Ariadne followed Cobb into another room after the briefing.
"Can we trust her?" Ariadne said, making Cobb turn to look at her. "Who?" He asked, confused for a moment before adding, "Do you mean Raylie? Heh.. Yeah, she's fine. Just don't leave your purse laying around." He responded nonchalantly, turning back to the paperwork on his desk. Ariadne wasn't sure if he was joking or not.
"Is Eames in your ear?" He added after a moment, curious why she was bothered by the newcomer.
Ariadne shrugged, "It doesn't seem like he trusts her much. She's already causing issues... She doesn't have the inception experience like the rest of us... Isn't she a liability?" She didn't like the woman. And certainly didn't like her forwardness with causing trouble...or kissing Arthur.
Cobb stopped briefly, the pen that was scribbling down notes was now still. "If she becomes a liability, I'll deal with it. But I don't think she will. Her and Eames may kill each other, but as long as it's not during working hours, I don't care."
Ariadne was starting to get frustrated at his lack of concern. Cobb's eyes glanced to her, and seeing her expression, he straightened with a sigh.
"Look, she's good. When she's focused, she can do whatever is asked of her. I need someone who can deal with numbers and accounts and--"
"Isn't that what Eames does too?" Ariadne countered, receiving a small smirk from Cobb at her interruption.
"Eames has enough on his plate with this job already. He has to master forging at least 3 people. It's a lot for me to ask that of him. He has to be focused on that, and so Raylie is focused on the other part." He tried to explain, but seeing that she was trying to come up with another reason, Cobb continued, "Did she say..or do anything...?" He trailed off, wondering what had offended Ariadne.
"No!" She said quickly, thinking of Arthur. "I was just curious is all..." She added, realizing she had answered too quickly. This didn't go unnoticed by Cobb as he smirked slightly, "Ariadne, I assure you, you have nothing to worry about. If there's a problem, I'll take care of it."
... -- ... -- ... --
"Alright, I'm going in if anyone would like to join." Eames spoke up as he rolled up his sleeve and opening the case containing the PASIV device.
Arthur nodded, scooting a couple of lounge chairs together, taking two of the arm devices and handing one to Raylie.
The trio fell asleep quickly, only to open their eyes within the dream a few moments later. They found themselves within a large study. Bookshelves lined the walls, a plush wine colored carpet spread across the floor, and large velvet drapes of the same color hung on the large windows. "Feely fancy, eh?" Raylie asked, moving to a large desk with a computer.
"I'll be doing my thing over here." Eames said, ignoring her comment as he created a large mirror and a chair next to him and sat down, cracking his neck and clearing his throat as he stared at his reflection.
"Do you think we can somehow make these purchases look like they came from the CFO's credit cards?" Arthur asked Raylie as he hung behind her, glancing over her shoulder at the computer screen. "Obviously we can. But the transition between dream and reality is going to be the tricky part. You're going to have to plant the idea in the dream, and either he needs to seamlessly wake up so he doesn't know he was dreaming...in which we would have to plant fake numbers and documents in reality too... Or we give him interactions within the dream with his financial partner, AKA Eames, to make him start to question his motives and actions. Again, we may need to plant things in reality with that option too though." Raylie explained, biting at the tip of her thumb in thought. Arthur nodding as he followed along, thinking of all the possibilities and outcomes.
"We just really need to give him the idea to start to question things for him to pursue it in reality." Arthur added as Raylie scrolled through a faux bank account, dreamed up of course, but a necessity in order to practice the manipulation of the numbers to make it seem real to The Mark later.
"Let's run with that for now, see what Cobb thinks later." She agreed, carefully looking at each of the bank transactions, the amounts, and what they were for.
"Can you get me in Arthur? I'll need to observe, there's only so much I can do with a photograph." Eames asked after awhile, looking to Arthur who nodded.
"I'll get you in the company as a consultant. A week or so of just observing shouldn't raise any suspicion." He then looked to Raylie, "And you can probably be an intern in the accountant department." He told her as she raised a brow, "Sorry Arthur, but I hardly look like a young, doughy-eyed college kid." She didn't need to look at Eames to know he was smirking.
"You could pass as a graduate student." Arthur continued, "Or I guess you could also be Eames as the consultant's assistant, but I'd rather you two split up so we can cover more ground." Raylie stared hard at Arthur, "Graduate student works well for me." She answered, not particularly wanting to play the alternative role.
"I'll get things worked out so we can start by the end of this week." He said, knowing it would be crucial to get started as soon as possible.
... -- ...
Arthur had moved to his own files, Raylie continued on the computer, and Eames at his mirror. A silence had fallen as they each concentrated. Raylie eventually found her eyes glancing up over the computer screen, discreetly watching Eames.
He was currently changing the cut and color of his hair, a photo of who he was trying to imitate taped onto the mirror.
"Do you mind?" Eames caught her stare in the mirror before turning to look at her. "Don't be trying to steal my secrets, love. Not that you could do it even if you tried." He said condescendingly in a completely different voice that didn't belong to him.
Raylie sneered at him before looking back to the computer with a roll of her eyes. "Wouldn't dream of it." She shot back with Arthur glancing between the two of them, giving a brief shake of his head. He figured he should address the elephant in the room.
"Not to.. get in the middle or anything.. But seriously, is this going to work? When we're in the thick of it, if anything goes wrong, can we trust you.. both of you.. to put the job ahead of whatever lover's spat--" Arthur was cut off.
"I assure you, this is not a lover's spat. Do I think we have one too many people on this team? Absolutely. Do I think not everyone would pull their own weight if things became dicey? A hundred percent. But, this isn't up to me. Cobb's job, Cobb's decision. Why Cobb made that choice? I don't know. I could make assumptions but I wouldn't want to insult him." Eames spat with venom.
"I'm just here to make some cash and be on my way. You've got nothing to worry about from me, mate." Eames finished, a cold stare as he spoke, before straightening and giving him a forced smile. He didn't look at the woman at all, speaking as if she wasn't in the room. She stared hard at him though, biting her tongue and breathing out slowly through her nose.
"Why don't you say how you really feel." She responded sarcastically, trying to keep her rage at bay, knowing she'd look like the one at fault again if she reacted. She knew he was egging her on.
And while her response was mostly rhetorical, Eames took the opportunity, finally looking at her, "You-- are completely unstable.. and a snake. If I were you, I wouldn't assume Cobb is on your side. He bloody well doesn't trust you, but he feels bad. You're just here as a charity case. The rest of us are here because of talent."
If she had been drunk, she would have instigated a physical fight. Instead, she stood up quickly, her chair knocking back as she stormed towards the door. "Drama queen." Eames muttered, watching her go before turning back to the mirror. He wouldn't admit it, but he half hoped she would have tried to pick a fight. He had been on a roll and could have kept going if she had taken the bait.
"That... might have been a little harsh?..." Arthur questioned, looking to Eames who scoffed, "Truth hurts. And someone needed to say it." He shrugged, clearing his throat as he tried to concentrate back on what he was doing before.
Meanwhile, Raylie had left the room, making sure to slam the door hard behind her. She found herself in a complete blank area, undeveloped dream space. The wall and door of the room she had left was the only thing visible, the rest being a neverending white, foggy area. Sitting down with her back against the wall, she pulled out a pack of cigarettes, using her totem lighter to light one. Her only options were to go back into the room, something she would not do, or sit here and wait for the PASIV to expire and for them to wake up.
She was fuming. "If you come out here, I'm going to punch your cute little face." She warned, having heard the door crack open and knowing it was Arthur coming to check on her.
He audibly sighed from the doorway, "You sure?" He asked, his way of making sure she was ok. "Positive."
The door shut and she was left to her thoughts.
... -- ... -- ... --
Thanks for reading! The next chapter will explain what happened in their past! Any critiques are welcomed!