The Seekers

Chapter Four

Eames ended up leading her to an abandoned warehouse much like the one they had used to plan the Fisher mission. Ariadne felt an odd sense of dejavu as Eames pushed the large doors open for her and she stepped inside. Her footsteps echoed across the large empty room. There were bits and pieces of equipment strewn about the place some that she recognized some that she didn't but it was completely devoid of people except for Eames and herself.

Her head was still spinning with confusion. She had always been a smart girl but she was still trying to figure out what was going on. Eames was unusually silent and frustratingly so. That guy typically loved the sound of his own voice and would use it even when it wasn't necessary.

"Eames! Is that you?" A familiar voice called out and Ariadne looked up to realize that Cobb was walking towards them. His handsome face looked tired and worn as if he hadn't slept for days. Ariadne doubted that this was far from the truth. There was a flicker of happiness in his eyes that changed his whole face when he saw her. Ariadne wanted to smile back but the extractor's worn down appearance worried her.

Cobb was dangerously thin as if he had not only been neglecting to sleep but to eat as well. His hair was longer, his face unshaven and he had several new wrinkles across his brow that Ariadne had not seen before. Nevertheless he greeted her with a strong hug that almost choked her with his enthusiasm.

"Ariadne I'm glad you're here" he said taking a step away the strong smell of cigarettes following him. Ariadne had to cough for a moment trying to clear her lungs and her head. She was glad to see Cobb but not in this state and not in these circumstances. The formalities would have to wait.

"Cobb what is going on?" she blurted unsure of what else to say. She was still in shock with Cobb's appearance despite all the danger he had put her through she did still care deeply for the man.

"That's what we're trying to figure out" Cobb sighed looking away. "We believe that Fisher's subconscious was armed with some sort of tracking or attacking device as part of his personalized security system. We're not sure exactly what it does but we know it isn't good. Arthur and Yusef are just running some tests now".

Ariadne's heart sped up. Arthur. It was ridiculous how even just a mention of his name could make her forget everything else if only for a second. She shook herself trying to regain focus but she could already feel her hands getting clammy.

"Tests" Ariadne squeaked then quickly cleared her throat trying to become composed. "What sort of tests?"

"We're trying to identify and isolate the attaching source by luring it into a controlled dreamspace" Cobb jerked his head indicating for Ariadne to follow him. Eames remained behind occupied with his own work. "Arthur believes that the virus takes the form of people in your dreams, most accurately the people you care most about".

Ariadne's did another double take. The night when Arthur had appeared in her dream flashed before her eyes. She was so sure that it had been him. Was there really a virus attacking her mind?

"But I'm not to sure about that" Cobb shot her a strange look that was hard for her to read as the pair of them made their way down a flight of old and rusted stairs.

"Dom what if Arthur's right?" Ariadne felt a cold fear slowly fill the bottom of her stomach like icy water. "What if the virus is taking on the form of a loved one?"

Cobb turned around to face her his tired eyes sharp. "Why? Have you experienced something like that?"

"No" the words quickly left Ariadne's lips before she had a chance to think about them. She blushed. She didn't want to tell Cobb she'd been dreaming of Arthur even the Arthur in dreams was only a virus.

"Okay" Cobb didn't seem convinced but he didn't push for answers. "Well if Arthur's theory is right then we have a very complicated mission ahead of us".

Ariadne rolled her eyes as Cobb held a door at the bottom of the staircase open for her. There was a smirk on his lips as though he enjoyed being secretive. Ariadne couldn't stay mad at him when she had other pressing issues on her mind perhaps literally. She had to talk to Arthur about that night. Whether he actually had appeared in her dreams or not. The more she thought about it the more and more worried she got that his form was actually a virus. She had no idea how someone even someone as intelligent as Arthur could just insert themselves into someone else's dreams.

If it wasn't anything more than a dream then it was an amazing coincidence that Eames had met her outside Cobb senior's lecture theatre the morning after the Arthur in her dream had told her to seek his help. She had to talk to Arthur as soon as she possibly could.

She walked on through the door to see Arthur laying back on a makeshift bed. His eyes closed his arm hooked up to a heap of devices. Yusef sat by him with a clipboard focused on taking notes but Ariadne barely noticed him.

Arthur showed no signs of wear and tear like Cobb did. He was impeccable as always in a crisp suit an expression of softness on his face. Ariadne smiled realizing how young he looked when he was asleep. She was nearly overcome with a desire to go over to him and stroke his smooth cheeks but reminded herself she had to focus.

Arthur was linked up to a large computer that showed an electronic graph with different coloured lines that kept rising and peaking at different rates and intervals. Ariadne stared at it quizzically for a moment trying to figure out what it was. She didn't know much about psychology but she thought it looked sort of like a CAT scan except the graph didn't follow conventional patterns. They were difficult to read and Ariadne wondered how exactly they might be interpreted.

"Ah Ariadne" Yusef looked up from his clipboard and smiled at her. "It's good to see you, I fear we might need an Architect of your caliber soon enough".

"Hello Yusef" Ariadne tried to smile back at him but really she could see the real world leaving her once again. So much for all that makeup work. "How's it going?"

"Not well I'm afraid" Yusef said looking over his notes again. "I have Arthur in a deep level of sleep whilst I monitor his dreams. If there is a foreign source implanted in his subconscious then it should show up here" he pointed to the screen before turning back to face Arthur. "But so far nothing is showing up".

"How does this work?" Ariadne asked peering closely at the monitor that continued to show the different colour lines in their different stages.

"If an alien source should appear in Arthur's mind then this line here" Yusef pointed to the top line on the computer monitor with his pen. "The subconscious mind can only recognize a foreign source when in dreams unless it's especially strong which of course we hope it's not. If the foreign agent is highly active Arthur will become alerted to it's presence and his subconscious will attempt to attack it, like you saw when you entered Cobb's subconscious".

Ariadne nodded slowly trying to digest the information. She was slightly annoyed that Arthur was the guinea pig for this experiment. The high level sedative that Yusef was using meant that he was unlikely to wake up anytime soon. At least it gave her some time to work out what to say to him and to fix her hair.

"We first thought these were tracking devices, seekers used to monitor our thoughts" Yusef continued. "But the way they can simply disappear altogether it makes me wonder".

Ariadne bit her lip her head swimming with new information.

"I need your help" Cobb said turning to her. Ariadne had almost forgotten that he was there she had turned her eyes back to Arthur and his delicate sleeping face.

"Um sure" she shrugged trying to look as though she was not fussed before slowly following Cobb into another room.

Thanks for reading. Sorry this update took so long. Next chapter should be up much quicker. Reviews are loved :)