The Hive Solution

Chapter 5

Silas Poe

Silas Poe closes down the holo phone seconds after Zhang's face disappeared. For a while he sits at his desk staring at the empty space where Zhang's apparition had just been. It had been over 3 years since Zhang last called Poe offering work. Back then he'd been hired to kill an investigator who was sniffing round the Dragon Corporation. It was a simple job really, he called the reporter and gave him some story about a scoop that'll blow his mind. They agreed to meet at an abandoned warehouse in the slums south of San Diego but Poe was more interested in what the reporter knew about his employer, what was it exactly that he was trying to find out about Zhang and the Dragon Corporation. Poe tortured the poor reporter for two days until he was confident he knew no more, then shot him through the back of the head. He found out some interesting facts though, facts about the Dragon Corporation itself. What he said seemed fanciful at best but how it could of happened was unknown to the reporter but it was something that was still stored in Silas's memory. Ammunition that might be useful against Zhang at a later date.

He gets up from his chair and wanders over to the small kitchen which is situated at the end of his trailer. Dirty dishes litter the counter and mould is starting to grow on scraps left on some of the plates. Silas waves away a few flies as he opens the only spotless cupboard and takes out a fitted case containing some of his favourite toys. Tools used in the quest for truth and torture, designed to inflict pain Silas had found them works of art, the screams of his victims pure music to his ears. He'd been like this since he was a child, angry and disillusioned because of the constant beatings from his father he longed for a release from the pain and hatred. Bullying other kids at school was a small outlet for him but he needed more, something else that would move him onto the next level.

Silas wanted to kill.

Then one night he came home from high school to the sound of screams coming from the kitchen. He burst through the door to the sight of his father strangling his mother. She was flat on her back across the kitchen table with his fathers hands gripped tightly round her neck. Without thinking Silas grabbed a knife from the kitchen drawer and stabbed his father in the back. The knife was only small however and his father stood up and whirled around at Silas, the rage in his eyes continuing to build. For a moment Silas felt fear, fear that his father may actually kill him before killing his mother who now lay crumpled on the floor choking. But as Silas calmly watched his father step closer he backed away and reached behind him, his hand probing the open knife drawer. He felt his fingers touch the handle of a carving knife and closed his fingers around the handle. Suddenly he felt in control, almost as if the game had been made more equal, the feeling of power palpable. Before his father could react Silas lunged forward taking his father by surprise and drove the knife deep into his chest. Blood spewed from his fathers mouth, splattering on Silas's hands and face and he stepped back from his father, who was now slowly slumping to his knees, and then onto his side. Silas stepped forward and knelt at his fathers side as the life slowly drained from him. His father stared back at him with the same look of madness that he'd seen many times. Only this time Silas was the victor, his father was beaten and he smiled in satisfaction as the life finally left his body.

The police got involved, but the killing was put down to self defence of his mother who surely would of died if it weren't for Silas's intervention. Little did they know but they'd just released a serial killer into their midst. A blood crazed lunatic who would have an insatiable appetite for pain and murder. The only thing keeping him in check was his mother who Silas idolised, but when she died of a sudden heart attack when in his mid 20's Silas went completely off the rails. Without her control other voices started talking to him. Voices from the dark reaches of his twisted, tormented mind, suggesting things to be done, talking him into dark thoughts. For a while he killed at random, picking up hookers and throttling them, or just singling people out on the street as victims. Quite simply he just did what the voices in his head told him and mostly that revolved around pain, torture and death. He developed a fetish for cleanliness, but this only revolved around his body and not his living standards as he still lived as a lazy slob. He completely shaved his body and regularly bathed in pine disinfectant. He only ever wore black, with a leather trench jacket, pants and boots to finish off the look. After the nuclear attack the police were so busy stemming the tide of riots and looting that Silas practically went unnoticed, killing at random with many murders put down to failed robberies or gang fights. But eventually he got caught trying to murder a security guard at a gas station and it looked like Silas would spend the rest of his life on a prison barge but fortunately for him Zhang heard about his case and paid off the attorney sent to prosecute him. Silas walked free and came under the wing of the Dragon Corporation and Zhang used him as a tool to carry out his dirty work.
The holo phone bleeped in the next room and Silas carefully placed his 'tools' back in the kitchen cupboard, closed the door and went to the phone to see a page exiting the printer with a list of instructions for the job. He rubbed his temple nervously as he scanned the page, he made a mental note of the address and then read through his orders. He was to just to observe the handover between the contact and the courier and make sure everything went to plan. He was only to get involved if things turned bad and then take control himself. Silas screwed the paper into a ball and threw it on the floor in anger.

"I'll do whatever I want to, if that means I'll have to kill the courier and deliver the package myself, so be it!"