Chapter 9:
"Holy shit!", he shouted as he bounced off the wall and harshly hit ground once again. What the hell was that? He could feel blood running down his lips. Was his nose broken? At least there was no feeling in it.
Ariadne was standing at the place, where Arthur was hit so badly, examining the air. With two hands sweeping this invisible wall, she seemed to him like a mime he had once seen in the streets of New York City.
"Yes, there's definitely something", she said. "It's strong but I can't quite make out what it is. It's certainly nothing physical like glass. All I'm feeling is air!"
"A force field? Is that supposed to be some kind of defense fortress?", he said.
"Not sure. But seems reasonable. These guys aren't the ones, who wouldn't at least prepare something for intruders. Do you think guns might break it?"
"We don't have any. Cobb wasn't supposed to have one either, being the subject after all. But I wouldn't want to try – what do you think would happen if the bullets were to bounce off as well?"
He looked at his watch: '13:22:14'. It didn't seem as if they were going to end this level any time soon. So much for having 10 days to go on Level 3.
Arthur felt a strong wind beneath his knees near the surface of the ground. Apart from projections - random things do not happen in dreams, this he did know. So what was it about? He turned around to see where it was coming from. Nothing. The horizon was empty. He examined the earth and there it was: A stick had been lifted from the ground and started to draw something into the sand. He looked at what it said:
'This is Mal. I hope you have time?'
"Ariadne! Come over here! Look!", he shouted.
She ran over and read the inscription as well.
"No we don't, Mal! What is this all about?", she screamed into the air, not sure where she was supposed to look at.
'I can hear you fair enough.'
"Wow, great – this is no time for jokes!", she said.
The stick lifted itself again.
'What you can see here – is a basic form of Implantation. Nothing too much, really – but it can fend intruders like you off anytime. Not even Cobb knew about it.'
"Then how do you?", said Arthur.
'I had to find out today – the hard way.'
"How can we break the wall? Or even better – why can't you?", he said.
'Bad connection. You should know that. Lifting this stick is all I'm capable of right know.'
"So how do we break it then?"
'Implantations can be fought – using your mind. Basically all it takes to destroy it, is to have a strong will and lots of time. You will have to train your mind if you actually want to pass the next Levels – this wall is nothing compared to what other defenses they have set up.'
"Should we create things that can destroy it then? Subjects aren't capable of doing this! We can NOT influence the dream!"
'- nor could extractors create force fields like that. Maybe you have noticed that these people use a different dream machine and stronger sedatives? This isn't like anything you have faced before. But no – no weapons or anything yet. You are not trained enough. For now, all you can do is to try to shape a path through the wall.'
He hesitated to answer. Ariadne was looking at him, questioning.
"Alright. How can we do that?", he said.
'Place yourselves right in front of it. Think of pushing it away with your thoughts. A strong will can be enhanced by strong emotions – so you will most likely have to make it clear to you WHY you're doing this. WHO you're doing this for. That's all I can say for now.'
"For Cobb?", he said looking at Ariadne.
"For Cobb", she agreed. "Let's do this!"
They walked over to where their footsteps had ended earlier. Reaching out their hands, they could feel the wall that separated them from Cobb and his children – from freedom – from Level 3.
They closed their eyes. The fight had begun.
'12:59:59'.
