It'll be like a video game
Chapter 1
Eames’ first thought as he exited the Benito Juárez International Airport was something along the lines of “Dear Lord, yes!” It was sweltering and at the tail end of Mexico’s rainy season the air was viciously humid. Eames loved it. He’d just spent several months in London and was desperate to leave the dreariness behind.
He waded through the bustle to catch a taxi, simply giving the driver the name of the hotel and enjoyed the drive to the Coyoacán borough of Mexico City.
Ariadne had called Eames two weeks prior about this particular job. This seemed to be her first job since incepting Fischer a year ago. The girl seemed to be on top of things though. She had purchased her compounds in advance (had in fact laughed when Eames offered to bring something from Yusuf) and so they had no need for a chemist. Eames was acting as extractor with Arthur as point; all the genius of the inception job without the psychological issues, deception and limbo risk. Eames was actually looking forward to it.
Their mark was Dr. Heléna Ahuatzin, an archeologist and professor out of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, the main campus a short drive north of their hotel. Eames had done a cursory search of her on the university’s website. Her formal university photograph revealed her to be a small woman with a dark, round face and black hair that was greying at the temples. But the photographs on her research group’s page were far more revealing. There were snapshots of Heléna in wide-brim hats with her hair in a braid down her back. She wore hiking clothes when she sat hunched over a pottery remain. There was an image one of her holding a canteen and flashin a long-suffering smile to the photographer. There was another one, perhaps taken by one of her students, where she was observing a pre-columbian fresco with a notebook in hand. The her expression was pinched in concentration, but something about her appeared more relaxed than how she appeared on the university’s website.
When Eames entered the suite that the team would be sharing for the job he came across Arthur in the (far too cold) living room, clacking away at his laptop. “Eames,” he said in greeting.
“Arthur, lovely to see you again.”
Arthur nodded, “Ariadne’s gone to get food.” For all Arthur’s minimal greeting and rigid posture, Eames had never seen him so dressed down. He was wearing a t-shirt and jeans. They were a very nice t-shirt and jeans, but still.
Eames shook his head mentally. Arthur wasn’t wearing shoes. “Which one’s the empty one then?”
“Far one.”
“Cheers.” Eames replied before sauntering off to unpack.
By the time Eames was finished, Ariadne had returned with supper. “Eames!” she grinned broadly as she scurried around the heavily laden dining table to give him a hug. “How was the trip?”
“Not bad. Hectic as usual.”
Ariadne made a sympathetic sound and said brightly, “Well, foods up. Hope you don’t have a seafood allergy.”
Arthur unloaded the take-out and there really was an utter spread of sea creatures. Several kinds of fish tacos, shrimp tacos (bizarrely), rice and spicy vegetables. “Where on earth did you find a seafood restaurant?” Eames said around a mouthful of food.
“It’s just down the street.” Arthur tossed the menu pamphlet Eames’ way and continued eating with a single-minded focus.
This was a low-key job and Eames didn’t plan to get started properly until after he’d had a good rest. Apparently Ariadne had been sharing the suite with Arthur for a day or two beforehand and she proceeded to tell Eames about the tourist traps and public icons. By the end, even Arthur joined her enthusiastic chatter.
The next morning, they began briefing for the job. Even though Ariadne wasn’t running the extraction, this was her job. She’d been approached by the client, a professor at her school in Paris. This professor wanted information regarding some newly uncovered Pre-Columbian ruins in Mexico’s Campeche state that Dr. Ahuatzin had been researching.
“That’s a bit underhanded, isn’t it?” Eames asked frowning.
Arthur side-eyed him, “We steal from people’s heads all the time.”
“Yes, but CEOs are crooks anyway,” Eames waved his hand dismissively, “isn’t there supposed to be, I don’t know, certain ethical standards among academic research?” His gaze settled on Ariadne
She shrugged, “Academia’s pretty cut-throat. Besides, he paid me half up front. Profs are hardly rich and if he’s willing to part with his cash for this, I don’t really care.”
“Arthur,” Eames clutched his chest in mock-pain, “I think we’ve corrupted her into our criminal ways.” Both Arthur and Ariadne rolled their eyes.
“If anything it was Cobb who corrupted me.” Ariadne replied. Arthur snorted.
“So,” Eames said focusing back on the job, “what do we know about the mark?” he glanced at Arthur.
Arthur flipped through his little notebook, “Dr. Ahuatzin graduated from The University of Valencia, in Archeology obviously. She studied briefly in Argentina during her Post Doc and settled at UNAM and…” he flipped a page, “her early work focused on Chichen Itza in the east, the last several years she’s gone back to her original PhD sites of…” Arthur frowned, then took a deep breath, “Teo-ti-hu- tihuacan and Scochil-calco- Xochicalco- god- in the west.” He cleared his throat, “Anyway, she’s working out of those two sites now with the National Institute of Anthropology and History. And she’s collaborating with another researcher out of Guatemala on the Tikal site there. She’s also been one of he head researchers into Chactún in the past year.”
“That’s the one the client is interested right?”
“Yeah.” Arthur cleared his throat, “No spouse, no kids. Older relatively self-sufficient parents” He turned a page, “Lectures at NUMA on occasion and visits elementary and high schools to talk about her work.”Arthur looked up and snapped his moleskine shut, “That’s pretty much it. She’s devoted to her work. The NIAH is a government agency, but there is no evidence that she has been militarized.” Eames opened his mouth but Arthur cut him off, “I checked Eames and I’ll keep checking while we’re getting the plan hammered out.”
“Alright, just checking. Don’t get your knickers in a twist.” Eames muttered, Arthur gave him a dark look. Eames ignored him, “Speaking of hammering out the plan, did you have anything in mind Ariadne?”
“Well, I was thinking of going with the University actually. I’ve had a look around the University City, some really cool architects involved by the way. I’d love to take a crack and recreating those buildings. We could dream up Ahuatzin’s office andshe should fill it with her notes?.”
“Hmm.” Eames tapped his pen against his lips for a moment, then said slowly, “It’s a start, but from what I’ve seen she’s most comfortable when she’s doing her field work. Perhaps placing her right in the site might be best.”
“Like an archaeological site?”
“I was thinking of… channeling this Chactún site since that’s what we need info on. Are there any images of the ruins available yet?”
“Yeah, Nat Geo did a spread about it the summer it came out and there are a couple of other publications that have featured it in the past year or so. But it’s overgrown and hardly a tourist destination. I wouldn’t be able to get there. The only reason they found the place was from aerial photographs.”
“That’s good. That’s good. We can use that. If it’s really deserted, that can limit the amount of projections. She’ll probably conjure up her team, but hopefully that’ll be all.”
“That can happen?” Ariadne looked as though someone had just shown her a calculator after she’d spent her life doing long-division by hand.
“I’ve seen it done before, Eames replied. “Not often, mind you. It’s challenging to create a location where people will logically be absent. But if the government is keeping tourists out for the time being we can use that in our favor. You can work greenery and all that, right?”
“Design the jungle as well?” When Eames nodded, Ariadne’s eyebrows pinched but she replied, “I’ve played around with it in my spare time and it’s not been a problem.” She turned to her notebook and started scribbling. “Now should I actually base it entirely off the stills from Chactún?”
“I don’t know,” Eames replied, “Arthur?”
Arthur pursed his lips, “I don’t think so. I’ve seen those photos you’re talking about and they’re useful for references, but you’re bound to miss something if you try to replicate the place. The reason why the client has hired us ie because they didn’t release all the information. And Dr. Ahuatzin will inevitably know more about the site than you. So, no.” Arthur leaned in his chair, balancing on the back legs, “Maybe a mix of the other sites she’s worked on, to maybe get her in the head space of research: Chichen Itza. Or Tikal or- the other two.”
Ariadne smirked, “Teotihuacan and Xochicalco?” Her pronounciation was perfect.
Arthur rolled his eyes, “Yes those ones.” He opened his moleskine and jotted something down, “I’ve got arial and ground level images of the sites and you can start from there.”
By that evening, Eames knew a great deal more about Pre-Columbian civilizations than he had thought there was to know about. Ahuatzin was quite a prolific writer. It was all in Spanish, of course, and while he had to look up the more uncommon words, it had been an enjoyable way to spend the day.
Ariadne had progressed rather quickly with her models. Eames mentions this and she countered, “It’s not a maze yet, I’m just trying to get the structures down and then I’ll use the trees as mazes.” She smiled at him, “This will sort of be like Tomb Raider.”
“Oh yeah.” Arthur blurted from his desk grinning widely, dimples on full display.
It was the first time Arthur had genuinely smiled since the previous night and Eames was keen to see more, “I do hope you both mean, Indiana Jones.”
Arthur scoffed, “Please. The man treks into rain-forests with untreated ophidiophobia.” At Eames’ uncomprehending look, Arthur clarified, “Fear of snakes.”
“Well, Lara Croft is just. Well she’s just a tart, isn’t she?”
“That,” Ariadne said raising a finger, “is not her fault. Just because her designers feel that quadruple H breasts are a physical possibility for an athletic explorer does not negate her bad-assed-ness.”
Eames shook his head “Maybe this is a generational thing.”
Arthur rolled his eyes, “You and I are in the same generation.” Then his gaze went to Ariadne, “Have you played the new Lara Croft game?”
“No. I’ve been working. Is it good?”
“So. Good.” They then babble on about Lara Croft’s development as a character and how the game company had really come along way. Apparently Arthur was a gamer. Go figure.
Chapter 2