Title: Love Your Mother
Author: WingedPanther73
Pairing(s)/Characters: Ivan Whiskey
Rating: PG-13
Summary: The origins of Ivan, from his perspective
Warnings: Violence against an infant and woman.
Disclaimer: Cyborg 009, its names and characters belong to Shotaro Ishinomori
Beta Reader: Sybil Rowan
Warmth, comfort, safety. He became aware of his world, the mind of his mother gently crooning to him as he grew. --Come, my little Ivan. It's time for you to be conscious.--
--Who is Ivan?--
--You are, my darling. And I am your mother.--
--Where are you, mother?--
--I am all around you. I want you to grow strong, little Ivan, so you can be a healthy boy.--
He, Ivan, took this in. He was in his mother. She loved him. It was good to be alive.
Pain! His mother was in pain. He was shift at the same time. --Mother, what's going on?--
--You are being born!--
Ivan reached into her mind and blocked the sensation of pain within her mind.
--Thank you, Ivan. You are already so strong!--
--I love you, mother. You shouldn't suffer.--
Suddenly, there was a terrible pressure on him. It was accompanied by groans of effort from his mother. It didn't hurt, as such, but it was horribly uncomfortable. The pressure came again. The safety of this space was pushing him out!
--Mother, I don't think I want to be born.--
--You have no choice, my darling. You must be born, or we will die.--
--Both of us?--
That pressure came again. --Yes. There is no choice. You must be born.--
Ivan felt the direction of the pressure, and pushed himself in the same direction, trying to help his mother. If he must be born, he should be born as quickly as possible. His mother was having difficulty.
With great difficulty on both their parts, Ivan's head emerged from his mother. The compression on his chest had forced every bit of amniotic fluid from his lungs. With his sudden, full exposure to the air, his chest decompressed. With the shock of air on his skin and lungs, he could only do one thing, cry.
Ivan enjoyed life as a baby. He and his mother were inseparable and maintained constant contact through their telepathy. His father was somewhat distant, however. Mother insisted it was his work. Living in Russia wasn't easy, so his father had to work hard to provide for them.
It seemed that his father had been blessed with great intelligence, and, as such, was required to give nearly every waking moment to the country. Not everyone was as talented. Some people could only grow a few vegetables in a garden. Still, Ivan was allowed to spend time with his mother, learning the basics of his powers.
His father did take time to see to his needs as well, however. He came home and regularly gave Ivan shots. The shots hurt, but his father insisted that they were vital to maintaining his health. Apparently, being able to project his thoughts came with severe physical ailments that required steady treatments to prevent a risk of severe illness.
One day, he awoke with a splitting headache. His father was standing over him with a strange look in his eye. --Father, what's happened? My head hurts.--
"Oh, nothing much my boy. I just operated on you. Your powers will soon increase a thousand-fold!"
--I don' understand. What do you mean?--
"I cut open your head and placed some special electronics in your brain. You'll be the proof of all my theories, my boy!"
"Fyoder? Fyoder! What have you done?"
"I've improved him, Erika. Can't you see how important this will be for us?"
"You've operated on our son! What were you thinking?"
"He will prove all my theories on augmentation of psychic ability are correct."
"You can't treat our son as an experiment."
His mother grabbed him from his crib and held him close. --I'll protect you, Iv...-- It cut off with a horrible crunching sound, and the trickle of her blood onto his forehead.
"You shouldn't have interfered, Erika."
The butcher had taken him to this place to become the pet lab rat of Black Ghost. He was correct, that the electronics, crude though they were, had boosted his power. Black Ghost quality had brought his claims to reality, along with the need to keep him doped at all times.
The drugs they kept him on made it so hard to focus on his abilities. Even communicating with his captors was a struggle. Despite that, they kept pushing him to practice his abilities in the fog. He could move a playing card, he could hear and send surface thoughts, and that was about it.
"Now, then, Ivan. Let's see what you can do for us today."
--I can't do shit, Butcher. You've got me doped up, remember?--
Blazing pain bloomed in Ivan's face, his head whipping back. This time, something cracked. "I told you not to call me that! I am your FATHER!"
Ivan couldn't breath. --My neck. Broken. At last.-- Consciousness faded.
Ivan awoke. Damn them! It would figure that they could handle a broken neck. He looked down, and realized that his body was changed. He was still a baby, but it was different. He couldn't walk anymore. He hadn't been good at it in the first place, but his legs wouldn't support him. He couldn't even crawl. What had they done to him?
"He's awake, Dr. Gamo."
"Good. Now Ivan, we've decided to take some measures to deal with your attitude problem. To start with, you will never grow older. I decided it was worthwhile to push you back a little, actually."
That explained a lot. --So what? You're still a butcher.--
The pain bloomed in his cheek, and his body slammed against the wall. "That's another thing. We've made your body a little tougher. If you're going to keep pissing me off, I'll make sure you don't die."
Ivan tried to lift his head, but even that was a struggle. The anesthetic hadn't worn off, yet. --So you weren't done butchering your son?--
This time, his father kicked him into the corner. "Enough of that disrespect! I am your father! You will NOT refer to me as 'Butcher'!"
--Fine. Fyoder, you are not a father, but I won't taunt you.--
"Insolent brat."
Ivan opened his eyes, blinking away the anesthetic fog. It was pitch black. That was odd. Normally, they had so many lights on that he had to squint as he came out of it. He heard voices around him, talking.
He probed out to the source of the voices. --PSYCHIC ACTIVITY DETECTED: INITIATING MISSION PROTOCOLS. 336 HOURS UNTIL SHUTDOWN.-- What the hell was that? Suddenly, he felt a surge and could clearly hear the thoughts of everyone in the complex. Somehow, he was able to process the flood of information.
He was not in a dark room, they had ripped out his eyes. The butcher --UNACCEPTABLE THOUGHT DETECTED. INITIATING PUNISHMENT ROUTINE.-- Pain ripped through his body for several seconds. As the pain subsided, he heard a sob and --my son...--.
--Mom?-- --ATTEMPTED CIRCUMVENTION OF SECURITY SETTINGS DETECTED. ABORTING.-- A splitting pain surged through his head as the energy of the broadcast rebounded into him.
Ivan began to cry. The frustration and confusion were too much.
By the time Francois arrived, Ivan understood the rules. The electronics in his head would boost his abilities during a mission, but put him in a two-week coma after two weeks. Mission start was triggered by the use of his abilities.
He was blind and helpless, with a drug factory replacing his muscles. His body was designed to dope him into oblivion on command.
Attempts to circumvent the electronics were a violation. Attempts to talk about the electronics were a violation. Insults to Fyoder were a violation. The only consolation was the fact that some of his mother's brain was used by the electronics. He could talk with her again, by doing very specific types of short-range general broadcasts.
They were together forever.