CHAPTER 9: Transformation

Cobb and Ariadne stepped out of the cab, looking disheveled—Cobb from the long journey and Ariadne from her rollercoaster of emotions. Despite their bleary eyes and tired bodies, both marched towards the foreboding skyscraper with a detectable sense of drive and fury.

The entire building was an austere tower of stone and marble, its apparent age lending to its severe and intimidating impression. The couple's shoes clipped and clopped on neatly polished marble flooring as they entered the lobby; after requesting a security guard to let them speak with Wolfram Kaiser, the two were led into a cramped elevator that rocketed them towards the top floor hundreds of feet off the ground.

Cobb glanced towards Ariadne and tried to give her a reassuring look, but she was staring upwards determinedly at the small display screen flashing numbers in orange.

The elevator doors slid open to immediately reveal a spacious circular office, with large panels of glass in the place of walls. The rain had stopped, and the sun was now peeking out from behind the clouds to shed light on a magnificent view of the whole city. The interior was luxurious beyond belief: the rich carpeting was paired with plush red velvet couches and impressive mahogany carpentry. In the center of it all sat Wolfram Kaiser, never to be seen without a glass of red wine. He was dressed in what appeared to be an extremely expensive designer suit. His boyish complexion could not hide the inevitable graying around the edges.

"I see you brought the worrying wife," Kaiser said through his thick German accent, nodding towards Ariadne with a coy smile. "How empathetic of you. But now that I have finally convinced you that what I have to say is indeed worth hearing, I would prefer it if you and I had some privacy to discuss my proposition, Mr. Cobb."

"If I stay, she stays," Cobb retorted, unamused.

"If you insist," Kaiser laughed. "Then perhaps I can convince both of you of what is at stake here—an innocent man's life. No, not your husband's," he added to Ariadne, but she continued to look skeptical. "He will be returned to you shortly, if Mr. Cobb here agrees to take up my little proposition."

"Get to the point, Kaiser," Cobb shot.

"What I ask for has never been done before: not to my knowledge, at least. But it is my last resort, otherwise of course I wouldn't have gone to such dire circumstances to… invite you here."

A dramatic pause from Kaiser. After sensing that this had no effect whatsoever on Cobb and Ariadne, he plunged on.

"A British senator named Curtius Michaelson was highly influential within the English government. Unfortunately, he was murdered a month ago under brutal circumstances."

Cobb already did not like the sound of where the situation was going.

"Forensics has made it clear that this was a very carefully thought out ordeal, planned for months down to the most minute detail. Based on their compiled evidence, they have arrested a politician named Oscar Fordham. It's been causing quite a scene over there. This is a very serious case and has been taken straight to the British High Court. The final hearing is in six days, held by the distinguished High Court judge, Sir Augustus Foster."

"And you're Oscar Fordham's defense attorney," interjected Ariadne.

"You catch on, don't you? Yes, I am Oscar Fordham's defense attorney. It has cost me a lot of good alliances, taking him on. But I did so because I truly believe him to be innocent. However, inside sources tell me that Judge Foster is already convinced that Oscar Fordham is a guilty man."

"So what exactly is it that you're asking for?" demanded Cobb.

Kaiser gave him a sly smile.

"Transformation."

Ariadne let out a small gasp of horror. Cobb's face remained stone-cold as he stared Kaiser straight in the eye, but his mind was whirling. After a long pause, Cobb was the first to speak.

"It can't be done."

"Isn't that exactly what you said," said Kaiser, beginning to pace in circles around the two, "when the idea of inception was first brought to your attention?"

"Even inception was nearly impossible—"

"But you made it possible."

"With inception, you're at least starting with a blank slate—if you discount all of the subject's pre-existing prejudices and biases—and planting something new there," said Cobb with increasing defiance. "But when you have a conviction that's already so deeply and firmly rooted in someone's mind, it's going to be impossible to spin that 180 degrees in the opposite direction and make it convincing. Memory and opinion are both extremely powerful things—"

"But surely not immutable, Mr. Cobb? For example, I could easily change your mind right now. I trust you haven't forgotten about your little friend, Mr. Nicholas Leroux? Don't worry," he said to Ariadne as he noticed her look of distress, "I won't keep him with me much longer. I daresay you shall reunite with him very soon. He has served his purpose—in helping bring you here, Mr. Cobb. After all, despite the paradoxical nature of my work, I still toil with the weight of justice on my shoulders, and I would not keep an innocent and harmless man captive for no good reason."

"So what's in it for you, then? And for us?" inquired Cobb.

"No, Cobb… you can't seriously be considering this…" Ariadne whispered to him.

"At the end of the day, I am still a lawyer," declared Kaiser. "I wish to uphold justice. Seeing an innocent man walk free is all I ask for. And for you—well, I trust that your friend here will be glad to have her husband back. I've also heard through the grapevine that Southgate Security isn't doing too well. Boring, isn't it, dealing with vapid celebrities all day? Why not rise to a challenge? Why not come back to the thrill of the dream?"

Cobb hesitated.

"How do you know that Oscar Fordham didn't murder the senator?" Ariadne asked.

"I'm good at what I do, Mrs. Leroux. I feel it, like a powerful tug. In here." Kaiser patted his chest. "And I'm sure careful reconsideration of the events of the crime will also reveal as much. But with the trial so soon, I doubt that the existing evidence will be enough to sway Judge Foster. Which is where Mr. Cobb comes in."

"Don't you care about finding out who actually did it?" she pressed on.

"My most immediate concern at the moment is Mr. Fordham's well-being," replied Kaiser gravely. "Senator Curtius Michaelson is already dead, and will continue to be dead. His murderer will continue to be out there somewhere, to be caught someday. But Oscar Fordham's time is running out. So that's what in it for you and for me—justice."

Cobb was starting to see a slight glimmer of purpose in this seemingly deranged man. What he did with Nick was still unforgivable—the extreme methods he used to lure him to Berlin—but something in Cobb yearned again for the adventure, for the challenge. Every fiber in his body was telling him not to, to put his children first, to reunite Nick and Ariadne and then go home, to pretend none of this had happened: just as he had intended. Hadn't he just been cursing himself for leaving the kids behind again? His soul, however, was telling him something else.

Long ago, Cobb too was once wrongfully accused of a murder he did not commit. It had haunted him for years, preventing him from returning home, keeping him away from his two beloved children. Mal had been a crazy woman, but elegantly so, framing it all so perfectly against him. If someone had swooped in last minute and saved him from the agony her insanity had cost him, if someone had cleared his name, no matter how it had been done, he would have been eternally grateful. If even one person could have placed blind faith in his pleas of innocence, then perhaps he could have had a fighting chance. And now he could be that just that for Oscar Fordham.

Another long pause.

"I'll do it."

Ariadne's face fell. Wolfram Kaiser nodded in approval. He reached over and handed Cobb a thick manila envelope and a small stack of files.

"Here is everything you'll need. And Mr. Nicholas Leroux is waiting for you downstairs in the lobby."

Cobb nodded resolutely.

"Assemble your team, Mr. Cobb. And choose wisely."

Déjà vu sent a chill down Cobb's spine. Clutching the papers, he stepped back into the elevator with a shaken Ariadne, and it sent them spiraling back down to the ground floor. As they descended he pulled out his phone and began to dial.

"Who are you calling?" asked Ariadne.

"Arthur and Eames. Oh, and we're probably going to need Yusuf as well."


The reunion is underway! In fact, the next chapter will be named "Reunion". No joke. Thanks for sticking around if you've made it all the way here. Reviews, favs, follows are always good signs to keep it going.