Isaac remembers little of his parents; they died when he was very young. He was instead raised by an uncle for most of his early years. Isaac's uncle was a stern and distant man, though not a cruel one; he prioritized his work above all else, though. Fortunately, he was also well-off, ensuring that, though he himself was often otherwise occupied, there was a steady procession of people to look after young Isaac, clean up after him, fix his meals, and even educate him. None of them, though, had much patience for youthful foibles or follies or childhood fears of what lie in the dark, and his uncle had even less; Isaac grew to be a quiet child, and one who learned self-possession and self-control early on.
Isaac was 12 years old when the Bomb went off; he and his uncle were both spared from the worst, thankfully, but afterwards Isaac's uncle was home far less frequently; his work, apparently, had become much more demanding. His uncle apparently did well enough, though; Isaac wanted for little, even if he mostly wound up raising himself. The Bomb had a definite impact on Isaac, though; he found the idea that someone could just explode like that to be quite scary… and maybe a little awe-inspiring. As more news followed, though, young Isaac began to grow interested. The idea that these people were the next step in human evolution, that there were real life supers, was one that he found fascinating. He didn't say anything like that aloud, of course - the nannies and maids and tutors would've been horrified. They were already horrified, in fact, at the news about the Evolved; Isaac knew this because, like many adults who should know better, they nevertheless tended to think of children as closer to vegetables than actual human beings, especially when they're quiet… and young Isaac was a quiet child.
The Linderman Act passed in 2008; Isaac didn't get tested at the time, and was well-behaved enough to avoid any of the circumstances that might have forced the issue. His uncle was against the test from the start; when testing became mandatory in 2010, his uncle very grudgingly had him tested… and Isaac came up SLC negative. This, to young Isaac, was something of a crushing blow, but even the mention of being disappointed with the test results drew such a look from his uncle that he never said another word about it in his presence. Still, as depressing as the test results were… there was, perhaps, a blessing to be found there. Isaac knew that the public distrusted the Evolved, feared them; while he saw that as more a reflection on the idiocy of the unwashed masses than anything else, he could definitely see that getting outed as one of them could be… potentially disadvantageous. Still, the longer Isaac thought about it, the more certain he was that something had been fishy. Even aside from how atypically adamant his uncle was about the matter… there was something else. Every now and again, in the dark of the night, he would get a feeling, a sense that there was something there in the darkness, all around him. At his side. Behind him. It was terrifying… and somehow thrilling in equal measure.
Then, one clear Saturday evening in February of 2011, the President just flew off into the sky, just like that, and then suddenly half the city got leveled in what was revealed to be a fight between two awesomely powerful Evolved; it was terrifying, but also incredible. For all that idiots might wail and moan, this is what people could do. This was the power that they might come to wield. And there was one more thing about this that cheered Isaac: the President of the United States had slipped past the test. Who's to say someone else might not have, too? Then, about two months after the Big Throwdown, Isaac's uncle showed back up. Within three days Isaac was gone from New York. Isaac was not particularly pleased about the relocation, but his uncle was rather adamant about it, and so Isaac found himself holed up in a farmhouse outside a midsized town in Montana, just south of the Canadian border. On the bright side, independence! A monthly stipend! His own new (to him) automobile! On the not-so-bright side… going from the Big Apple to Nowheresville. In Montana.
Still, it wasn't all bad. Isaac learned lots of things! Things like how to look after himself. Things like the fact that some people on this Earth should not be allowed to attempt to actually cook, ever, and that he was definitely one of them. The most important thing by far, though, came late one moonless summer night, when Isaac awoke in absolute darkness to the sound of something creeping furtively around downstairs… and for the first time in many years, lying alone in absolute darkness, Isaac felt the dread of night. The terror of what lay in the dark. Again, he felt that sensation of something being with him in the dark… but it was only then that he realized that what he was feeling was the darkness itself. He found that though he could not see, he could feel things around him in the dark, through the shadows. The thing that had so terrified him? A rat, easy enough to crush with barely an afterthought… and from that moment on, Isaac never again feared the darkness. Why would he? He was no fodder for the thing in the dark… he was the thing in the dark.
As time went on, he started socializing more with the people around him, and he eventually found himself falling in with a group of people that, unbeknownst to him, turned out to be the local Ferrymen. Isaac was happy to aid them; as the news grew worse and worse, he decided he wasn't about to stand by and do nothing while awful, stupid people did awful, stupid things to people who deserved better. He assisted now and again with odd jobs, and even helped to move people on occasion; it was during this time that he started learning parkour, from one of the Ferrymen he worked with. Eventually, the worst times passed; Mitchell was dragged out of office like the rabid dog he was, and Civil War II: The Sequel No One Wanted was finally brought to an end. Isaac figured that sooner or later things would calm down, and his uncle would contact him… so he waited. He practiced his ability. He practiced his parkour. He socialized. He waited; the checks kept coming, but still no word. Gradually, he started to worry… and to wonder. Where had his uncle gone? And, come to think of it… just what was his work? Where was the money coming from?
Isaac's return to what was left of New York saw him getting sucked into all manner of trouble, culminating in not one but two kidnappings… the second of which robbed him of his ability.