Breaking News! The words flashed on the screen before the focus was turned to the reporter. More than just her normal serious expression, she looked panicked. "Good Evening. I am Wu Kangren with some breaking news. Sozin Medical Research is reporting a break in at one of their labs, and has immediately called a press conference. We go to the Chairman, live."

The scene switched. No longer was it a woman at a desk, but instead a man standing at a lectern. It was a man the whole world knew as Chairman Ozai. Ozai, the grandson of the founder of Sozin's Comet, was the richest and most powerful man in the world. His grandfather started the takeover, where companies began to own the land, taking it from the people, and Ozai happily followed through.

Now he was speaking to the world with an expression that read as concerned, but there was something hidden behind that concern. It was almost as if he was happy.

"People of the world! Something horrible has occurred. Last night, someone broke into our medical research lab and took something very important to us — something that should have never been taken outside the lab." He paused, letting his words sink in. "They took a virus, something our company was working with in order to find a cure. But it was taken before a cure could be discovered."

The crowd erupted with questions, asking what the virus was, what it did, and how security could have been breached when the company prided itself on so many fail safe measures.

"I will answer your questions when I am finished," he snapped at the reporters below the lectern.

"As I was saying." He continued, "This virus is highly contagious, and it spreads through physical contact. It attacks the brain, and causes the body to die, but the brain remains working. The best way to describe this is it is like the dead have come back to life. I cannot say much more about it because we have not been able to study it further. However, I will say that we are trying to find a way to contain it.

"Please note, if you see anyone with the infection, kill them on sight. They will not look like a normal person. They will look dead. If you let them get near, they will infect you, and you will not die. But your life would be far worse than death. So if your loved one gets infected, killing them would be the right thing to do. Thank you."

Ozai stepped down from the stage, leaving the lectern. The reporters were calling for him, wanting their questions answered, but he answered none.

The screen flashed back to the reporter. She went on to explain that she had been given a press release that mentioned the name Sozin Medical Research named this virus, Waking Death.

Those were the last words Katara heard before her mother turned off the TV.

"You shouldn't be watching that." Kya told her daughter. "That Ozai is a very bad man and is probably lying to scare everyone."

Katara nodded. "Okay, mommy."

But even though Katara listened to her mother, she didn't believe her. The Sozin Corporation owned nearly everything, even the apartment building they lived in. How could the man who ran the company that gave Katara and her family a home be such a bad guy?

If only Katara knew then what she knows now.