn't going to soften up now that he was staring at the one person who could give him the answers he needed. Saito sighed.
"Mr. Arthur, please have a seat. It's a long story. I will tell you everything."
Arthur's jaw tightened, but he obliged, brown eyes studying Saito's every move. The businessman looked worn.
"Who were those men?" he asked, voice even. Saito took another sip of sake before speaking.
"They introduced themselves as Strauss and Dellinger. Said they were with Regent Co. I had them background checked, and they checked out."
All the color drained from Arthur's face. Eames gripped his arm.
"Arthur, what is it?"
It took the Point Man a moment to find his voice, and even then, his voice was strained. "I covered our tracks, there was no way they could have…they…" he cleared his throat. "The last job Ariadne and I took on was for a company against Regency. They wanted company secrets, because Regency appeared to be preparing for a big launch, and needed all the help they could get to dominate the new product. We got the information and got out. Covered our tracks. Checked everything multiple times; there was no way we could have gotten caught. Not a job this simple with an untrained subconscious on one level." The Point swallowed. Had he failed again? So soon after the Inception incident, now causing Ariadne to be in danger?
Saito folded his hands together as he sat down in his hair. "Those men came in under the guise of striking up a business deal, asking about strong employees who could design for their new project in partnership with my company. I knew they- I knew what they were really after. Miss Delaney called in around a week ago, just like every month. She checks in once in a while, as I've told you. Only this time, she asked for help. Said something about a job. Sold out. So I had her come to Japan."
"We found an envelope at her apartment," Eames said. "Had 'PG' in the corner. Pieced together all of the clues and assumed that it stood for Proclus Global. Then Arthur spoke to you. Said something was wrong, so we came here."
The businessman's eyes crinkled a little in amusement. "You truly are the best at what you do. Yes, I sent that to her apartment as soon as I got her call, immediate shipping. It contained a Visa Black Card."
Eames let out a whistle as Saito continued speaking. "She bought a ticket to Tokyo only a few days ago, staying at a low-key hotel."
"She must have used a forged passport then," the Forger gestured to Arthur, who promptly opened up his laptop and pulled all the notes he had on Ariadne. "I made two other IDs for her, just in case. One was Madeline Jamie Rylan, and the other-"
"One-way ticket from Paris on Air France flight AF264 under one Ellen Paige Levitt," Arthur cut him off after a few keystrokes. "She had credit card number 4237 7518 9906 5142."
Saito paused. "How did you get into my company wifi? That's top-"
"Best at his job," Eames grinned. But the Point Man's eyebrows furrowed as he concentrated on his job.
"The last known transaction was a withdrawal on that account yesterday. Ten thousand Euro, a ticket to Barcelona that left at five this morning- damnit, we just missed her- under Madeline Rylan. Why?" he said half to himself. Arthur looked up at Saito. "How did you figure out she was in trouble?"
"Well, the ticket was a giveaway. All large transactions on my cards go through either my secretary or myself; we are notified when over a thousand dollars are charged on this account. The withdrawal of ten thousand Euro had a memo with the transaction, saying she would pay me back, and an apology. That was when I realized that she left Tokyo."
"She skipped town because she knew they were here," Arthur murmured. "Atta girl, Ari." He closed his laptop.
"Are you going after her?" Saito asked, leaning forward on his desk. His old eyes betrayed his comparatively young outlook- a lifetime in Limbo would do that to you, Arthur supposed. He stood up, beckoning to Eames and acknowledging the worry in the businessman's eyes.
"Yes. I'm going to bring her home and clean up this mess."
"Don't worry about the Kent job," Saito said. "I'll find a way to explain it to Ronald. And I can get you to Barcelona."
One more sip of the French Vanilla latte. The day was winding down, which meant that there was a tiny pocket of time in which to relax before night forced the defenses to come back up, even- especially- in the hotel.
No, she decided, lattes were still done better in France. How was that possible, when Barcelona was only a few hours from the border? Was being so close such a great idea?
Know your enemies, she mused. The safest place to hide is the closest to your enemies. Or something like that. Maybe she would ask Miles later- no, she can't ask Miles, he would murder her for being in trouble in the first place. With one last sip, she threw the coffee cup away, eyes behind her shades never staying still as she looked around her, walking back to the hotel.
A/N: We get our first glimpse of Ari in this story! Find out what happens in the next chapter- will Arthur and Eames catch up to her? Or will people get there first?
