[Mal goes white as a sheet-shock and anger and alarm all at once. What she did to Cobb? Does he mean all of the horror after Limbo, her own death and everything around it? She clenches her fists at her side, quelling the urge to strike him for his terrible words, and takes a deep breath, trying to speak calmly.]
Arthur. What are you saying? I know it's not easy, and I know you're still his friend, but- [She shakes her head in protest.] I will never hurt you, Arthur.
Your his temptation. His projection of you... Trying to pull him into a neverending dream. [He shakes his head sadly.]
I know you won't hurt me, Mal, because you're not Cobb's projection of you. [He pushes his jacket to the side and withdraws his glock, pointing it at Mal.] You're mine. My projection, my temptation to stay in Limbo. A link to happier times.
[There are tears starting in her eyes as she shakes her head in protest, but when he pulls out the gun she sucks in her breath, too shocked to scream. She starts to back away, not looking away from Arthur and grasping blindly for something she can use to defend herself. Ridiculously enough, the first thing that comes to hand is a pillow, cross-stitched with flowers. She clutches it in front of her like as shield.]
I'm not a projection, Arthur. I'm real. I'm me, I'm Mal, and I'm your friend. [Her voice cracks.] You told me yourself this wasn't Limbo, when I first came here. And I didn't believe you for so long, but now-Don't you remember?
SPAM - GODDAMN FFFF LOST MY TAGparadoxlolApril 28 2011, 19:03:26 UTC
[Arthur's never had a problem dispatching projections before, quickly and without mercy. They weren't real; they weren't people. Nobody was really getting hurt when he put a bullet in them. If he shoots Mal right now... The worst that'll happen is he'll watch his friend's shade "die". That's it. So why can't he do it? Why is there something inside his head screaming at him to stop? He hesitates, keeping the weapon trained on her.]
I was wrong. That's what Limbo does to you; it traps you in lies and memories. And then, it finally hit me. [He blinks, voice cracking a touch.] La toile était levée. You were right. You were trying to warn me, and I didn't listen.
SPAM - HATE IT WHEN THAT HAPPENS.cauchemalApril 28 2011, 19:09:18 UTC
No. No, that's not it, that's not it at all.
[Or is it? Maybe he's right and all that struggle was fighting against the truth, and -- No. Something's wrong with Arthur now, it must be, if he thinks that she's a projection, a shade, because she knows she's not, damn it. She stops backing away, holds out a beseeching hand, while still clutching her pillow to her breast.]
Please, Arthur. Don't do this. You are real. This is real. Look at your totem.
Totem? [That word triggers something in him, but nothing all that promising. Just a flash of white noise, this tear in his memory that keeps picking away at him.] I don't-- [He shakes his head.]
You're so perfect. [His aim wavers as he says that, a hint of despair lacing his voice.] Just like I remember. [He swallows.] Cobb never had my attention to detail. [He starts to lower the gun. This projection is too... too real. He doesn't know if he can do it.]
[She moves closer as he lowers the gun, still holding the stupid pillow in defence.]
Dom's a romantic. [Tiny smile. She's hoping to tease him out of this, perhaps.] Your precision is why we liked you. But even you couldn't -- I promise you, I'm no projection. I'm real.
[He shakes his head insistently.] I don't know what you're talking about. I don't have a totem. It's another trick, a distraction.
[He squeezes his eyes shut.] No. No, he's... He thinks of you differently. [He opens his eyes, allowing her to come nearer.] We're all splitting in two, Mal. Those of us who are dreaming. Me, Ariadne, Cobb... [Because obviously that's who Archer and Costigan are. He leaves Fischer unspoken.] You go back far enough in the network, and you'll even find another Eames. [By the name of Shinzon, apparently.] This isn't reality. It can't be.
[A sad little laugh.] Of course he thinks of me differently; I'm his wife. [There are tears running down her face now.] You can't imagine how much I want this to be a dream, but now I know that it isn't. I still don't understand these doubles, these twins, but I know they're real, and they're not who you think they are.
[She's close enough now to touch him and reaches up to lay a hand lightly on his cheek.] I know it's dreadful here. I know it's hard. But it's not a dream.
[Arthur swallows when she touches his cheek, and he shakes his head.] You have no idea how much I wish I could believe you. But I can't. There's no way of proving this is real... All the evidence points the other way. [With that, he raises the gun, not to shoot her, but to thwack her across the head and take her out of commission. If she's right... no lasting harm. If she's lying, that's one projection down for now.]
[Well. Mal isn't expecting that. In dreams (and unbeknownst to her so far, as Cobb's projection) her reflexes are quick and dangerous; in the waking world, not so much. So even though she flails at Arthur with the pillow, it's too little, too late. The gun connects with her head hard in exactly the right spot, and she drops to the floor, unconscious.]
[Arthur, you've got a funny idea of "no lasting harm".]
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I'm so glad to see you. Come in, please.
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You're different. [Is that regret in his voice? Yes, yes it is.]
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I think I am the same as I was yesterday.
[She takes a step closer, watching his face.]
You, however, seem ... not quite yourself.
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Arthur. What are you saying? I know it's not easy, and I know you're still his friend, but- [She shakes her head in protest.] I will never hurt you, Arthur.
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I know you won't hurt me, Mal, because you're not Cobb's projection of you. [He pushes his jacket to the side and withdraws his glock, pointing it at Mal.] You're mine. My projection, my temptation to stay in Limbo. A link to happier times.
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I'm not a projection, Arthur. I'm real. I'm me, I'm Mal, and I'm your friend. [Her voice cracks.] You told me yourself this wasn't Limbo, when I first came here. And I didn't believe you for so long, but now-Don't you remember?
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I was wrong. That's what Limbo does to you; it traps you in lies and memories. And then, it finally hit me. [He blinks, voice cracking a touch.] La toile était levée. You were right. You were trying to warn me, and I didn't listen.
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[Or is it? Maybe he's right and all that struggle was fighting against the truth, and -- No. Something's wrong with Arthur now, it must be, if he thinks that she's a projection, a shade, because she knows she's not, damn it. She stops backing away, holds out a beseeching hand, while still clutching her pillow to her breast.]
Please, Arthur. Don't do this. You are real. This is real. Look at your totem.
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You're so perfect. [His aim wavers as he says that, a hint of despair lacing his voice.] Just like I remember. [He swallows.] Cobb never had my attention to detail. [He starts to lower the gun. This projection is too... too real. He doesn't know if he can do it.]
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[She moves closer as he lowers the gun, still holding the stupid pillow in defence.]
Dom's a romantic. [Tiny smile. She's hoping to tease him out of this, perhaps.] Your precision is why we liked you. But even you couldn't -- I promise you, I'm no projection. I'm real.
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[He squeezes his eyes shut.] No. No, he's... He thinks of you differently. [He opens his eyes, allowing her to come nearer.] We're all splitting in two, Mal. Those of us who are dreaming. Me, Ariadne, Cobb... [Because obviously that's who Archer and Costigan are. He leaves Fischer unspoken.] You go back far enough in the network, and you'll even find another Eames. [By the name of Shinzon, apparently.] This isn't reality. It can't be.
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[She's close enough now to touch him and reaches up to lay a hand lightly on his cheek.] I know it's dreadful here. I know it's hard. But it's not a dream.
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[Arthur, you've got a funny idea of "no lasting harm".]
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