Disclaimer: I respect and admire Christopher Nolan's work. I do not own the characters with the exception of new characters introduced solely in this fic.
This fiction is written purely for entertainment purposes.
Enjoy reading :)

A month has passed since the Fischer job. Arthur could not help but think back of those memories, even though he preferred not to. They were all this close to getting sent to Limbo, waiting for their brains to burn out. Then there was also Cobb betraying their trust as he was aware of the dangers and still took everyone along into his own little fantasy. He was forgiven, because everyone understood why, but these memories still held everyone else back from taking up any more jobs after their success. However, Arthur still found himself back at the warehouse, unable to resist.

"I see you're back as well." Arthur was greeted by his old friend.

"I did not expect to see you here, Cobb." The point man replied. Cobb only shrugged.

"Once you get a taste of the dream realm, it is very hard to resist."

"How are the kids?" Arthur asked, trying to figure out why his friend was back, probably in search of a new job just like him.

"They are well." Cobb smiled a genuine smile out of happiness for the first time in a long while. "It is wonderful to be back with them and I will make sure it stays that way."
"But the urge to go back into the field is too great." Arthur finished his sentence, for he was going through the same thing.

Cobb nodded in agreement. Then the extractor rose to his feet and handed over a file. "I have been doing some research myself. Pardon me." He excused himself for taking over Arthur's job.
Arthur did not mind. In fact, he shot up at the promising hope of a new job. His eager eyes quickly skimmed through the information in the file while Cobb continued to fill him in.

"The HBA group is one of the leaders in today's computer technology. They are very powerful and dominate the market together with their biggest competitor T-tech."

"Ah, a powerplay again." Arthur commented.
"Indeed. T-tech is on the verge of discovering and developing something revolutionary. If they manage to succeed, this will be a huge blow and setback for HBA. Therefore HBA hired us to do our thing. They want the information concerning the developments of T-tech."

Arthur finished skimming through the file. There was not much that could help him answer the dozens of questions that immediately rose in his mind.

"That's it? Is there anything else you know?" Arthur asked.
Cobb shook his head. "They want to meet us."

"And by us you mean?"

"The entire team." Cobb answered. He was grateful that he and Arthur worked together for so many years. They knew what had to be done and they understood each other. Cobb was off to get back together the rest of his team while Arthur went to work with what little information he had.

It was not difficult for Cobb to convince the others to join his latest mission. Most of them had missed the excitement of working on a job. They also felt the temptation of going back into dreams and of course the money also played a role.

Eames was doing side jobs for other companies who needed a good thief in the real world. Ariadne was in Paris finishing her study. Eames was sold immediately, but Ariadne had doubts as she was almost graduating. However, just like the first time she felt the temptation of going back after storming away from the warehouse because she was stabbed in the gut by Mal's projection, she felt that temptation again. It was just as hard to resist as the first time.

Yusuf went back to developing his own compounds. The Fischer job was not exactly a pleasant experience. He was aware of the dangers of ending up in Limbo when using sedatives, but he had trusted Cobb at that time. It was only then when it was too late, that he realised the gravity of the situation. Being shot at while you try to stay alive, is not a good experience. Whether it was a dream or a reality, it did not matter. Cobb still tried to convince his former chemist to join him. Having the entire team together, somehow made him feel more secure about this new job.

After a couple of days, Arthur was greeted by more familiar faces at the warehouse while he was working at his desk.

"Still a stick in the mud I see. You haven't changed." Eames greeted Arthur.
"You haven't changed as well. As uncivilized as always." He threw back his own greeting.

"It is good to see you again, Arthur." Ariadne said. Arthur nodded back in agreement. He noticed one member was missing.

"What about Yusuf?" He asked.

"Yusuf is sitting this one out." Cobb answered. "He normally doesn't go into the field. I think it was too much for him to handle last time when he went with us."

"Well you can't blame him." Eames said. "The poor guy's first time in the field and he almost ended up in Limbo."

"Fortunately we can do without a chemist." Cobb said, not letting this influence their mission.

"Now, get ready to meet our employer."

Soon they found themselves on their way to the address that was given to them. The taxi stopped in front of a small building. There was just something wrong about this building. It was a children day care center.

"Are you sure we're at the right place?" Eames asked the driver.

"Yes. Suffolk street is right here." The cabdriver answered. And thus they had no choice but to get out while Eames handed over some cash.

Everyone stared at the building, wondering if there was a mistake.

"Maybe it is a trap." Arthur said.

"Come on, Arthur. Lighten up. Just because it is not a big office, doesn't mean we're being set-up." Eames rolled his eyes.

"It wouldn't be the first time someone is trying to kill us." Arthur defended himself.
"Maybe they made a mistake?" Ariadne tried.

"Well, there's only one way to find out." Cobb said and headed for the entrance, followed by the others.

As soon as they entered, they discovered it was just a normal children day care center. Nobody tried to shoot them and the doors and windows were not shut and barred. Instead children were running around everywhere with their caretakers chasing them.

One man stood out from this scene. He was wearing pressed trousers and a neat shirt with a tie. He introduced himself as Bob Dorinson, the assistant of the head of HBA, and led them to a small office at the back.

"It is a great pleasure to meet you. I am sorry Mr. Allen was not here to meet you personally, but he is a very busy man." He started as everyone got a seat.

"Also my apologies for the location. We just want to be careful and I am sure you know how valuable information and anonymity is nowadays. Would you like some tea or coffee?" He offered.

"No thank you. We're fine." Cobb declined politely to shut out the chance of being poisoned or drugged.

"Alright then. Let's get to business then." He smiled and handed over a thick envelope to Cobb.

Cobb opened the envelope and revealed a thick stack of papers and a picture of an Asian man dressed in a suit.

"The mark is Wailun Cheng. He is the head of the T-tech company. Their main office is in Shanghai, China. They have been our main competitor for years. They have been developing a new way of sharing information."

"What do you mean with a new way?" The always curious Ariadne asked.

"We suspect that they are trying to create something that enables people to convert thoughts into a medium, for example a video file. Perhaps it would be even possible to transfer thoughts from one person to another. This would change today's ways of sharing information and T-tech will gain a huge advantage and dominate the market."

"I don't understand." Eames interrupted.

"It means that in the future people will use different ways of communicating with each other. Nowadays, we communicate via the internet, telephone and so on, using images and sounds. But if you're able to convert your thoughts directly into a movie for example, or even transfer to someone else, that would change everything." Ariadne explained.

Mr. Dorinson smiled. "I am glad you understand the problem." He continued.

"The human brain is very complex. There is still so much we do not understand. Currently we at the HBA don't have the skills and knowledge to create something so extraordinary, so we need you to extract that information."

"So you can claim it as your own." Arthur finished his sentence.
"That is indeed the plan." Mr. Dorinson said, paying no heed to Arthur's impoliteness.

"If you would succeed, you will receive 15 million. Payment will take place as soon as you have done the job. Everything else is in the envelope."

Mr. Dorinson made his way to the door and called out for someone. Soon they got company from a young girl in her early twenties. Arthur, trained to memorize every detail of every situation, remembered her as one of the caretakers chasing the children. She looked normal, very easy to blend in a crowd.

"I'd like to introduce you to Ada Wright." Mr. Dorinson gestured at the girl. The girl said hello to the team.

"She's our newest recruit, fresh out of university. She might be young, but she is very talented. We think she might be useful to you."

"With all due respect, Mr. Dorinson, but normally we assemble our own team." Cobb said.

"I see, but Mr. Allen insisted that she joins your team as the inventor." The assistant replied.

Cobb took a moment to reply. Meanwhile the rest of his team expressed their doubts about letting an outsider choose a new team member. Cobb thought about it. There was something inside of him that told him to expand his team. He got the feeling that Ada would indeed be useful in the future. Working in this branch for years, had resulted in Cobb developing something what people could call 'a sixth sense'. He knew he had to go with his instincts on this one.

Cobb motioned the others to silence. "If Mr. Allen insists, miss Wright will join us."

The rest of the team shared a different opinion, but all of them decided it was best to trust Cobb's choice. And so the team got some company from an inventor.

As they all went back to the warehouse, Ariadne asked: "What does an inventor exactly do?"

"The inventor is the person who works back-stage, you could say." Arthur filled her in. "The inventor creates new gadgets that can help make the extraction easier. Plus if there are any technical difficulties, it is the inventor's job to fix it. Often the inventor is also the one who stays behind to guard the dream machine while the rest is dreaming."

"At least we don't have tourists this time." Eames said.