Moriarty could sense that something was wrong as he looked out at the hallway for what seemed like the tenth time. The hotel was silent. Granted it was around two in the morning, so he didn't expect it to be bustling with life. However, if it wasn't the noise what was it? Jim shook his head and turned back toward his door. As he reached out to grasp the doorknob, he saw writing on the back of his hand:

Don't look back. Go inside get a pad. Take notes when they talk to remember. You have a deal to make.

Resisting the urge to look back was not as difficult as one might think. This was hardly the first time Moriarty had to pretend to act normal for the sake of his job. He walked into the room, his feet sinking into the overly plush carpet. Taking a pad of paper from the first surface he could find. He turned back to the open doorway. Except the doorway wasn't open, a creature the likes of which Moriarty had never seen before blocked it.

It stood tall in the doorway; its head barely scrapped the top of the frame. It was human-like in the sense that it had two legs, two arms, one head, and two eyes. But its face looked like a child had taken flesh colored silly putty and over exaggerated the chin and hooded the eyes so that they looked more like holes.

"James Moriarty," the creature said in a raspy voice.

"That's correct," he stood with his face straight, looking the creature up and down. "And you are?"

"The Silence."

"I like that. That's a catchy name." Moriarty cocked his head, and wrote the name down on the pad in blue pen. "So what do you want?"

"The Doctor."

"I don't know who that is." Moriarty replied. "But I will find him soon enough. No one can stay hidden for long."

"He is not human."

"You mean to say that he's alien?"

"Yes." The Silence replied, drawing the word out for a moment.

"Is he an alien like you?"

"No. He appears human but is not. He travels in a blue box, a police box."

"He's a little out of date then. Shouldn't be hard to find him." Moriarty paused for a moment, his brain working a hundred thoughts per second. "But I will only doing it on one condition."

The Silence said nothing, waiting for Moriarty to continue. Jim reached into the pocket briefly and hit the record button on his phone. There was no way he'd be able to write down everything he was about to say.

"I help you. You help me. I think that's fair enough, especially when it will be mutually beneficial. I don't like the sound of this Doctor fellow, and I think that he should be eliminated. That fits your agenda too. I have lost most of my men, and need to rebuild my…. web as you might say. You have a unique power, if I'm imagining this correctly. Once I turn away, I won't remember you other than what I have written down on this," he help up the pad and shook it. "I imagine that this particular talent gives you the power to plant thoughts in my unconscious mind. You can do that for everyone and anyone, if I'm correct."

"Yes."

"I thought so. It's a delicious power, you know. One that I would like to put to use." He paused for dramatic effect. "What do you say?"

"I speak for both myself and my brothers when I agree to what you've said."

"Brilliant." Moriarty held out his hand, and The Silence shook it.

"We will be in touch again soon."

The Silence turned away and walked out of the doorway and down the hall. Moriarty watched it leave, thinking about the deal he had just made. He jotted down quickly: check the recording.

Why was he standing in the doorway? What was he doing? Moriarty struggled to remember. He was on his way to talk to someone. He was going to make a deal, which is why he had a notepad in his hand. A pad that, when he looked at it, was full of notes he had no recollection of taking.

The Doctor - alien, find, blue police box, human-like

The Silence- alien, silly putty face, comrades, don't remember them when you turn a way

The Deal - find doctor for them, they help you get back on top/ take over the world's system

Implants subconscious thought, but conscious thought it forgotten

Check Recording.

"Ahhh." Moriarty exhaled. "That explains it all, doesn't it?"

He pulled his phone out of his pocket as he closed the door to the hotel room. It was still recording when he unlocked the screen. It had been going for five minutes, but it seemed like it had only been a moment since he grabbed the pad. The way The Silence communicated was unsettling. He was going to have to work out a new system with them, because he disliked how untrustworthy his memory was becoming.

Sitting down in the sole armchair in the room, Moriarty listened to the recording, noting that he couldn't remember what was said afterward. Whatever system of communication he worked out with The Silence, it would have to be typed words. It seemed like he could retain nothing else in his memory. He could work that out later. For now, he needed to focus on finding the Doctor with the blue police box.

Certain that he wouldn't be difficult to track down, Jim opened a webpage to Google and searched for the "doctor with police box." He hoped to find a news article about that strange appearance. Instead he found a Wikipedia page about a police box, which apparently was called the TARDIS. A "time travel machine" that was from the planet "Gallifrey." At least it appeared that he was alien. However, as he continued to read, his enthusiasm for the simplicity of this task began to fade. The Doctor appeared to be a fictional character, and, even if he was real, he had thirteen different faces. It would be difficult to track him down.

Moriarty started humming as he scrolled through articles about Doctor Who, until he found one that mentioned Sherlock with a picture of Sherlock, except the article called him Benedict Cumberbatch.

"What a stupid name," Moriarty muttered as he typed "BBC Sherlock Moriarty" into the search bar. He was shocked by the pictures of himself that came up even though he was expecting it. His face was plastered all over the Internet, destroying his cover completely. Anyone who had watched this show, which was like to be millions of people worldwide, would recognize him.

Or…. He searched "Moriarty actor BBC Sherlock."

"Andrew Scott," he read out loud, recognizing it as the name the hotel worker had addressed him as. Perhaps, he would be hidden even more now. Any searches of his name would turn up results from the TV show, there was an actor who looked exactly like him, and no one knew that he was here. Oh yes, this could work very well, indeed.