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The exact date of Icheb's birth is unknown but it is probably some time in the early 2370s. As revealed in [Child's Play], he was raised by apparently loving parents, his father and mother Leucon and Yifay, on the agrarian Brunali homeworld. The name "Icheb" was his father's second name, this being a fact that comes back to Icheb after the Doctor has removed his implants on Voyager ([Collective]). He seems to have been a happy and curious child, often impatient to learn, and also quite an athlete, and he used to play the outdoor ball game with other children. The game is called pala.

The Brunali settlement that is home to Icheb's parents. (pop-up window) Icheb, Seven, Janeway and Tuvok beam to the settlement.

Leucon	Yifay	a youth calls out an invitation to Icheb to play pala that evening
above 4 screenshots from [Child's Play]

Leucon lies to Seven [Child's Play]

Leucon's story of Icheb's assimilation as told to Seven is that young Icheb was assimilated during one of the frequent Borg attacks (once every few years or so): "Since the Borg first attacked us, we've taken whatever new technology we develop (so that passing cubes would not be attracted to the planet). ... One morning, about four years ago (i.e. about 2372), Icheb heard me talking about a fertilisation array we constructed in the lower field. He wanted to see it. I told him we'd take him the next day. But he was impatient the ways boys can be. I never even realised he'd wandered off when the alarm sounded. Turns out the Borg were just as interested in our new technology as Icheb was. They took it, assimilated everyone in the area. If only I'd kept a closer eye on him."

In fact, the Brunali are experts in genetic engineering, and they, or at least Leucon and Yifay, used that expertise to alter the 3rd, 13th and 17th chromosomes of Icheb's genome so that at birth he would produce a pathogen designed to attack cybernetic organisms such as the Borg. Once unleashed upon the Borg Collective via Icheb's assimilation, it would cause irreparable damage to the drones on board the Borg vessel where it occurred. Icheb remained unaware that he had been genetically engineered at conception until USS Voyager rescued him for the second time in 2376 and the Doctor was able to report on the pathogen:     "He was genetically engineered to produce the pathogen, from birth." That second time his parents used the same method as they had done previously, sending him (no doubt in an unconscious condition) in a Brunali space transport vessel towards the Borg transwarp conduit that is located less than a light-year away from the Brunali planet. The Borg Collective recorded his assimilation as being in grid 649. Icheb's parents probably also caused the transport vessel to emit false readings to simulate technology that the Borg would be drawn to, in order to ensure that the Borg took the bait.

Leucon shows Icheb the settlement's genetic resequencer [Child's Play] Mezoti informs Seven that Icheb was on a ship when he was captured by the Borg [Child's Play]

screenshot from [Collective]   Icheb was duly captured and assimilated by the Borg. He was placed in a maturation chamber aboard a Borg cube operated by 5,000 drones (the number is stated by Seven in [Collective] but she may have been rounding up or down). As with Seven, the Hive mind would have restructured his synaptic pathways, purged his individuality with the intention that, when he emerged as a mature drone any turmoil of his forced assimilation would have been replaced with order [Collective]. However, the pathogen worked and irreparably damaged the drones on board the Borg cube, causing them to malfunction and, in effect, die. Only the neo-natal drones in the maturation chambers were unaffected. Icheb's accelerated development as a result of his stay inside a maturation chamber means that he has the body of a young man. He retained very few memories of his pre-Borg life, except that he remembers his mother's hair was blonde and that Icheb was his father's second name. Malfunctions on the cube caused several of the maturation chambers to open prematurely, and Icheb was the first to exit. Others were the humanoid male with the appearance of a teenager, the young girl Mezoti (a Norcadian) and the young male twins Azan and Rebi (of the Wysanti). (Mezoti's species is established in [Collective], Azan's and Rebi's in [Imperfection].) They were not fully-formed Borg drones yet. Seven notes that their thorassic nodes have not formed yet. They tried to return to the maturation chambers but they were offline. Icheb's being the first to exit from the maturation chambers made him the natural choice as leader of the small collective, but he was unable to establish order and was relegated to the designation Two of Five by the humanoid teenager mentioned above who took the designation One of Five (also known as "the First"). The neo-natal drones sent a distress call to the Borg Collective but believe that it was not received. However, Seven decrypts the cube's communications records and ascertains that the Borg did receive their distress call but that a vessel was not despatched - the Collective declared them irrelevant and severed their link to the Hive permanently, indicating, as Janeway surmises: "They see them as damaged, unworthy of re-assimilation." The neo-natal drones are, however, unable to decrypt the message and so their goal remains to contact the Borg Collective.

Under the First's leadership the collective tries to pursue a typical Borg agenda by assimilating members of other species, but they are too unfocussed, ill-prepared and lack sufficient knowledge. They manage to capture the crew of the Delta Flyer in mid-2376 comprising Chakotay, Paris and Neelix, but at first miss capturing Kim. Chakotay, Paris and Neelix see a dead victim whose body shows the result of the Borg children's botched attempt at an assimilation. The collective plan to hold hostages to force the Voyager crew to surrender USS Voyager's deflector assembly which would enable the collective to signal the Borg Collective. Upon negotiation, Chakotay, Paris and Neelix are returned to Voyager, while Seven comes aboard the cube to supervise the work necessary to install the equipment.

Two of Five (Icheb) is curious about Seven [Collective]

Icheb proves more inquisitive, more approachable and willing to help than One of Five. He stands up to One of Five when the latter decides to kill Seven. When the collective directs a Borg tractor pulse at Voyager's deflector, trying to tear it off physically, Voyager sends a feedback pulse to disable the tractor pulse which overloads the cube's shield matrix. A feedback charge overloads the Borg induction grids. Refusing to accept this setback, One of Five goes to the controls but is fatally injured by electrocution when he touches them. The surviving neo-natal drones are beamed to USS Voyager where the Doctor manages to remove most of their implants, severing them permanently from the Borg Collective.

Seven has salvaged their assimilation files and is thus able to supply them with certain background information such as their names. Icheb's assimilation file proves useful not long afterwards as a means of checking Leucon's account of Icheb's assimilation [Child's Play]. Along with the other three survivors, Icheb still needs to regenerate in a Borg alcove, for a minimum of 6 uninterrupted hours per day [Collective]. Fortunately, after Voyager's brief alliance with the Borg at tne end of 2373/start of 2374 [#68 and #69 Scorpion], Voyager retained enough Borg alcoves in cargo bay 2.

Icheb, with most Borg implants removed [Collective]

the Borg children regenerate in the Borg alcoves, cargo bay 2 [Collective]

Icheb's assimilation file, displayed on the astrometrics lab viewscreen [Child's Play]

Janeway persuades Seven to take on the role of guardian and educator for Icheb and the other children.

Janeway: "We've sent out calls to any Brunali and Norcadian ships that might be in the vicinity, but we haven't gotten any responses so far, and we're still trying to work out where the other two came from. It may take a while."
Seven: "They could use the time. They have a great deal to learn."
Janeway: "It might help if they had someone around who knew what they're up against."
Seven: "I've never been responsible for children. Mr Neelix would be a wiser choice."
Janeway: "From what I've seen you're the one they've established a bond with. They'll be looking to you for guidance."
Seven: "Perhaps I could help them avoid some of the obstacles I've encountered."

Icheb is happy to remain aboard Voyager. He demonstrates an aptitude for astrophysics, which he later discovers is inherited from his father, [Child's Play]. He acts as assistant to Seven in the astrometrics lab in addition to undertaking his schoolwork. He has a love of the stars and celestial phenomena: "When I was on the cube, I never thought about what was outside - pulsars, quasars, nebulas, but here in this lab I feel like I can see the entire galaxy."

viewscreen of the astrometrics lab	Icheb: "It's a star forming in the Orpisay nebula. ... I increased the resolution of the long-range scanners."	Icheb: "...I feel like I can see the entire galaxy."
above 3 screenshots from [Collective]

Icheb's demonstrates his aptitude by increasing the ship's long-range scanner resolution, which Seven remarks is: "Impressive." He constructs a high-resolution gravimetric sensor array for the 1st Annual Voyager Science Fair, a piece of equipment which greatly interests Torres and Chakotay. Icheb says of his array: "It'll augment our ability to scan for the neutrino flux associated with wormholes. It could help Voyager find a faster way home." Seven notes: "The engineering principles are sound." When Torres asks him how he thought of scanning for neutrino fluctuations, Icheb replies that he has been studying Starfleet records. Janeway praises Icheb and his work. Seven tells her privately that Icheb hopes to earn a permanent posting to astrometrics.

Janeway: "...this is truly exceptional." Icheb: "Thank you, Captain. I'm very interested in astrophysics." Janeway: "Well, you've obviously got a knack for it. Well done."		3 screenshots from [Child's Play]

Icheb and the other children, including Naomi Wildman, play kadiskot. [Ashes to Ashes] Icheb defies Seven. [Ashes to Ashes]

Icheb's dedication means that he would rather work than regenerate, as he views time spent regenerating as being wasted. He extends this view to eating: "I prefer to work while I eat. It's a more efficient use of my time." This brings him into occasional conflict with Seven who likes to keep the children on a strict schedule, though no doubt she follows Chakotay's advice and tries to allow the children more opportunities to explore and express their individuality [Ashes to Ashes]. She is sometimes flexible in allowing Icheb leeway as regards his timetable, as when she finds he has spent an hour longer in astrometrics than scheduled ([Child's Play]). She also schedules recreational activities for the children, starting one such session with the words, "Fun will now commence." However, Icheb's progress towards individuality sometimes gets ahead of Seven's guidance. During a kadiskot game, Icheb openly rebels against her system of punishments, refusing to abide by her order to carry out punishment protocol 9-alpha and walking out of the room instead.

Icheb is just as susceptible to a good ghost story as anyone. He is engrossed in the story told to him and the other children by Neelix in late 2376, when they gather in cargo bay 2 while the ship's main power is down, as depicted in [#145 The Haunting of Deck 12]. It turns out that it is simply a means to keep the youngsters distracted from what is really happening, namely that an alien has invaded the ship's systems in order to blackmail the crew. However, the children's over-active imaginations and the fact that Deck 12, section 42, has been off-limits to all but senior officers for some time, fuel the tension and sense of fear and apprehension. Icheb tries to remain calm and collected throughout the experience but fails, despite his rationalisation that people should not allow themselves to be afraid because it distracts them from accomplishing their goals. He offers ideas on how the story might turn out and what the nature of the mysterious alien being might be.