Int. Back room, pharmacy - continuous

 

A dark room with ROWS of low COTS. Each with a sleeping

occupant. Tubes connect their wrists. An ELDERLY BALD MAN

watches over them.

 

EAMES

(counting)

Eighteen, twenty-all connected,

bloody hell.

 

YUSUF

They come every day. To share the

dream.

 

Yusuf nods at the Elderly Bald Man, who moves to the nearest

bed. Reaches out to the OCCUPANT. Gives his face a FIRM SLAP.

The sleeper does not even stir.

 

YUSUF

See? Very stable.

 

COBB

How long do they dream?

 

YUSUF

Three, four hours. Every day.

 

COBB

How long in dream time?

 

YUSUF

With this compound... about forty

hours. Each and every day.

 

Saito surveys the room, appalled.

 

SAITO

Why do they do it?

 

YUSUF

Tell him, Mr. Cobb.

 

COBB

After a while...

(looks at Saito)

It becomes the only way you can

dream.

 

YUSUF

Do you still dream, Mr. Cobb?

 

Cobb STARES at the sleepers. Uneasy.

 

EAMES

They come here every day to sleep?

53.

 

ELDERLY BALD MAN (O.S.)

No.

 

Cobb turns to the Elderly Bald Man, who looks fondly at his

dreamers.

 

ELDERLY BALD MAN

They come to be woken up... the

dream has become their reality...

 

The Elderly Bald Man pokes a crooked finger at Cobb's chest.

 

ELDERLY BALD MAN

And who are you to say otherwise?

 

Cobb STARES at the Elderly Bald Man. DISTURBED. Cobb turns to

Yusuf. TOSSES him the bottle.

 

COBB

Let's see what you can do.

 

INT. SAME - MOMENTS LATER

 

Cobb is lying on an empty cot, asleep. Yusuf stands over him.

As we move in on Cobb's SLEEPING FACE we hear the sound of a

FREIGHT TRAIN, BUILDING, and we-

 

CUT TO:

 

EXT. WASTELAND - DAY

 

CLOSE ON Cobb's face as he lies, EYES CLOSED, cheek pressed

to a METAL RAIL- THE SOUND OF THE TRAIN IS DEAFENING- Cobb is

BREATHING, BREATHING, BREATHING, and we-

 

CUT TO:

 

INT. BACK ROOM, PHARMACY - DAY

 

Cobb's eyes open. Yusuf is watching him.

 

YUSUF

Sharp, no?

 

Cobb nods. Gets to his feet, looking around-

 

INT. BATHROOM, PHARMACY - CONTINUOUS

 

Cobb SPLASHES water on his face, breathing hard- INSERT CUT:

A CURTAIN BILLOWS. MAL TURNS TO US, HAIR BLOWING, SMILING.

Cobb fumbles in his pockets, pulls out his spinning top. He

tries to set it spinning on the back edge of the sink, but it

FALLS to the floor and rolls towards the door- Saito is

there. WATCHING Cobb. He looks down at the spinning top.

54.

 

SAITO

Everything alright, Mr. Cobb?

 

Cobb dries his face with a paper towel. Picks up his top.

 

COBB

Everything's fine.

 

INT. BACK ROOM, WORKSHOP - NIGHT

 

Close on a small BRASS CHESS PIECE. Ariadne tips it over.

Frowning, she picks up a micro drill, peels back the felt on

the bottom and widens a hole in one side of its base. Tests

the TIPPING POINT again. A NOISE makes her look up.

 

INT. WORKSHOP - CONTINUOUS

 

Ariadne comes into the main space. Someone is there,

unpacking one of the MECHANISMS. Cobb.

 

ARIADNE

You're back.

 

Cobb looks up with a start. Caught out.

 

ARIADNE

Are you going under on your own?

 

COBB

I just-I need to test some things.

I didn't realize anyone was here.

 

ARIADNE

Just working on my totem.

 

Ariadne holds up the chess piece. Cobb reaches for it.

 

COBB

Let me see-

 

Ariadne SNAPS it out of his reach. Smiles. Cobb nods.

 

COBB

You're learning.

 

ARIADNE

It's an elegant solution to keeping

track of reality. Your invention?

 

COBB

No. Mal's.

 

Cobb pulls out his spinning top. Looks at it.

55.

 

COBB

This one was hers. She'd spin it in

a dream and it would never topple.

Just spin and spin...

 

ARIADNE

Arthur told me she died.

 

COBB

She did. How are the mazes coming?

 

Ariadne indicates three large ARCHITECTURAL MODELS.

 

ARIADNE

Good. Each level relates to the

part of the subject's subconscious

we're trying to access. I'm making

the bottom level a hospital, so

that Fischer will bring his father

there-

 

COBB

Don't tell me. Remember, you only

want the dreamer to know the

layout.

 

ARIADNE

Why's that so important?

 

COBB

In case one of us brings in part of

our subconscious. You wouldn't want

any projections knowing the layout.

 

ARIADNE

In case you bring Mal in.

 

Cobb says nothing.

 

ARIADNE

You won't build yourself because if

you know the maze, then she knows

it. And she'd sabotage the

operation. You can't keep her out,

can you?

 

Cobb says nothing.

 

ARIADNE

Do the others know?

 

COBB

No.

56.

 

ARIADNE

You have to warn them if it's

getting worse-

 

COBB

(gentle)

I didn't say it's getting worse.

Look, Ariadne, I need them for this

job. I need you for this job.

Without your help, I'll never get

back to my children. And that's all

I can care about right now.

 

ARIADNE

Why can't you go home, Cobb?

 

Cobb looks at her, deciding what to say.

 

COBB

They think I killed her.

 

ARIADNE

How did she die?

 

Cobb thinks.

 

INSERT CUT: Mal, wind BLOWING her hair, smiles at Cobb. Now

we see Cobb- SHAKING HIS HEAD, TEARS STREAMING, BEGGING-

COBB

Thank you.

 

ARIADNE

For what?

 

COBB

Not asking whether I did.

 

INT. WORKSHOP - DAY

 

Ariadne, Arthur, Yusuf, Eames and Saito sit around the room,

looking at FILES. Cobb presides.

 

COBB

The mark is Robert Fischer, heir to

the Australian energy conglomerate,

Fischer Morrow.

 

Cobb opens a large presentation pad.

 

COBB (reads aloud)

"I WILL SPLIT UP MY FATHER'S

EMPIRE."

 

Cobb turns to the team.

57.

 

COBB

An idea Robert Fischer's conscious

mind would never accept. We have to

plant it deep in his subconscious.

 

ARTHUR

How deep?

 

COBB

Three levels down.

 

ARTHUR

A dream within a dream within a

dream? Is that even possible?

 

COBB

Yes. It is.

 

COBB

Now, the subconscious motivates

through emotion, not reason, so we

have to translate the idea into an

emotional concept.

 

ARTHUR

How do you translate a business

strategy into an emotion?

 

COBB

That's what we have to figure out.

Robert and his father have a tense

relationship. Worse, even, than the

gossip columns have suggested...

 

EAMES

Do you play on that? Suggest

breaking up his father's company as

a 'screw you' to the old man?

 

COBB

No. Positive emotion trumps

negative emotion every time. We

yearn for people to be reconciled,

for catharsis. We need positive

emotional logic.

 

Eames thinks. Paces. Looking back at the board.

 

EAMES

Try this... "MY FATHER ACCEPTS THAT