Adaptation
Silva, Vindicator to Villain
MI6 Agent James Bond slowly opens his eyes to see that he is surrounded by computers neatly aligned on tables throughout a giant otherwise abandoned building. The crash of waves could be heard and he could smell the salty seawater. As Bond goes to reach to rub his eyes his hand is yanked by a rope; he is tied to his chair. James looks around and can see an elevator slowly descending the ground floor on which he is on. Eventually, the doors open and a blonde-haired man in a white suit jacket steps out: “Hello James, welcome. Do you like the island?” the man says. James does not answer. After a short pause, the man begins to walk towards him. The man begins to tell a story from his childhood to Bond: “My grandmother had an island. Nothing to boast of - you could walk along it in an hour, but it was a paradise for us. But one summer we went for a visit and discovered the island had been infested with rats! How do you get rats off an island? My grandmother showed me.” Bond sat still and quietly. The man in the white suit went on, “You bury an oil drum and hinge the lid, then attach coconut as bait. The rats would come for the coconut and pung, pung, pung, they fall into the trap. After a month you have trapped them all.” The man was getting closer, he was more than halfway across the warehouse. He was slowly walking toward Bond while he was telling his story. His calming voice only increased the tension. “What do you do with the drum? Burn it? Throw it into the ocean? No, you just leave it. They will begin to get hungry, one by one they begin to eat each other until there are only two left - the two survivors. Do you kill them? No, you take them and release them. You have changed their nature, now they only eat rat.” The man was standing right over James now, he could feel his breath. He now knew who he was. Former MI6 agent, Silva. He had been handed over to the Chinese in a prisoner exchange after he was discovered spying on them. Bond realized that this was a capable man, Silva knew what he is doing. “The two survivors. That’s what she made us.” Now it became clear what he wanted. It was not money or power, it was revenge. James knew the 'she' Silva referred to was M, the head of MI6. M was the one responsible for the prisoner exchange. “Do you trust her?” Silva's voice punctuated the silence. Bond had no reason not to, “I make my own choices.” Silva smirks, “You think you do. That's her genius. You're still clinging to your faith in that woman when all she does is lie to you.” “She never lied to me.” Bond snaps back. Silva walks over to a computer neatly laid out on a table beside him. He begins to tell Bond how he had, in fact, failed his courses when M told him he had passed (albeit by the skin of his teeth). First was his marksman course where he only got half of a passing score, he was seen as not in well enough shape to continue, especially since he had previously been wound by a gunshot. Silva mentions how the psychiatrist had advised to not let him continue as he had a childhood trauma which still affected him. Silva’s motives for this are clear: get rid of Bond’s trust for M to him on his side. He would take her down by taking away her power. Without her agents' loyalty, she would be defenseless and Silva could get to her and exact his revenge. Silva walked back to Bond. He unbuttoned the top few buttons of James’ shirt revealing his gunshot wound. “Do you see what she’s done to you?” He stood up and untied Bond. “You’re living in a ruin. But at least here there are no old ladies giving orders and no ridiculous gadgets from Q branch.” Silva was being facetious, he knew Bond would not have come alone and without any equipment. Despite this, he knew what he was doing. “Let me show you something,” Silva says as he turns to leave the building. As Bond stood up there was a tremendous bang and a flash of white. Through his daze, he could tell the sound of gunshots. The last thing he remembered was someone grabbing him and carrying him somewhere.
When James woke up he could see he was in MI6. His tacking radio must have given M the ability to send a special forces team to recover him and capture Silva. He looked around and saw M, she noticed he was awake and told him to come with her, they were going to visit Silva. Bond could clearly hear that M was nervous, she had not seen him in over a decade and did not know what to expect. Silva has been detained and placed in a cell where he is sitting on a stool in the center. He was wearing a plain white jumpsuit. A door opens, M and Bond walk in. At first, Silva does not acknowledge them. As M approaches the cell Silva grinned. “It has been so long, I barely remembered what you looked like.”
“Whereas I barely remembered you at all,” M replies.
Silva’s grin grew larger, “Strange, for me it feels just like yesterday ... Are you surprised?”
M paused a second, “Not really. I always knew there was something strange about you.”
“No remorse”
“Regret is unprofessional,” responds M
Silva echoed her response, he laughed. Immediately after his mood switches. He had a serious face. “They kept me in a room for five months. They tortured me. And I protected you, I protected your secrets. But they made me suffer. Then I realized: It was you who betrayed me. I had only one thing left. My cyanide capsule in my back left molar. You remember it don’t you? You gave it to me.” Silva stopped and looked at M’s face. It was no longer rigid and formal but rather had a somber look on it. He went on, “So I broke the tooth and bit into the capsule. It burned, but I did not die. Then I understood why I had survived. I needed to see you one last time.”
“I hope it was worth it.” She saw him smile.
“Mr. Silva, you are going to be transferred to a separate prison where you will be tried for your crimes.” She turned to leave.
“Do you know what it does to you? Hydrogen-Cyanide.” Silva removed his set of false upper teeth. His face became disfigured and few burnt looking teeth were visible. “Look upon your work.”
As M and Bond walked out Silva grinned, although he had only talked to M the conversation was directed towards James. He knew that he was making Bond question his loyalty. If M could do this to him, how can Bond know he is safe? Walking away from the room the cell was in M explains the situation to Bond. She explains how Silva was her best agent as James was now, but he went beyond his orders, hacking the Chinese. She tells how the Chinese had found out about this and to save herself from the legal repercussions of hacking foreign countries, she agreed to trade Silva for six previously captured agents. Bond realizes what Silva was trying to do to him, he was not trying to get him to his side because he was trying to help him get away from M or because he needed help taking her down, but rather he was trying only to weaken M. James was just a pawn in Silva’s elaborate plan. As Bond and M continued away, alarm bells suddenly blared. James turned and ran to check on Silva’s holding cell. He saw the worst thing that could have happened, Silva had escaped. The electronic lock that was keeping him in had seemingly opened on its own and let him out. Besides the cell, the guard set to watch Silva was unconscious. As bond reached to check to see if the guard was all right he saw something peculiar, a floor grate was propped open. James decided that was where he go try to find Silva as it was his only lead. He also knew that once Silva was able to get far enough away, all MI6 could do would be to sit and wait for him to strike again. As Bond entered the grate he noticed that it lead to the London subway system. This could dump Silva out anywhere in the city so he had to act fast. As James made his way into down the entrance ladder he caught a glimpse of Silva’s bright white jumpsuit, he had not gotten far. The small access way opened up into a larger area. Though the room was very dim Bond flipped the switch on a light panel and saw Silva frantically climbing a ladder. James had just enough time to pull his gun and fire three shots before he got to the top and was gone. Once Bond reached the top of the ladder he found an access door which led to an exit of a subway station. He also saw small drops of blood, Silva had been hit at least once. Unbeknownst to James, M was at a court trial testifying in her defense about how Silva was traded to the Chinese and for the subsequent damage caused by him after his escape. James may not have known about it, but Silva did and that is exactly where he was headed.
As Silva arrived at the courthouse he was met by three hired guns all of whom were dressed in police uniforms. Silva was so focused and excited for this moment that he did not notice the gunshot wound to his right hand. As Silva was handed his gun one of the men pointed out his wound. Silva decided that it would not stop him from finishing his plan. He had planned for over a decade for this moment, he had been anticipating the feeling of happiness and the relief of stress when the deed was done how could he turn back now? Triumphantly he stormed into the building with his mercenaries. They took out the two guards by the door like it was nothing, a hurt hand could not stop him. As he walked towards the closed doors to the courtroom in which M was speaking in Silva focused in of the door. He was blocking out all thoughts but the thought of his revenge, nothing could stop him he thought. As he reached the door he checked to see if it had been locked. It had not. He took a deep breath and was ready. With one kick the door flew open, everyone in the room turned to see what was causing the commotion. M looked back to see Silva raising his gun towards her with a terrifying grin on his face. Silva looked into M’s eyes, he saw her fear which at that moment she could not hide. Time seemed to slow down for him. All he could think of was the pain that he received because of her. “Now it’s her turn,” he thought to himself. As Silva aimed his gun at M it was unmistakable how much he was shaking. He closed his eyes and pulled the trigger. The moment the gun recoiled in his hand, Silva felt a wave of euphoria. He had done it. No more planning, no more waiting. It had been exactly what he had wanted since he was taken captive by the Chinese. Silva wanted to stay in this feeling as long as he could, so he just stood them. His eyes were still closed, his arm was still raised, and his hand still clutched his pistol. All he had to do was wait for the police to fire back at him and he would be completely free. So he just waited.