Inception - Bash Job

Hunter stopped short as red suddenly flooded his vision. It was like the first layer, but... no, this was different. That had barely lasted a moment. This was still going.

Just when he thought it had stopped, another flash painted the hallway scarlet. By the time it faded, his pursuers were practically on top of him. Cursing, Hunter slid an override key into one of the hotel room's locks and slammed the door behind him just as a bullet thudded into the wood.

No time to lose. Hunter rushed over to the large bureau against the wall and clambered onto it, kicking aside the decorative lamp at his feet. Then, he reached up and pushed against the ceiling above. A panel swung down, opening into the room above. Just as the door burst open, Hunter hauled himself through the opening and collapsed onto the carpeted floor above, panting.

"Get it together," he told himself. They'd be up in moments. Checking his gun, Hunter dived over the bed and took aim at the opening.

"Now, let's try this again." Karina dug the heel of her shoe into Ferral's toes. "Where is the money going?"

He let out a muffled groan, trying once more to get free from Trevor, but the Extractor kept his grip firm. "You're gonna kill me anyway." Ferral growled. "So, why give you the satisfaction?"

Karina smiled at that, even though the man couldn't see it. "Well played, senor." She let off the pressure, taking a step back. "You're correct. I am going to kill you, but only after you talk. If your own suffering isn't enough, maybe someone else's might be?"

She pulled out her phone and dialed a few keys so Ferral could hear them, but never hit send. "It's me." Karina kept her tone even, as if she were the one giving orders. "Yeah, make a move on the girl."

"NO!" Ferral jerked harder against the chair, almost getting out of Trevor's grip. "I'll tel you! Damn it, I'll talk!"

Karina was silent for a moment, letting the seconds tick, building the anticipation. "Hold off for a few more minutes..."

She took a step forward, placing a finger below Ferral's chin to raise his head up, even though he couldn't see her through the hood. "Now... Tell me what I want to know."

"The money is being funneled into a Mexican government account." Ferral grated out.

"Why?"

He swallowed, loudly. "It's being directed to a branch of interpol that's investigating the criminal acts of the Suavez cartel."

Trevor took his cue to needle the Mark in the neck and inject him with a sedative.

Karina couldn't help it. She laughed. "That just figures. Our mole is already a mole."

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A single shot followed Hunter up into the next room, knocking out the overhead light in a rain of glass. Nothing else followed though. It was almost too quiet as a single glint appeared at the edge of the opening. It pivoted slightly, giving him a better glimpse of it. A pocket mirror. This guard wasn't stupid...

Hunter waited cautiously behind the bed, his breathing obscenely loud in his ears as silence stretched out. He waited, but no sign of his pursuers came. Why?

He peered over at the hole and caught the glint. Ah, clever. Using a mirror to scout the room. Carefully, Hunter reached over and pulled the cord out of the wall, then picked up the tableside lamp. He took aim, then pitched it at the hole. His aim was off and it hit the edge, but as it shattered on the edge, it managed to rain down porcelain on the unsuspecting projection.

Now or never. Hunter sprinted for the door and dove into the hallway.
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Sofie sat down and tapped her nails on the desk in the room, sighing. What was taking the others? Those red flashes had been the start of trouble in the first level, and the occurrence of two prolonged ones here was more than ominous.

She contemplated the likelihood of getting out of this job safely. The odds were certainly against them. But with the sedation, there was no choice but to press forward. Otherwise... well, it was best not to contemplate that now.

A muttered curse came from the opening as the lamp shattered, and a pistol replaced the mirror, firing twice in the direction it had come from. At the sound of running footsteps, a hand reached over the edge, pulling the man up far enough to see Hunter running by. He took another shot towards the door.

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Karina pushed the door open and held it for her husband, who was carrying the unconscious Ferral over his shoulder. "Does this affect our intentions?" She asked, looking thoughtful.

"I wish I knew, love." Trevor responded, heaving Ferral onto the bed with a thump. "Normally, I'd pose a question like this ta John, but he's not exactly available."

Karina frowned, but turned her focus to Sofie. "It seems our soon to be mole is already someone else's mole. Interpol's to be exact..."

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John threw the knife to the floor with a look of disgust and tested his weight on the now cauterized leg.

It wobbled slightly, but held up. The pain was still an issue, but he could ignore some of that as long as his adrenaline was pumping.

Grabbing his gun from where he'd laid it, he turned off the stove and made a break for the door he hadn't come in through. The kick had to be setup soon...

Hunter swore in a shaky, breathless voice as he fell back against the hallway wall. That was way too close. He fingered the bullet hole in his suit jacket, then gripped his gun more tightly.

"Okay, guys. You really need to get this show going," he thought. They hadn't even gotten to the next layer yet, and already he was running out of steam. What floor was he on now? The 6th?

Everything was quiet from the room he'd vacated. Was the projection going to work his way up through the hole, or try a roundabout route? Better not to stick around, either way.

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Sofie stood up, alert as footsteps sounded in the hallway. Only Karina and Trevor should have been able to access the service elevator up, but it never hurt to be cautious.

Sure enough, Karina and Trevor entered with an unconscious Ferral, only to drop a bomb that Ferral was already a mole.

"Well, that's brilliant," Sofie muttered, running a hand through her hair. "Now what? Is turning him really going to be feasible?"

Trevor shook his head slowly. "It's not about turnin him anymore. He's not even playin for one of the two sides we're interested in." Taking a deep breath, he ran his fingers through his hair, clearly frustrated.

"If interpol makes a move on Suavez, he will no longer be a threat my client is concerned with." Karina said, leaning against the wall by the door.

"But we don't know how long it'll take em ta make their move." Trevor countered. "Without inside information, we can't base our outcome on things already in motion. Unfortunately, I don't think our original plan will work though. Spookin him too much could make him move up his plans with interpol..."

"Which would get him caught and leave us without our mole." Karina finished for him, thumping her fist against the wall beside her.

Sofie said nothing for a few moments, tugging painfully at her roots.

"What the hell do we do then?" she asked, turning on the other two. "Just sit and wait for John's kick?"

And in the meantime, Hunter was running for his life. What a disaster.

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Hunter moved cautiously down to the end of the hallway and paused. He heard no sounds, but that didn't necessarily mean anything. He peered around the edge, then took a tentative step forward.

Hands seized his jacket and whipped him around the corner, slamming him against the wall. Stunned, the gun dropped from his hand as he gasped in pain. From the corner of his eye, he saw the man lift his own gun. He lashed out, slapping the gun aside.

The shot rang through the hallway as the bullet thudded into the wall. The projection pointed around at him, but Hunter had already picked up his own. Two shots sounded, and the projection slumped against the wall, painting a swash of red down its length.

Hunter panted, forcing himself to keep moving. Keep moving.

"No, we salvage the plan and move on." Trevor responded to Sofie, crossing his arms.

"What do you have in mind, mi amor?" Karina slowly flexed her fingers outward, trying to relax herself.

"We go back ta the original plan. If'n he's already workin for interpol, I don't think that Mia will be able ta get him out of the operation, no matter how persuasive she is."

Karina seemed to think about this for a moment. "So, what does that change?"

Trevor reached for a needle and stuck it into Ferral's wrist. "It means we have to make our boy a hero. Instead of findin his gel dead, we have to empower him in savin her."

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John slipped into the room, looking over his shoulder, and dropped the duffle bag to the floor. He took a moment to check the room for possible threats before holstering his gun and unzipping the bag. Alright... Time to setup some explosives.

Sofie wasn't sure if she bought this plan of Trevor's, but there wasn't a whole lot of choice at this point. It was go forward, or sit and wait.

"Well, I sure hope you know what you're doing," she said, picking up another of the needles. She sat on the bed, pausing as she recalled sitting in this same position, watching John slowly bleed out.

Shaking her head, Sofie slipped the needle in, grateful for the pain distracting those thoughts, and fell back onto the bed.

"Right then." Trevor flipped his hat in the air, and it landed perfectly on his head. "I'm off ta go provide Mr. Ferral with taxi service. You lovely ladies get to the estate and set everythin up."

Karina nodded as he exited the room, then turned to Sofie. "You wanna drive, or should I?" She asked, holding up a Ferrari key fob.

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The fallen security guard's radio gave a short chirp as Hunter turned to leave. Static followed for a second before a crackling voice issued from the speaker. "The SWAT team is here. All units report to the fourth floor. We'll block him off and run him up to the roof."

Sofie nimbly snatched the keys from Karina's outstretched fingers and smiled.

"I'll take care of that," she said. Flooring a Ferrari pedal was sure to lighten her mood.

The two women made their way out of the building. Despite looking the same as the previous layer, the hotel was undisturbed here. They made their way out the lobby, then hooked into the alley to find their car ready and waiting.

"Well, let's see what this thing can do," Sofie said, starting it up with a lovely purr. Gripping the steering wheel with one hand and her hair with another, she hit the pedal and took off in a burst of speed.

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Hunter froze in place, the words from the radio washing over him like ice water.

SWAT team? Sweet Mary, mother of God. He had not been prepared for this. Ferral's subconscious wasn't just militarized. It was prepared for war.

What to do... What could he do?

Keep moving. And hope the kick came in time.

Swallowing thickly, Hunter took off down the hallway. First thing was to disable the elevators, and fast. Dealing with them on one front would be bad enough. He couldn't afford two.

Ferral swallowed hard and sat the memo he'd been staring at for the last five minutes down on his desk.

This wasn't happening...

He picked the memo back up and scanned it's contents again, as if expecting the words to have changed.

Oh crap... This was happening.

Shoving the memo under a stack of other papers on his desk, Ferral pulled out his phone and dialed Mia's number. No answer...

He looked at his watch. She was either working late at the shelter, or she'd forgotten to turn her phone back on when she went home. Not good.

Making a decision, he pushed away from his desk and headed for the elevator. The doors had just opened when the entire building shook, and he gripped the wall to hold himself up. What now? His eyes darted to the window and then back to the elevator. No time to think about it...

Ferral stepped inside and hit the button for the ground floor.

The scene that welcomed him in the lobby wasn't good. It was obvious what had caused the tremor now. Across the street, the parking garage (which housed his car) had collapsed. Okay, options... He needed options...

On the corner of the street, a taxi sat, obviously waiting for someone. Ferral made a dash for it, slipping inside the back seat. "Five grand to take me somewhere, right now."

Trevor glanced over his shoulder and flashed Ferral a smile. "Where to, gov?"

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Karina reclined her seat and closed her eyes, letting out a long sigh. "And I thought my job was stressful... You guys really do things like this on a monthly basis?"

She hadn't anticipated the amount of things that could go wrong in a person's subconscious. Who knew? It was like the entire thing was a house of cards stacked up in the perfect formation to fall over if the wind blew...

Sofie shook her head. Sometimes she did want to quit the dream-sharing business. It was unhealthy in a lot of ways that didn't suit her desire to live life comfortably. But, the truth was, it was one of the most addictive drugs conceived. There was nothing quite like it, and you couldn't help but be drawn back to it again and again.

She'd once seen establishments where people paid to stay hooked up to PASIVs most of their lives. It sent a thrill of horror down her spine, one of both disgust and understanding. Was this where all dream-sharers would end up? She didn't want to contemplate it.

Tearing herself away from these morbid thoughts, she turned to Karina and forced a smile.

"You should have seen my last job. I had to help a man beat his murderous alter ego in a court case. Now that was surreal."

Karina raised an eyebrow at that. "Alter ego? Did that make the job more or less complicated than this one?" She shook her head. "Actually, don't tell me."

Outside her window, the buildings moved by quickly. At this rate, it wouldn't take them long to get out of the city limits, and the estate was only a few miles further than that. "So..." Karina started, but she let the word trail off with a sigh.

A moment passed in awkward silence. "What's so bad about this limbo thing?" She asked, turning back to Sofie. "All of you went pale as death when Trevor said something about us winding up there."

Limbo...

It was obvious Karina knew nothing about it, or she wouldn't say the word so flippantly. But then, she probably had less to fear from it than someone like John, or especially Sofie.

"It's raw, infinite dreamspace," Sofie said flatly. "To someone like you, it would just be absolute nothingness. To people who have shared dreams before, it would have whatever was left behind in our deepest subconscious, the dregs we never reach."

Yes, Sofie had more to fear than the rest of them. She knew what was down there.

Karina looked baffled. "So, it's the leftovers of previous shared dreams?" She asked. "What's so bad about that?"

The entire concept seemed strange to her, as did the fear of such a thing, and considering how pale Sofie and Hunter had gotten at the mention of it, they feared it greatly...

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Click...

John fished out his pocket watch to check the time and then glanced at the device he'd just set in place. Everything was in place now. He just had to stall for time.

The sound of shuffled footsteps down the hall drew his attention to the door, and John whipped out his pistol, plastering himself to the pillar he was standing beside.

A light creak signaled the opening of the door, but he didn't hear anyone enter. Great... A waiting game...

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All three elevators in the building were locked down on the 4th floor, apparently propped open by something to avoid them taking off. The sound of heavy boots could be heard in the stairwell, along with the occasional muffled "clear".

There was a sudden hum as all of the elevators moved up a single floor, coming to a stop once again. The SWAT team had obviously finished on the 4th and were working their way upwards.

Sofie shook her head. Obviously, Karina wasn't grasping the full weight of the situation.

"First off, it's called Limbo for a reason. Very few people who've gotten down that far ever come back up. In essence..."

She trailed off, her eyes growing distant.

"You enter a state of living death up above."

If it were only that, it would be bad enough. However, the truth was far worse.

"But down here... Have you ever had a nightmare that you couldn't wake up from?" Sofie asked. "Imagine that. But it's far more real, and you can't escape from it. The things you dread most, trapping you. If you had memories, events, or fears you tried to bury, or if you'd actually visited it before and left something behind..."

There was no need to continue. Karina surely got the picture. And anyway, the estate was now in sight. Sofie pulled the car through the gates and brought it to a halt.

"Oh." Karina responded, her eyes almost dead now. Yes, that was far more threatening than she had originally considered.

"So..." The words trailed off as Karina got out of the car, but she looked at Sofie across the top. "So, if John bleeds out and the first layer shatters, everything we do in this layer is for nothing?"

It wasn't a pleasant thought, but Karina had always been a realist. It was the only way she'd been able to thrive in the world she was born into. No matter the answer, she was dedicated to completing their task, but curiosity was difficult to ignore sometimes.

Sofie's mouth was set as she got out of the car and looked around. No sign of projections. Not yet, anyway.

"If John dies on the first level," she said quietly. "Then the Job is the least of our problems."

She slammed the door shut and made a beeline for the front door. The faster they got through this, the better their chances were. She could only hope John and Hunter could hold off till then.

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Hunter's fingers shook as he fiddled with the wiring inside the elevator panel. Slowly but surely, the elevators were moving higher. They'd reach him any minute.

"Damn it," he muttered. "Come on, come on."

He heard the sounds of the elevators moving once more. He almost panicked, almost made a move to run. But no, he was right there. He had to finish it.

Ha!

The power cut off in the shafts, freezing the elevators between floors. Hunter let out a shaky sigh. No time to celebrate now. They were still moving up the stairs, and he hadn't a moment to lose.

Karina waved off the guard at the front door and headed straight for the stairs. "We can't actually alert them that an attack is coming, but we can make sure Mia survives if it gets here before Ferral does. Hopefully, she'll be in her room."

She turned down the hall and walked to Mia's door. After a brief knock, Karina opened it. "Mia, how good to see you."

The woman laying on the bed with a book on her chest looked up. "Oh, hey."

"My friend and I had some free time after my discussion with your father, would you like to have some tea with us?"

Mia looked back to her book for a moment, then closed it and got up. "Sure. The library?"

"Sounds good." Karina responded with a smile.

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Something inside the elevator to Hunter's right screeched, and the door slid open just enough for the muzzle of a gun to stick through, peppering the wall with a flurry of bullets. From inside, the chirp of a radio sounded. "Suspect is on the 5th floor, but he seems to have disabled the elevators. Reinforce the guard in the stairwell. Don't let him off this level!"

Sofie gave Mia a warm smile, then fell into step behind her and Karina. She didn't like improvised plans, but it couldn't be helped. Hopefully, Trevor and Ferral would be along shortly.

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Hunter had just enough time to see the muzzle of a gun poke through the elevator door. He threw himself against the opposite wall just as his former position was sprayed with bullets.

The stairs... He had to make it to the stairs.

Hunter took off down the hall, stopping just short of the exit door. He swung it open and jumped back, but no barrage of bullets followed.

Good enough. He stepped onto the landing just in time to see men rounding the corner. His sweaty finger nearly slipped on the trigger as he let off a few shots to buy himself some distance. Then, breathing heavily, he took off up the stairs.

"So, what brings you ladies to the estate this evening?" Mia asked as she poured herself a cup of tea.

"The usual." Karina waved her hand dramatically as Mia handed her the pot. "Your father has another portion of his business that needs downsized." She chattered as she poured her own cup of tea, and then handed the pot to Sofie.

There was a knock on the door, and a man stuck his head inside the library. "Pardon me, senorita... We've detained a suspicious person on the premises, and he claims to be trying to reach you." The man looked slightly uncomfortable with what he was saying. "Normally, we would just remove him from the estate, but he had your private cell phone number in his phone records..."

Mia's eyebrows drew together in a mixture of concern and irritation. "I'll be right down." She put her tea cup down and gave both Sofie and Karina a nod. "My apologies. I'm afraid I have to deal with this. Please, enjoy your tea." With that, she disappeared through the door.

Karina took a long sip of her tea before sitting it back down. "Guess that means the boys are here then..."

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Trevor slipped into the kitchen while the man just inside the front door continued to question Ferral. Best not to get caught up in the middle of that. Besides, he needed to get some defenses ready. With a militarized subconscious, goodness knew what kind of attack Ferral would envision and bring down on their heads in the next few moments...

He pulled out his phone and speed dialed Karina. "Showtime, love. Hope you packed the big guns."

Sofie watched Mia leave the room, feeling apprehensive.

"Is it a good idea to leave her alone?" she asked, sipping absently at her tea. "If the projections were to attack..."

Karina's phone began to ring. Unsurprisingly, it was Trevor. It seemed Ferral was the detainee then.

"So, what, the projections attack and Ferral protects her? That it?" Sofie asked. It seemed a bit simplistic. Was this going to be enough to convince him to cross Interpol and put everything on the line for Mia and her family?

"Not exactly..." Karina hedged, giving Sofie a worried look.

"Trevor seems to think the projections are going to be way more than Ferral himself can handle, especially since he's not used to bloodshed. We'll have to thin out the ranks significantly, and he wants you to make another appearance as Mia's father. When the attack happens, you need to tell Ferral it's his job to protect Mia."

Her phone beeped, and Karina thumbed the message across the screen. "Oh, and it looks like we need to get on that... Like, now..."

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The sound of car engines was loud enough in the front hall for anyone to realize that a small army was pulling up outside. One of the men standing by the window cursed and motioned towards the hallway. "Senorita, you need to get to the safe room! Now!" Mia jerked at that, her eyes going wide, and Ferral looked over his shoulder at the cars outside.

The guard holding him pushed Ferral towards the hallway as well. "We don't have time to deal with you right now."

"Let me help!" Ferral struggled against the man's grip. "Damn it, let me help!"

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From where he stood behind the pillar, John flipped open his watch, briefly glancing at the time. Not good...

He stashed the watch back in his pocket and pulled out his phone, punching the first number on speed dial, Hunter's. Dropping the phone to the ground, John pivoted around the side of the pillar, firing blindly at the man who was probably in the doorway. Two shots. Two misses. The barrel of the man's gun rose just as John dove out of the window and rolled over his shoulders to land on his feet, already running.

Ahead of him was the maze at the back of the estate. Hopefully, it would buy him enough time...

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The sound of Hunter's techno-babble ringtone spread through the hotel, faintly at first, but growing in volume with each passing second. None of the SWAT team members seemed to notice or care.

Shots rang out as they returned fire up the stairwell, and several muffled voices called out "clear" before footsteps crashed up to the next floor.

"Two guards at this door. The rest of you spread out and clear this floor! I want him caught yesterday!"

Montegro strode suddenly into the room, glowering at the guards.

"Release him."

They complied immediately, looking troubled.

"We have bigger concerns. I want every available man armed and guarding this house," he said. They nodded and moved to comply. Montegro turned and took Ferral by the arm, leading him inside.

"I want to believe you're the man you say you are," he said quietly. "Find Mia, and keep her safe. This place is going to turn into Hell in a few minutes, and my angel has no business being part of that."

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Hunter nearly stumbled at the unexpected sound of his ringtone.

The kick... John must be getting ready to set it off.

Hunter fished the remote trigger from his pocket, but the light failed to come on. Was he too far out of range?

He could hear guards following him up. He couldn't backtrack through the stairs. And the elevators were out. Or were they?

It just might work. Hunter raced to the nearest elevator shaft and stuck an explosive between the doors. Backtracking, he tossed another down the hallway. Should buy him a moment

The elevator doors blew off the hinges in a loud screech of metal. Hunter rushed to the edge of the shaft and reached for the wire. This was nuts...