I have been challenged to write about Inception once a week until the end of the year.  Not that this really changes anything because I was planning on doing that anyway.

This week, we continue my adventure into the world of fan fiction.  It’s probably safe to say we won’t be getting any more Inception stories from Nolan and the Blu-Ray doesn’t come out till later this year.  So in order to get a fix, I’m pretty much gonna have to make my own so hopefully, you need a fix too.

The first is a story in parts.  Here is Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6. and Part 7.  This would be Part 8.  It’s called

“The Human Vault.”

Changing a dream world during active dreamsharing is viewed as nothing less than a last ditch tactic, the final card to play.  Any number of tactics risks bringing attention to an extractor and his team, but nearly every one of those only brings about a temporary suspicion.  Altering the architecture is the sole strategy in which there is no going back.

A person’s projections rely on the relative reality of the dream to maintain calm.  Literally transforming the world around them is a permanent and undeniable red flag to every single one of them.

With this in mind, Emma stares at Nathan momentarily, searching for something to change in his eyes.  Finding nothing, she looks up ahead and closes her eyes.

The Hummer continues to thunder forward when the ground ahead – between it and the army of back-up – starts to buckle and shake.  The dream world groans underneath its own weight as it starts to fold on itself.  In a matter of seconds, the road before the Hummer becomes a dead end, a wall of itself.  The guard’s back-up is in its own field of gravity, feet planted to their ground, looking down, or up, at the Hummer.

Its driver tugs at the steering wheel, guiding the massive vehicle into a sharp turn, its wheels leaving a trail of smoke behind them.  The vehicle’s tail scrapes along the side of the impromptu blacktop wall before completely redirecting to the left.

William looks back at Emma.  “Quite frankly, my dear, that never gets old.”  A wide grin spreads on his face before his eyes shoot back on the road.

The battalion of back-up spot their car and raise their rifles.  Nathan looks up to find a veritable wall of rifle barrels pointed at them.

“William!  You might want to take a crack at avoiding that.”

As William throws the wheel all the way to the left, the entire group of back-up starts firing.  From where Nathan is sitting, it looks as if it’s raining bullets.  The first couple start hitting the ground around, narrowly missing their Corvette.

Eyeing the Hummer dead ahead, William presses down hard on the gas, trying to close their lead and get out from under the bullet barrage.  The projections on the adjacent field of gravity panic uncontrollably and as Nathan watches the chaos, one of the bullets hits him just above the chest.

The force throws him back against the seat.

“Oh God!”  Emma immediately applies pressure to the wound.

“What’s going on?  Is everything alright?”

“Nathan’s been hit.”

“This is too early!  We’re not even sure if he’s done yet.”

Nathan looks up at Emma’s face as it starts to blur.  There is no haze over pain in the dream; it’s just as real as anything you can imagine.  It’s difficult for the words to come out of his mouth: “Who’s done yet?”

The Hummer jolts left at speeds that leave it nearly tilting.  William forces the Corvette to its limits, mimicking the move exactly.  The maneuver’s violence has Emma holding Nathan close and in place.

The girl in the back of the Hummer watches all of this with an almost idyllic look on her face.

“Emma, box them in!” William yells.  As Emma closes her eyes, the road ahead commences the familiar dance, already starting to cast a long shadow over the chase.  The way blocked, the Hummer succeeds in making a narrow evasion to the right.

Something starts to pull at Emma’s sleeve and she breaks out of her spell.  Just beneath her, Nathan struggles to say something.  As she leans in closer, clarity arrives: “Watch out for my daughter.”

“We’re losing him, William.  He’s gotta be finished by now.”

“It’s better to know for sure and as long as the luxury is open to us, we’re damn well gonna try and get it,” William answers.  “So can we just up and finish this already?”

That’s it for the eighth installment.  Check back the same time next week for part nine of “The Human Vault.”