Fic: Manipulation
Title: Manipulation
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Ianto, Lisa.
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Cyberwoman.
Summary: Ianto is sure that he can save Lisa, and he’ll do whatever it takes.
Word Count: 650
Written For: My own prompt ‘Torchwood, Ianto, His belief that Lisa can be saved is unshakeable,’ at
fic_promptly.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood, or the characters. They belong to the BBC.
Ianto’s belief that Lisa can be saved is unshakeable. It has to be, because in the wake of Canary Wharf, and all the death and destruction that haunts him every time her closes his eyes, Lisa is all that’s keeping him going. Caring for her, protecting her, doing whatever is necessary to help her, gives him a purpose. She’s the reason he can still get up in the morning, the reason he eats and showers and functions like a normal human being. Without her to motivate him, he’d probably be locked up in a mental ward somewhere, rocking back and forth, head full of metal monsters and images of the bodies of his colleagues, his friends, bloody and torn, seared into his brain.
The Cyber unit that was once Lisa Hallett is totally dependent on the man Ianto Jones. Without his assistance, the unit would not have been able to evade detection and escape from the wreckage of the tower, would not have been able to gather the components necessary to construct a working conversion chamber to keep its stolen body alive until full conversion could be achieved. That the Ianto Jones unit is equally dependent on the Lisa Hallett unit is fortunate. It makes Ianto Jones easy to manipulate, utilising the memories stored in the stolen brain of Lisa Hallett.
When ‘Lisa’ cries and begs Ianto to help her, he complies. He promises he will do whatever it takes to save her. He follows every instruction ‘Lisa’ gives him without question, never appearing to even wonder how she can possibly know the inner workings of a conversion unit when she had never seen or even heard of one previously. Human brains are weak and easily fooled. Tell them what they want to hear and they willingly accept it as truth. That makes controlling Ianto Jones simple.
Under the Cyber unit’s guidance, the human is compelled to take ‘Lisa’ to Cardiff. There is a subsidiary Torchwood outpost there, it should serve adequately as a base from which to rebuild the Cyber armies and take over the planet known to its human inhabitants as earth. From there the armies will be able to spread out, converting all in their path and growing ever stronger until all are Cybermen and nothing else remains.
First, however, more assistance must be acquired. The conversion was not completed; the ‘Lisa’ unit is unable at present to function independently of the conversion unit, the machine’s systems are required to compensate for the body’s inferior biological functions. Too many of its components are still human and their efficiency has been compromised during the aborted conversion process. A human technician must be found to complete the delicate connections that will allow the ‘Lisa’ unit to breathe unaided. That is essential to continued operation.
‘Lisa’ instructs Ianto to locate and acquire the services of an expert in the field of cybernetics. He complies readily, keeping ‘Lisa’ updated on his progress. It is slow, but that is unimportant. The Cyber unit uses the time to consolidate its control over Lisa, subjugating what remains of her personality and free will to its control. Lisa’s resistance is futile.
When the ‘Lisa’ unit is mobile, the human Ianto Jones and the cybernetics expert will be rewarded. They will be the first to be converted, the beginning of the Cyber race on earth. It is fitting. After all, the unit would not have been able to achieve victory without them. They will be remade, better, stronger, free of the burdens of emotion and biological function. Until then, ‘Lisa’ will keep Ianto close so that he may continue to serve a useful purpose. As long as he believes that Lisa lives, he will remain tireless in his devotion. It is considerably more efficient to obtain his cooperation by deception than it would be by force. He is merely a puppet, and ‘Lisa’ holds his strings.
The End