Int. Bathroom, workshop - continuous

 

Cobb takes out his PEWTER SPINNING TOP, SPINS it on the

marble counter...

 

INT. WORKSHOP - CONTINUOUS

 

Ariadne looks at Arthur, puzzled.

 

ARIADNE

Like a coin?

 

ARTHUR

Too common. You need something that

has a weight or movement that only

you know.

 

INT. BATHROOM, WORKSHOP - CONTINUOUS

 

Cobb STUDIES the spin of the top as it decays, becoming more

and more ECCENTRIC...

 

INT. WORKSHOP - CONTINUOUS

 

ARIADNE

What's yours?

 

Arthur holds out a DIE.

 

ARTHUR

A loaded die.

 

Ariadne reaches for it- Arthur snatches sit away-

39.

 

ARTHUR

I can't let you handle it. That's

the point. No one else can know the

weight or balance of it.

 

ARIADNE

Why?

 

ARTHUR

So when you examine your totem...

 

INT. BATHROOM, WORKSHOP - CONTINUOUS

 

Cobb's spinning top WOBBLES OVER.

 

ARTHUR (O.S.)

You know, beyond a doubt, that

you're not in someone else's dream.

 

Cobb GRABS it like a drowning man reaching for a lifeline.

 

INT. WORKSHOP - CONTINUOUS

 

Ariadne thinks this over.

 

ARIADNE

That's not an issue for me.

 

ARTHUR

Why not?

 

ARIADNE

Arthur, maybe you can't see what's

going on, maybe you don't want to.

But Cobb's got problems he's tried

to bury down there. I'm not going

to open my mind to someone like

that.

 

Ariadne gets to her feet. Walks away.

 

COBB (O.S.)

She'll be back.

 

Arthur turns. Cobb is standing in the bathroom doorway.

 

COBB

I've never seen anyone pick it up

so fast. And one reality won't be

enough for her now. When she comes

back, get her building mazes.

 

ARTHUR

Where will you be?

40.

 

COBB

I've got to talk to Eames.

 

ARTHUR

Eames? But he's in Mombasa. Cobol's

backyard.

 

COBB

Necessary risk.

 

ARTHUR

There are plenty of other thieves.

 

COBB

We don't just need a thief. We need

a forger.

 

INT. GAMBLING DEN, MOMBASA - DAY

 

Crowded, bustling, smoke-filled. a westerner (40's), shabby

suit, is squeezed in at a dice game. This is EAMES. He

FIDDLES with his last two chips.

 

COBB (O.S.)

Rub them against each other all you

like, they're not going to breed.

 

Eames looks up to see Cobb.

 

EAMES

You never know.

 

Eames tosses down his last chips. The dice are rolled...

 

COBB

Drink?

 

Eames loses.

 

EAMES

You're buying.

 

Cobb follows Eames. Eames mysteriously produces two stacks of

chips and puts them down in front of the cashier. Cobb pulls

one off the top, squints at the embossed name.

 

COBB

You're spelling hasn't improved.

 

Eames GRABS the chip. Hands it to the cashier.

 

EAMES

Piss off.

 

COBB

How's your handwriting?

41.

 

Eames takes his money. Smiles at Cobb.

 

EAMES

Versatile.

 

INT. STREET, MOMBASA - CONTINUOUS

 

Eames leads Cobb down the quiet street.

 

EAMES

Word is, you're not welcome in

these parts.

 

COBB

Yeah?

 

EAMES

There's a price on your head from

Cobol Engineering. Pretty big one,

actually.

 

COBB

You wouldn't sell me out.

 

Eames looks at Cobb, offended.

 

EAMES

`Course I would.

 

COBB

(smiles)

Not when you hear what I'm selling.

 

EXT. BALCONY OF A COFFEE HOUSE - LATER

 

A ramshackle balcony overlooking a bust street. Eames pours.

 

COBB

Inception.

 

Eames's glass stops halfway to his mouth.

 

COBB

Don't bother telling me it's

impossible.

 

EAMES

It's perfectly possible. Just

bloody difficult.

 

COBB

That's what I keep saying to

Arthur.

42.

 

EAMES

Arthur? You're still working with

that stick-in-the-mud?

 

COBB

He's a good point man.

 

EAMES

The best. But he has no

imagination. If you're going to

perform inception, you need

imagination.

 

COBB

You've done it before?

 

EAMES

Yeas and no. We tried it. Got the

idea in place, but it didn't take.

 

COBB

You didn't plant it deep enough?

 

EAMES

It's not just about depth. You need

the simplest version of the idea-

the one that will grow naturally in

the subject's mind. Subtle art.

 

COBB

That's why I'm here.

 

EAMES

What's the idea you need to plant?

 

COBB

We want the heir to a major

corporation to break up his

father's empire.

 

EAMES

See, right there you've got various

political motivations, anti-

monopolistic sentiment and so

forth. But all that stuff's at the

mercy of the subject's prejudice-

you have to go to the basic.

 

COBB

Which is?

 

EAMES

The relationship with the father.

(downs drink)

Do you have a chemist?

43.

 

Cobb shakes his head.

 

EAMES

There's a man here. Yusuf. He

formulates his own versions of the

compounds.

 

COBB

Let's go see him.

 

EAMES

Once you've lost your tail.

(Cobb reacts)

Back by the bar, blue tie. Came in

about two minutes after we did.

 

COBB

Cobol Engineering?

 

EAMES

They pretty much own Mombasa.

 

Cobb glances over the balcony.

 

COBB

Run interference. We'll meet

downstairs in half an hour.

 

EAMES

Back here?

 

COBB

Last place they'd expect.

 

Eames downs his drink. Rises. Walks over to the Businessman.

 

EAMES

Freddy!

 

The Businessman looks up, awkward.

 

EAMES

Freddy Simmonds, it is you!

 

Cobb nonchalantly SLIPS over the balcony DROPPING HARD into

the midst of the crowd on the street below.

 

EAMES

(looks harder)

Oh. No, it isn't.