Born on a farm in Siberia. He was the middle of seven children, but never fit in with his parents or siblings. He loved to read and study, math especially, which was never conducive to chores on the farm. But the State soon recognized he was a prodigy and took him, providing the best schools and teachers available. His life now was nothing like on the farm. He now had clothes, no one else had ever worn before, all the food he could eat, and all the books he could read. But there was one thing which out shown everything else, a computer. This became his life and even at a young age he showed himself superior to not only the other students, but even those teaching him. He began working on projects for the State. Each one more challenging and more important.
Then the day came they asked him to work with a team to develop a new weapon system which would revolutionize the approach to battle. It would use the West’s own technology against them. After several years and lots of late nights, they finally had a working system. It was Ivan’s master stroke of an algorithm which allowed the entire system to function. The thrill of his superiors led them to schedule a demonstration. This day would cement Ivan’s future.