Disclaimer: I do not own Haruhi Suzumiya and/or Inception or anything related.
A/N: Shoutout to BrendanRizzo, who provided me with much needed constructive criticism, pointing out some confusing parts of the story. Although I did intend the previous chapter to be confusing, it could have done with a little foreshadowing. I hope this chapter answers your questions… somewhat.
Also, I don't remember if I have mentioned this, but flashback chapters will be present every now and then. I was modeling this fic more or less after how the movie, Inception, was presented. This chapter is a flashback.
WARNING: If you have not seen Inception yet, then go see it before you read this. It goes without saying that there will be MAJOR SPOILERS for the movie.
Also, for this fic, I assume that Cobb got back to reality. Screw whether the top falls in the end, I've got fanfiction.
Title: The Inception of Haruhi Suzumiya
Synopsis:
Dom Cobb thought that his life as an extractor was over. He didn't realize that while he was no longer an extractor, he would be asked to become an inceptor. And his first target after the Fischer job? A girl named Haruhi Suzumiya.
Chapter 9: The Specialist
Thursday: Two days before the SOS Brigade Trip
"So this Haruhi Suzumiya believes that there are aliens, time-travelers and espers out there?" Arthur spoke, from behind a folder labeled "The Mark".
"Yes." Saito replied, his back facing Arthur.
"So if she's supposed to be able to rewrite reality subconsciously, why hasn't the world exploded with comic-book type characters?" Cobb smirked.
"The funny thing about Ms. Suzumiya is that no matter how hard she believes in the existence of these beings, her mind counters that belief."
"And I suppose that these other members, Koizumi, Asahina and Nagato are actually espers, time-travelers and aliens?"
"Yes."
"Forgive me, Saito, but I think that's rubbish. Those beings do not exist." Eames said, raising his hand.
"We have discussed this a long time ago, Mr. Eames, the presence of these three are proof that Ms. Suzumiya can alter reality."
"So you're saying?" Cobb raised an eyebrow at Saito.
"They exist, with their respective powers and abilities because Ms. Suzumiya has altered reality to allow their existence."
Arthur smirked, while reading a folder labeled "Yuki Nagato".
"Mr. Saito, I still can't believe you'd actually believe that." Arthur said, flicking the pen in his hand. "Let's just say that this Haruhi Suzumiya is actually dreaming up what we know as 'reality'. Would that make us all just her projections?"
"When it comes right down to it, Arthur," Cobb interjected, "When we dream, our projections seem real, feel real, and it's almost as if they're an entirely different person when we talk to them. They have their own identities, their own sets of information, but all that's just a part of our subconscious."
"Still, Cobb, projections are projections. I hardly think that I'd be a projection of a sixteen-year old Japanese school girl."
"Well, Arthur, darling, with your slicked hair, your neatly-pressed three-piece suit, your academic demeanor, and your severe lack of anything called 'imagination', I think you're a candidate for every school girl's subconsciously forbidden fantasy." Eames smirked at Arthur, who returned this playful jab with a cold glare.
"It doesn't matter whether you believe me or not," Saito growled. "You're all getting paid handsomely if the idea takes place."
"Well, that's all that matters, then." Eames smiled, putting his hands behind his head. "Let's just assume that these three use the words aliens, time-travelers, and espers as a spy codename or something like that."
"Um, Mr. Saito?" Ariadne raised her hand.
"Yes, Ms. Ariadne?"
"We wouldn't be dealing with subconscious security this time, I assume?"
"That, I am not quite sure of, Ms. Ariadne. Perhaps Arthur here could answer that question."
Upon being addressed, Arthur cleared his throat immediately.
"I have thoroughly researched Haruhi Suzumiya, and there seems to be no record of her ever undergoing subconscious militarization. However…"
He tossed a folder labeled "Itsuki Koizumi" on the table.
"This person, it would seem, is called an esper, and according to records I've found, there is a possibility that he had undergone some sort of dream-share training around three years ago."
"Incidentally," Yusef piped up from the couch. "I supplied them once with some of my own brand of customized sedatives."
Yusef stood up from the couch and showed them a file containing a list of names.
"These are a list of names of people I have had transactions with, from around three years ago." Yusef pointed to a name in the list and said, "This particular person, however, ordered an extraordinary amount of customized sedatives."
"Keiichi Tamaru…" Cobb read the name. "Why is that name familiar?"
"It's familiar, because according to the student directory at North High," Arthur walked over, pointing to Koizumi's folder "he is Koizumi's uncle and person to contact in case of emergency."
"What I'm interested to know," Eames said, standing up from his own chair and joining the small group that already huddled themselves around Cobb and the files. "Is what they would do with a bloody huge amount of customized sedatives."
"Why, to train ourselves, of course."
The group turned around, hearing a voice from the door.
"How did you get past security?" Saito growled.
"Well, it's easy, really…" said the voice, stepping inside the room. "Once you've 'borrowed' a suit and one of those fancy keycards from one of the guards… I found that one of your guards seem to find me as a 'boring conversation partner'… You might find him sleeping in a dumpster around here by now."
"Koizumi." Cobb stood up to face the newcomer. "You followed me here? After the club meeting today, I suppose?"
"Yes. You see, I was suspicious, Mr. Cobb." Koizumi smiled. "And I also found this…"
Koizumi took a brown envelope he kept in the 'borrowed' suit he wore.
"That's…"
"I've been researching you since you've been hired in North High. Took me quite a while to get hold of this key bit of information, actually." Koizumi said. "Because almost all of the records about your case were strangely removed. I believe you were charged with murder?"
"Cobb didn't kill Mal!" Ariadne raised her voice at the young man.
"Ariadne, stay out of this." Cobb said. Turning to Koizumi, he continued "So, Mr. Koizumi, what are you here for? I'm pretty sure it has nothing to do with my wife's death, nor my personal history."
"Oh, not that, Mr. Cobb." Koizumi smiled. "I was just curious as to why an ordinary school teacher would involve himself with dream-share technology and corporate espionage? I've also found files from the US Military, saying that you were part of an experimental group of architects dabbling with 'Subconscious Landscaping'."
Koizumi opened the envelope and flipped through its contents.
"After all that I've discovered, and after Ms. Nagato has ensured me that you are just a regular human being with no powers whatsoever," Koizumi said, not looking away from the files he was reading. "I took the liberty of following you, and here I discover that you and your team here were trying to plant an idea on Suzumiya-san's head?"
"So you've heard everything, and you're here to report us to your Agency?"
Koizumi's smile turned into a sigh.
"I should let you know, that I have come here to strike a deal with you."
"What deal?" Arthur pulled out a gun. "That we stop what we're planning now, and you'll let us off scott-free?"
"I don't think you understand, Mr. Koizumi… There's only one of you and six of us." Cobb shook his head. "You are in no position to drive a bargain."
"Who said I was here to stop you?"
"Aren't you?" Arthur asked.
"Please, lower your gun, and can we please talk about things in a very civil manner?" Koizumi motioned at the Point Man.
Arthur stood still, refusing to point his gun down.
"Arthur, do as he says. He is no threat to us at all." Cobb ordered.
"Cobb, I don't trust this guy."
"Just lower your gun. I want to hear what his proposal is."
Arthur lowered his gun with contempt, still glaring at the esper.
"Alright, Mr. Koizumi. What is it that you want?"
"I want to join your team." Koizumi smiled. "Simple as that."
"And why would you join us, Mr. Koizumi?" Cobb asked. "Isn't your Agency out to protect Haruhi Suzumiya? Why would you help us?"
"Yeah, about that…" Koizumi shrugged his shoulders. "Well, let's just say that I am tired of being the Agency's errand boy."
"Errand boy?"
"I'm tired of trying to keep Haruhi Suzumiya from destroying and rewriting this world, and your little escapade just may be what I need." Koizumi said, making himself at home on one of the couches, as Arthur eyed him with suspicion. "I just wanted to be of help to you, because it would seem to me that you guys are in a fix."
"We're completely fine." Arthur said Koizumi. "I've got the Mark researched."
"You don't know half of anything about Haruhi Suzumiya." Koizumi smiled at the Point Man.
"We're ready for anything. Her unpredictable nature, her whims, everything. I've got all that researched."
"But are you prepared for what inhabits her subconscious?"
"What do you mean 'inhabits her subconscious'?" Cobb asked. "Does she have militarized projections?"
"I wouldn't say 'militarized', Mr. Cobb… However…" Koizumi said, looking outside the window. "Ah, looks like someone does not want to do house chores today."
Cobb frowned at this little remark, and turned to look at what Koizumi was looking at outside, but saw nothing. Can this boy see something they could not?
"Just a few walks outside here. Perfectly convenient, Suzumiya-san." Koizumi said. "Please come. I shall show you what I meant when I said that you'll be needing my help."
Koizumi led the group to a nearby park just across the condominium tower.
"It is here." Koizumi said, "Now, I will have all of you close your eyes, if you are to see what I want you to see."
"I'm not buying that." Arthur said, crossly. "What if you just use this opportunity to run away?"
"Oh my. You remind me a lot of someone I know." Koizumi smiled at Arthur "He never trusted me much, really. Well then, I guess you should be the first. Please, close your eyes. Just you."
"I refuse."
"Well, you're even more stubborn than he was. I guess I have to do this by force, then."
All of a sudden, Koizumi grabbed Arthur's hand and pulled him.
"Hey what gives, I—"
From where Cobb and his team stood, both Arthur and Koizumi seemed to have vanished in thin air.
"What the bloody hell?" Eames interjected. "Arthur! Where did that rascal take him?"
A moment later, Koizumi appeared again.
"Where did you take Arthur?" Cobb asked.
"I will take you where he is. Trust me. You can only get there with my help."
Cobb was hesitant, but with a nod, he held out his hand and closed his eyes.
"Cobb?" Ariadne asked. "Are you sure about this?"
"Just do as he says, Ariadne. Take a leap of faith."
At these words, Ariadne hesitantly held out her hand as well. The rest of the team followed suit.
"Ready?" Koizumi asked.
"Just take us to where you took Arthur." Said Cobb, his eyes closed.
"Allright. Close your eyes and take a step forward when I pull your hands."
The team nodded.
Koizumi gathered their hands and held them together with his hands as he took a step backward.
"You can now open your eyes."
As Cobb opened his eyes, he found himself in the same park, Koizumi and Arthur standing in front of him. However, there was something in the back of his head telling him that this wasn't… reality. It mustn't be, Cobb thought, for everything was strangely grey and lifeless.
"What is this place?" Ariadne asked.
"This, is what Haruhi Suzumiya's mind looks like." Koizumi pointed out.
"A rather empty place." Eames smirked. "This looks more like Limbo to me."
Ariadne walked around, noticing that all three lights on the stoplight were lit.
"Is the stoplight broken?" she turned to Koizumi.
"No. We are in a dimensional fault created by Haruhi Suzumiya." Koizumi said. "Logic isn't necessarily obeyed here."
"So, this is a dream?" Ariadne asked, her eyes widening.
"Not necessarily." Koizumi said. "Suzumiya-san isn't asleep right now. This place, is what we call Closed Space."
The team turned to look at Koizumi, listening to his explanations.
"It has a similar feel to dream space. Closed Space appears whenever Suzumiya-san's mental state is disturbed. Whenever she is feeling down, or feeling frustrated, these spaces appear. They appear whether she is asleep or awake… Her mind subconsciously produces these spaces as a form of catharsis. Of course, this may all be just a dream within a dream, if you believe that 'reality' is Suzumiya-san's dream." Koizumi chuckled.
"So what does this place have anything to do with your proposition, Mr. Koizumi?" Saito asked.
"Look over there." Koizumi pointed to his far right.
From a distance, where Koizumi was pointing, a blue blob sprouted from the ground. It slowly began to take form, rising from the ground. Soon, it was standing up straight, what seemed to be its head hitting a nearby building, smashing into it.
"Oh boy." Yusef said. "That is one ugly monster."
The monster had three red holes for its eyes and mouth. It had a deafening roar that nearly shook the ground. Slowly, it lunged towards another building, and with a swing of its 'hands', the building was smashed to the ground. Standing up straight, the monster was around three times the height of an average man.
"What is that!" Cobb's eyes widened, looking at the towering blue monster smashing everything in sight.
"That, is what you'll possibly be dealing with, once you're in her mind…." Koizumi smiled. "Looks like you'll be needing a Specialist."
"What do you mean a Specialist?" Arthur asked.
"These monsters are called Celestials. They are created whenever Suzumiya-san's irritation reaches a certain level. You could say they are projections of her subconscious. In the subconscious realm, I have the ability to battle such creatures." Koizumi looked towards the sky. Taking a step forward, Koizumi shrouded himself with a glowing red energy field, levitating several inches from the ground.
"Now that, is one wicked transformation." Eames said in awe, looking at the floating red orb in front of him, which contained Koizumi.
Koizumi flew towards the monster, circling its hands, its feet, and its head. Where Koizumi circled, the monster got cut, and blue fluid oozed from its wounds. A few more circles, and the monster was done for. The red orb zoomed towards the team, and landed on the ground slowly.
"See?" Koizumi said, as the red orb faded. "This is why you'll be needing me."
The grey sky rumbled, as cracks formed in it. The entire Closed Space collapsed as soon as the monster was destroyed. A blinding flash of light illuminated the area, forcing the team to close their eyes.
Upon opening their eyes, Cobb and his team found themselves back in the park. What the Celestial destroyed in the Closed Space remained untouched in the real world. At this, Saito sighed, for it was his condominium that the Celestial destroyed in Closed Space.
"It is very fortunate for us that this particular Celestial is just a 'baby'." Koizumi said. "The Agency doesn't interfere with such a small-scale Closed Space, so I highly doubt that any members were deployed to destroy that one. I daresay that was fortunately a minor irritation on Suzumiya-san's part. Perhaps due to some household chores she does not want to do, or a difficult homework. It's hard to say."
"Perhaps we could continue this conversation back inside." Saito, still breathless from the ordeal, said.
"So you're saying that there's a possibility that Haruhi Suzumiya's Celestials will appear in the dream world?" Arthur asked.
"Yes." Koizumi said. "Since she is your subject, it is her mind that populates the dream, and there is a probability, that we will encounter such creatures. Particularly, if she, at any point, gets irritated while in the dream."
"And this is all in theory, Mr. Koizumi?" Saito asked.
"In theory, Mr. Saito." Koizumi said.
"And if we recruit you into the team?"
"Then you'll have an advantage. I am a lucid dreamer, and I've had experience with dream share technology." Koizumi replied. "We espers, while being equipped with the full knowledge of our powers, still had to undergo training, and since we can't have Closed Spaces all the time, we used dream sharing to train. In the dream world, we espers had more or less the same abilities we have in Closed Space, and as we go to a deeper layer, our powers increase."
"As long as you're in a landscape concerning the human mind, you have powers? Is that what being an esper is all about?" Cobb asked.
"Normally, we'd say just Suzumiya-san's subconscious." Koizumi smiled, raising an eyebrow at Cobb. "But I'm telling you now, a secret only the Agency members know… We can use our powers in anyone's dream."
"Well then, Mr. Koizumi…" Cobb said, standing up. "After what we saw, it seems that we could really use your help."
He reached out his hand.
"Welcome to the team. Now, you have only more than a day to understand the dream layers. I suggest you talk to Ariadne and Yusef about that."
Koizumi smiled and shook Cobb's hand.
"It's a pleasure, Mr. Cobb."
A/N: I hope this chapter explains a lot! Whew! Thanks again to BrendanRizzo, and I hope I get more reviewers like you! R&R!
In the next chapter:
"Kyon?" Haruhi blinked, looking at Eames. "What am I doing here?"
"Well, uh…" Eames said, looking around uneasily at Cobb. "You see, Mr. Cobb here…"
"You're dreaming, Haruhi." Cobb stated out flatly.
"M-Mal?"
"That's right, my little Architect."
"Ariadne, don't listen to her, she's not real!" Arthur shouted.
Mal raised her knife poised to strike…