Eames turned the heavy metal doorknob, feeling the satisfying weight click in his hand, and walked into the warehouse. It was standard practice to use a different warehouse for each job, to ensure they weren't discovered, but they somehow all managed to look the same. Tables covered in papers and metal briefcases, boards with early versions of mapped-out plans, and of course appropriate numbers of reclining chairs. He hadn't been exactly sure who Arthur would have chosen for the team but, most of the time, he was predictable. Today, evidentially, was "most of the time".
He walked up to the chair Ariadne was slouching on, and she smiled at him warmly.
"Hey chook, glad to be back?"
"Of course. Lectures seemed so mundane, you have no idea."
"Ohh, I have an inkling," Eames assured, sitting in the chair next to her. "Besides I bet all those architects don't have the same sparkling personalities, like our very own point man here", he gestured grandly to Arthur, who entered from the other end of the room, and glared witheringly at Eames.
"Right, we might as well get started then," Arthur announced, carefully directing the conversation to the job at hand, as Yusuf brought in some final briefcases and set them on one of the tables.
"The job should be straightforward. The client runs a large manufacturing company, and they've discovered a mole in their senior offices. Unsurprisingly, they want to know who put them there. We are to expect company on the inside, as they will undoubtedly have had training. We don't yet know how much, as this obviously depends on the strength of the people putting them up to it. So, with that in mind, lets talk strategy."
"So, it's just the four of us, and we're all going in?" Eames interjected first.
Arthur hesitated for a millisecond, before blankly stating, "Well that will depend on the plan. We may need as many people in battle as possible. Alternatively, it might not be necessary to have a chemist or architect actually in the field."
Eames paused, surprised. "Are you suggesting we go in, just the two of us?"
"Nice to see your math skills can reach as far as two, Eames." Arthur's sardonic tone was impatient, but his eyes didn't lift from the sheets in his hand. He could feel Eames's stare from across the room, but refused to rise to it. Without Cobb, he was leading the mission, and he did not want to let Eames distract from this position of newfound authority.
Ariadne and Yusuf shared a look. They were used to the taunting exchange between the two men, but something implied that without Cobb and Saito to calm the balance, there might be ...friction.
"Okay, so what do we actually know about the mark?" Ariadne reigned in the focus.
"Uh, well actually, frustratingly little," Arthur tried not to look flustered.
"Correct me if I'm wrong here, but isn't it your job to do the research, research man?" Eames couldn't resist an opportunity to goad, but it was true that if the mark was trained, this job was likely to be harder than Arthur was letting on.
"Eames, you just worry about your little impersonations, and let me focus on the big stuff."
"See that's the thing, it would help if I knew who I was impersonating..."
Yusuf sat up in his chair. "Um, can I just ask? Are we thinking one level or two? I'm guessing two would be more appropriate but it does depend on how many you of us want in the dreamworld, and how much the mark is likely to resist."
Arthur perched on the end of the table. "No, you're right, we'll want two levels, to be thorough. In short, the mark is 34, male, and had been posing as one of the company's most promising executives. In this instance, they've captured and are detaining him, so we'll need those two levels in order to detract his subconscious from the fact he's currently imprisoned and has possibly been tortured. Our ultimate aim is to discover who is, actually, behind his having been planted."
"I'm just going to take a stab in the dark here," Eames began to interrupt.
"Why does that not surprise me," Arthur muttered.
"What was that Arthur? Nothing of interest? I'll carry on then," came the sharp retort. "As I was saying, we can probably guess there's a rival company wanting to steal information, therefore planted the mole to learn all their dirty little secrets, either to expose or emulate them."
"Well done Eames. You're grasp on the obvious is unfailing."
Ariadne cleared her throat loudly. Arthur glanced over, slightly embarrassed, and recollected himself. He was determined to prove his independence from Cobb to the group.
"It is, yes, most likely that a rival company is behind it, and I've started collating information on the most likely candidates, as explained here," he said as he started handing round information sheets. "However as always motivation is key, so my suggestion is that Eames go and observe the man being held, maybe see what we can glean from him in person, not to mention his old colleagues when planted in the company, and I'll continue my research. This should give us a better idea on the specific types of compounds Yusuf will need to create, and the kind of layouts most suitable for Ariadne to work with. The whole point of us going in there is to extract the information from him, so we don't need to be too concerned with getting actual information beforehand. We just need to ensure he'll take to the dreamscape, and provide without too much interference. Uh, any questions?"
Arthur scratched the back of his neck in what he hoped looked a nonchalant movement, and risked a glance round at the group. They were all studying the information sheets intently, and he was glad he'd had something to show them, even if he was masking how little he actually knew. He'd worked with moles before, but this one seemed particularly adept, and he was concerned his simple extraction job was going to prove complicated.
Slowly the group responded, with Ariadne giving Arthur an impressed smile, Yusuf nodding agreement, and Eames, lips pursed in concentration, flashing a glance to verify he was on the same page. Arthur silently exhaled relief. Nothing had happened, but he could tell he'd been accepted.
"Ok then, to the drawing board."