A/N: Here's chapter nine! This turned out to be really, really long. The page count on the word processor says fifty. I do believe this is the longest chapter I have written, ever. Any who, you get to see more of Echo's past and meet a new character or two. I hope it is as emotional as I wanted it to be. Well, I hope you enjoy it! ~ Kawaii Stella

The answer to the trivia question from the last chapter: Dr. Alexi Rasputin is the amalgam of Alexi, son of Russian Emperor Nicolas II and Rasputin, the man who was believed could help Alexi with his illnesses.

LEGEND:

Plain text: Normal storyline

Italicized : What's going on in Echo's head.

BOLD: Echo's thoughts.

Picking Up the Broken Glass

Kawaii Stella

Chapter Nine

GUILT

Act II
Savato

Over Echo's heart was a web. A web spun by a spider-like parasite. This was the seventh form of GUILT, called Savato. It had been given a more common name by its creators: Death.

Death was a wicked thing. It was a bug with a corrosive protective outer shell that flickered like a midnight blue flame. It wove a web stole the victim's pulse, nullifying it, turning it into energy for the Savato. It fed and thrived off of the heart's beating. If not removed, the web, Death's nest, would steal the pulse of its victim's heart until it took it all.

The odds of surviving Death were less than 2%.

"D-Doctor? What are we going to do?"

"We've got to eradicate it, just like we did with the other two strains. We have to give it all we've got!"

"Dr. Kasal! We just received the procedural information and neutralizing serum from Caduceus!" an aid said, coming over the headset.

"Bring it in!" Kasal barked.

A nurse brought in a vial of a serum that was as black as a moonless night. Dr. Kasal's headset crackled again as the research division came on to read the report on Savato.

"This is the report from Dr. Derek Stiles when he removed Savato from Professor Kenneth Blackwell. It says here that first you have to cut away the web!"

"That's where we start. Scalpel."

Dr. Kasal was handed a scalpel and ever so carefully he began cut at the first strand of the web. After a few moments it was cut, and the first strand was dissolved. The surgical team was relieved the first thread came off smoothly until…

"What's with the scalpel?" Mary asked.

"It's… begun to melt! It started when it touched the web. Keep plenty of spares on hand. We've got to destroy the entire web."

With a new scalpel in hand, they attacked each thread until only one remained.

"Finally, it's almost over." Mary sighed.

However, as the last strand of the Savato's web was cut the parasite rebuilt it. Like any creature, it did not like having these long white things with their sharp objects coming at it. The Savato went on the offensive. Now every time a thread or two was cut away, it let loose a little army of smaller, immature blue Savato. The only way to remove the mini Savato was to incinerate them with the laser. Dr. Kasal quickly found that he would have to balance his attention between destroying the Savato's web and incinerating the mini Savato. While focusing on the little Savato, the web began to change color. From white, to pink, to a scarlet red until it got too hot. At its hottest it delivered a dangerous blow to its host's vitals.

The heart monitor began to shriek as the vitals swiftly declined.

"Doctor! We can't let the web turn red!"

"I realize that now, Mary. Let's get her vitals back up again. Hopefully when we destroy the nest, we'll destroy the Savato."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Something is happening to me on the other side. Something, that, whoever is up there doesn't want me to be awake for it. Whatever's happening to me is so terrible that they have to slice me open.

Echo stood in an empty space. Quite literally she stood in the middle of nothingness. Everything was black around her but light enough that she could see the grey fog form a circle around the perimeter. Immediately Echo knew she couldn't run away from it. No matter what she did she couldn't escape it. This fact drained Echo of hope. There wasn't any hope left to be had. Echo's blood ran cold, colder than Antarctic ice. She fell to her knees, hugging herself, trying to bring back even a shred of warmth. That was when the fog pounced. It consumed Echo, again holding her in an iron grasp while keeping her from letting out a single sound. Just like before the scene around her began to change. More memories began to replay in front of Echo's eyes.

It was shortly after the execution of Perth McGaherty. Echo was still a Black Coat. The Black Coats were the dark side of the police force; they did the dirty work that the regular officers wouldn't do. Echo still had a year left of service to the Xavier Black Assassin's Society after her horrendous first execution. Echo watched as she became a recluse to society as her time in the Black Coats continued.

People in Echo's hometown wondered about her. Why was she so quiet now? Why didn't she go into public unless she absolutely had to? And mostly, and this stood out more to her mother's family than to anyone else, why did she keep going back to her father's house? She had expressed her displeasure with living with her father before, so why was she now going back there every weekend and spending her breaks from school there? No one knew and Echo refused to talk about it.

Echo watched as her family worried about her younger self, who had become quite haunted by her deed. Echo watched as she took night patrols and jobs to collect information. Finally, after months and months of sheer torture, of having to deal with her colleagues at the base, taking jobs that made her feel like the scum of the planet, her time as a Black Coat was done. She was discharged and without a second thought, ran straight back home in the dark of the night. At about three-thirty in the morning, she barged into her bedroom and collapsed on her bed in a heap before she burst into tears.

Nearly four weeks after her discharge, Echo's uncle Harold, finally confronted her.

"Lassie, you're not yourself anymore. You've really changed over the past two years. You've begun to burry yourself in work, archery and caber- though you don't need much improvement in that- and especially gymnastics. You never used to care much for that. Ye liked the flexibility and agility you got from it but not much more than that. Yer mum's pleased as pie about your newfound interest in gymnastics, she's ready to get you in Olympiad form so you can carry on her legacy. . . but that ain't you. Tell me, little lass, what's gotten into ya?"

"I've got to keep occupied now, uncle. I just can't stay still anymore. I've got to find redemption from somewhere. And it seems like gymnastics is the way to redeem mum's affection and keep her around."

"Redemption for what? Your mum's proud of you no matter what you doand so are the rest of us for that matter! Just because she's had problems since her first husband died, doesn't mean she doesn't love you. I know she's flighty and has trouble stickin' around all the time. But you have nothing to redeem yourself for. What's this all about?"

"I… I can't!" The thirteen year old Echo wailed.

"Honey, tell me what's goin' on here? There's nothing you can say that'll turn us against you."

"You don't know what I did!"

"What happened, Echo? This whole thing with you started two years ago when you were spending the summer with yer dad."

"Dad made a bad bet when he was drunk at the pub . . . He lost and couldn't pay up. So he used me as payment. I was sold into the Black Coats… Uncle Harold, I executed Perth McGaherty!"

"Dear Lord…." Harold said as he took his sobbing niece into his arms.

"His blood is on my hands! I'm a horrible, horrible monster!" Echo sobbed into her uncle's shoulder.

"No you're not. You are a fine young lass who's… just befallen some misfortunes. We're going to find a way to keep you away from your father from now on. Shh… It's. It wasn't your fault."

"I still killed him!"

"That's in the past now. I want you to try to move on, okay?" Harold asked as he rocked his niece. "So, okay, why the gymnastics now?"

"I figured if I could make people smile and be happy, maybe I'd be a little bit happier too. So that's why I'm doing gymnastics now. It makes mum really happy."

"But does it make you happy?"

"I'm not sure yet."

"Echo, come on! Let's get you to the gym! The Olympics aren't going to wait just for you! How lucky are we that there's going to be a special junior Olympics held next winter? That could be your ticket into the next summer games!" Helena Glasgow, Echo's mother, called.

"Go on to practice. I'll talk to your mum later tonight when you get back."

"Thanks, Uncle Harold." Echo said as she hugged her uncle. The young teen grabbed a duffle bag and ran to her mother.

Time surged forward, mostly in a cloud of chalk powder and nightmares. Echo watched her family accept her for who she was though Echo knew she was still a "black sheep". Echo watched her train in the gym in the fall, winter and spring, even when she started going to school in America. Summers were spent in a desperate attempt to do anything to keep her away from her father. But throughout the whole thing, there were still the nightmares.

Echo relived her audition for a travelling choir. It was there she made some of her closest friends. But… the fog was hiding some of the memories.

Wait. There are good memories in there. Why aren't I seeing them? Where are Ivan and his sister?

Echo was right. The fog was showing her prominent memories only, most of which were the bad ones.

Show me the whole memory! I know there is something good there… I just know it. Please… there has to be something to give me hope…

For one time and one time only, the fog showed Echo one of her favorite memories. It was after the junior Olympics, the summer of Echo's second tour with the choir. She was sitting backstage with the one person who had been able to get into her shell and pull her out. The two had grown even closer at the junior Olympics where he too had competed.

"Here," the boy said as he handed Echo a cupcake.

"Ivan. What's this for?" Echo asked.

"It's for your birthday. I feel bad that I missed it."

"You shouldn't have! My birthday was like a week ago."

"I did it anyway. Now eat your cupcake. I made it myself and you can't have your birthday present until you eat it all."

Echo watched as her fourteen year old self pigged out on the chocolate cupcake with little bits of bacon.

Best. Cupcake. Ever.

Ivan's gift to Echo had been an air force jacket. Dark brown leather with a faux fur removable collar, it had the pilot's wing patch on the front left breast and the Russian flag on the right arm and the double eagle crest on the left. The two pockets were deep and well insulated.

"Oh my gosh! Ivan! This is amazing! You really shouldn't have." Echo said as she shrugged on the coat.

"I'm glad you like it. I know you love aviation, so I talked to some guys in the force. I'm happy it fits. You are so very tiny."

"I'm not small! You're just overly tall." Echo said in defiance.

"I'm just six-two."

"Just six two," Echo scoffed. "You may be crazy, and tall, but I love you. Thanks for the best present ever."

Then all performers were called to wardrobe. Something else happened during that performance. The fog wasn't just blurring the memory in front of her now. It was blurring the one in her mind too.

NO! No, no, no, no! Where'd it go? I can't remember what happened!

The fog was becoming more and more cruel. It let go of Echo, vanishing. In the center of the space appeared a very realistic replication of Ivan.

Those eyes, that nose, that sweet face… Ivan!

Echo ran to him but stopped short as Ivan dissipated into the grey fog.

Ivan? IIIIIVAAAAN!

Echo fell to her knees and sobbed as her one hope vanished. Another set of feet appeared in front of her. Red sneakers. Echo looked up and felt the paralyzing crush of helplessness take over her body. Echo didn't realize that her own soul could take such a shattering blow in her own subconscious. But as she looked up and was faced by Ledge, it did.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

After destroying a total of four Savato nests and a thousand or more mini Savato, the web entrapping Echo's heart was gone. However, the Savato itself was not. It was still there, crawling about.

"Tell me how to get rid of this thing!" Kasal barked into his headset.

"First, you have to remove the corrosive shell. The only way to do that is to burn it away. The next step is to attack it with the scalpel. It is very likely that it will retaliate as you attack the corrosive layer. Be ready for anything. Also, the layer may come back more than once. Once it's slowed down enough, inject the serum to kill it for good." The researcher reported.

"Alright. Let's do this."

Dr. Kasal began to slowly burn away the corrosive shell of the Savato. As the midnight blue flame faded away, Savato began to panic. It darted across the heart, leaving a laceration which swarmed with the mini Savato. Quickly they had to be burned away before they merged and made another, a bit more mature yet just as sinister, Savato. The laceration was then sutured before Dr. Kasal returned to burning away the layer. Finally it was gone and he wasted no time in attacking the parasite itself. Savato slowed for a moment and the chiral reaction dropped. The end was near. The layer returned, and they started again.

Savato knew that it was losing this battle. It made more and more lacerations all over the heart. It took time to suture the lacerations which were being made three at a time. During that time the heart rate began to fall and falter. But they couldn't give up just yet. The shell was gone. Dr. Kasal attacked with the scalpel. This was it. The injection was ready. Dr. Kasal injected the serum into the Death parasite. It shook about, making a few last ditch lacerations. At last, Death had been defeated.

"Chiral reaction is negative. Amazing work, Greg. She's going to make it." Mary said with a smile on her face.

Dr. Kasal finished suturing the last of the lacerations. "Finally. It's finally over."

The monitor began to make a spine chilling whine as Echo's heart shuddered to a stop.

"NO! Dammit! We've come too far to give up now, kid! Hurry! Ready the defibrillator!"

In these times, there stood a rule in medical practice. It was commonly referred to as the Five Shock Rule. If five tries with the defibrillator didn't succeed, the patient had to be declared dead.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

The darkness went away, as did Ledge. Echo felt nothing. No pain, no fear, nothing. Everything was calm. Every weight that had ever been on her body was gone.

I'm free. Finally I'm free.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

"Dammit! Come on!"

The third time wasn't the charm, nor was the fourth.

"One more time! Come on kid! Live!"

With force Greg brought down the paddles one last time. One last time the defibrillator went off, sending electricity surging through Echo's heart. When the electricity faded, a beeping became heard. The beeping started as soon as Echo's heart did.

"Thank you God." Greg Kasal sighed as he put down the defibrillator and reset the sternum. He sewed the skin back together and gave the OK for Echo to be taken to post-op to be bandaged.

Greg took his time changing out of his scrubs. That, without a doubt, had been the most challenging operation he had ever faced in his career. He was drained. He couldn't remember himself ever being more afraid of losing a patient. Greg exited the changing room to face the waiting Dr. Alexi Rasputin.

"Greg, amazing job. How's she doing?"

"She's still in critical condition. She will be for at least twelve more hours. We had some very close calls, but she'll be okay. Listen, I know I'm only supposed to be here a couple more days, but I'd like to stay around until she's discharged."

"Absolutely. I'll have it arranged. Get some rest. The nurses will let you know if they need your help. I'm going to call Sartorius and let him know the situation."

~Shovat Family Island~

"Is everything alright, Dad?" Abel asked as his father returned to the dinner table.

"Yes, everything's fine, Abel." said Sartorius. "I was afraid that I would get called away from our vacation but as it turns out my help wasn't needed at the hospital after all."

"What happened, dear?" asked Arella, Sartorius' wife.

"They had an emergency patient brought there in critical condition. This patient was one with a rare virus not found in Cyberspace. Somehow the patient contracted several strains. Luckily they were able to operate successfully. They called earlier in case they needed an extra hand in the operating room."

"How strange. I wonder how the person got the disease. What was it, exactly?" asked Abel.

"They didn't tell me exactly what it was. I was told it was being investigated. But I do worry about how it got into Cyberspace. I was told the victim was taken from Sensible Flats."

Marbles eyes widened but he shook his head as one of his siblings changed the subject to something else. It couldn't have been her. Marbles withdrew himself from the dinnertime conversation. Ada looked at her beau, immediately seeing the worry on Marbles' face that he was trying so hard to conceal.

Eventually the night wore on and both Ada and Marbles retreated into their room. When the door was shut behind them, Marbles trudged to the bed and unceremoniously flopped down onto it face first. Ada sat on the edge of the bed next to him and rubbed her hand across his back.

"That report about that emergency patient is bothering you," Ada said.

"Yes it's bothering me! You heard my father. The patient came from Sensible Flats!" Marbles said into the bed.

Ada didn't respond. She knew well enough that Marbles would finish this train of thought without any prodding. Marbles sat upright on the bed, worriedly picking at the comforter's seam.

"Ada, you know as well as I do that there are very few humans on Sensible Flats. What if that patient was Echo? What if that was her on the operating table? I knew I shouldn't have left. I…"

"Marbles," Ada interrupted. "It very well could've been a human passerby that got infected with that virus. You said yourself that if she's not at the courthouse she's at the orphanage. That makes the odds of Echo being the patient very slim."

"I know. But I can't help but worry about her."

"I know you worry about her. That's a part of what makes you so sweet." Ada wrapped her arms around her love. "I bet when we go back she'll be right there waiting for you to visit. She'll be as happy to see you as you are to see her."

"You're right. I should just clear my head and enjoy this down time."

"Exactly. Why don't you go for a swim? That almost never fails to clear your mind."

"Great idea! Care to join me, milady?"

"No thanks," Ada giggled. "I think I'll just sit here and relax."

"Suit yourself," Marbles said with a smile. He left his room then, heading for the shore, trying to take Ada's advice.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

~New Hope Hospital~

It took three days before Echo opened her eyes again. During those days she had made significant progress in healing, but she still had a long way to go. When she awoke, Echo found herself in a bright room. She had no clue where she was. All she knew was that she ached all over and that she was starving. A young blonde nurse came in just as Echo was about to pull the breathing tubes from her nose.

"Oh you're finally awake! Don't take that out! How do you feel?"

"Horrible," Echo groaned.

"Are you sore?"

Echo nodded.

"Okay. I'm one of your nurses, Angie. I'm going to get Dr. Kasal so he can give you the right pain meds."

Echo nodded again and let her head fall back against her pillow. Soon after, Dr. Kasal came in with Nurse Angie.

"Hey there, Echo. I'm glad to see that you're finally awake. You gave us quite the scare, but you're going to do just fine after you're all healed up. I'm going to let Angie give you a slight painkiller. I'd like to go over with you what happened before I let you have a stronger one, alright?"

"O-okay," Echo agreed.

Angie injected the pain medicine into Echo's IV drip and left to tend to other patients while Dr. Kasal pulled up a chair to Echo's bedside.

"First thing, I'm Dr. Greg Kasal. I'm your doctor here and I also was the one who operated on you. You were affected by a virus called GUILT. It's manmade and we assume you contracted it while you were driving out it's developers from an underground sewage plant. Does this sound about right?"

Echo nodded her head yes.

"It's unusual for a person to contract more than one specific strain of GUILT. Yet you managed to get three. One was in your liver and stomach, one in your lung, and one over your heart. We had to operate to remove all three completely. Your ribs are healing nicely after we reformed them after surgery. Your sternum is on pace as well, but as it's a bigger, more important bone, it will take longer to fully heal. But with today's medicine it shouldn't take more than a month or two."

"You… cut open my breastbone?" Echo asked.

"Yes," Greg nodded. "We had to have direct access to your heart. You woke up during the operation on your left lung and we aren't sure how you managed that. Whatever was going on in your head was not something you liked."

"No, it wasn't." Echo said coldly. The memories of seeing the inside of her own body were starting to come back to her.

"There was only one other complication in your operation. Before I tell you what happened I want you to be assured that you are going to be just fine and you have nothing to worry about."

"Just tell me."

"You flat lined at the end of the operation. Your heart stopped for a couple minutes. Obviously we were able to re start your heart."

Echo put her hand over her heart, right where bandages were wrapped over the stitches. She then realized there was a brace around her waist.

"What's with this brace?"

"We put that on you so that if you moved too much in your sleep, it wouldn't disturb the stitches too much. I can take it off now, if you'd like."

Echo agreed and Dr. Kasal unfastened the brace and let Echo sit up more. After a moment she finally asked a question that had been at the front of her mind.

"What day is it? How long was I asleep for?"

"It's late Friday afternoon. You've been asleep since your operation on Wednesday morning."

"Almost three days? I shouldn't have been asleep that long!"

"Normally, no. But after the trauma of the surgery, your body needed more time than usual to reset itself. I know you just woke up, but with heart surgery it's important to get you up and moving as soon as possible. I'm going to have some food brought up here then I'll be back to get you started on rehabilitation."

"Food? Good. I'm starving."

"That's an excellent sign. Just relax and we'll get you fed."

Just as Dr. Kasal said, Echo was fed and then right after started in rehab. Echo did well, to the pleasure of the staff. After a few nights had passed, Echo was being bathed by Nurse Angie. Angie noticed all the bruises over Echo's body.

"You poor thing. That horrible GUILT left you all bruised up. Now you'll be able to heal completely."

"Those aren't from GUILT. I got them at the orphanage." Echo told her.

"Don't be silly! Of course it's from the GUILT. I think you've had a little too much pain medicine today, missy. Well, I'm all done here so why don't you get some rest. You'll be able to go back to Sensible Flats soon."

She didn't believe me! Echo thought, shocked, as Angie left. I reached out to somebody I thought I could trust and they just laughed. I know now there is no one I can trust.

Another crack was added then to Echo's already fractured soul.

Thursday morning came bright and early. Echo was in a dismal mood, the same mood she'd almost constantly been in since Angie had laughed off her plea for help. Echo felt alone. Alone because she had no one to help her. No one could be trusted now. She would stay away from people from then on.

Dr. Kasal came in and told Echo that in just an hour, she would be discharged and sent back to Sensible Flats. A growing sense of dread blossomed inside Echo. Angie brought in several post surgery bras that Echo was to wear for the foreseeable future. Echo was given a travel bag to store her new bras, antibiotics, and painkillers in. And quick as that she was back on the front steps of the orphanage. Echo, sadly, walked inside.

"Welcome back, sweetie! It's been awfully different without you here." Truehart said as she strode over to Echo. Immediately Truehart spied Echo's bag. "I need to check that bag, Echo. I can't let you keep anything that's not approved for you."

Truehart ripped the bag out of Echo's hands and from it took both bottles of pills.

"I'm afraid I can't let you keep these. If you need them come to me and I will administer them. Everything else seems to be in order here. You may go back to your cell now. I left cleaning supplies in there so you can clean up the mess you left last week. Skedaddle now, you have cleaning to do."

Echo slipped back into her cell, greeted by a horrid stench. It was the settled smell of her vomit. Echo gagged but cleaned the entire mess anyway. When lunch came her plate was pushed through. There was much less on it than normal. After lunch she was thrown into the lobby, "to keep you active" as Truehart had put it. Immediately she was cornered by Samantha and her clique.

"My, my, don't you look awful. Well, more awful than normal. Maybe we can help you." Samantha grinned.

One girl kicked Echo behind the knee caps, sending her to the floor. Echo stayed on her stomach, protecting her most vulnerable areas. Eventually dinner came, and Echo went as fast as she could back into her cell, knowing well that she'd have a new set of bruises on her back side. An hour or two after dinner was done, Echo's painkillers wore off and her chest was ablaze. But when Echo went to leave to get one of her pills, she found that she was locked in.

Echo screamed and cried for someone to come and help her. Twenty minutes after no one came Echo dejectedly laid on her bed, trying to learn how to cope with this excruciating pain. The next morning she knew no one was going to help her. She ate her meager meals and waited to be thrown to the wolves. Today, Ledge was back after her. Ledge backed Echo into a supply closet, just up the hall from her cell.

"I missed you, sweetheart. I heard you had surgery. Got any cute scars you'll show me?"

"Back off. Leave me alone!"

"Not a chance, Echo. You've been gone far too long. I need to have some one on one time with you."

Ledge backed Echo up against the wall, pressing his body completely against hers. Echo struggled under the pressure. She began to panic. Ledge pinned Echo's hands above her head. She had only one chance. Echo collided her knee with Ledge's vital regions. He fell to the floor and took Echo with him, not relinquishing his grip on her.

"Why do you have to be so damn stubborn? I'm trying to bring you to the good life but you simply won't budge. You're just a wild mare who needs to be broken. I'll let you know that after today, you'll be broken."

Ledge, despite the pain in his nether regions, punched Echo in the left ribcage then dragged her over to a fan which was missing its grate. Ledge grabbed a large chunk of Echo's hair and held it around the inner engine. Ledge gave a small laugh as he turned the fan to reverse. Immediately Echo's hair was caught in the fan's engine. As the fan ate more and more of Echo's hair, Ledge left the closet.

Somehow, Echo managed to switch off the fan but could not pull her hair free. A pair of scissors lay on a shelf some distance away. With tears streaming down her cheeks, Echo dragged the fan over to where the scissors were. She sobbed as she heard her hair being cut away. When she was free there was still a large portion of hair as long as the other side once was. The coldness that Echo had encountered with the fog was back and she saw no hope of warming back up. Echo slipped the scissors up her sleeve and ran into her room where she locked the door and fled into the bathroom where she attempted to even out her hair. Her hair now came an inch and a half, if not a little more, above her shoulders, a radical difference from before.

Echo then dug through her trunk and layered her clothing, trying to warm herself up. She chucked her art supplies to the bottom of the trunk and tore the drawings down off the walls, stuffing them too into the trunk. There wasn't a point in trying anymore. Echo then burrowed beneath the blankets on her bed and curled into a ball where she cried until her eyes were dry and her whole abdominal was ablaze in pain. Eventually she fell asleep, just to be woken again and again by nightmares.

The next day Echo would eat, but refused to leave her room. Despite what she ate she wasn't satisfied. She spent all her time curled in a ball, facing the wall, fearing any type of contact.

Sunday came. Like usual, Echo hadn't slept and changed her clothes early, dressing in as many layers as she could as she tried to beat the cold. Hot showers barely did anything for her. Echo made her bed then curled up again on top of it.

Dr. Marbles was excited to be back from his vacation. Barely even visiting hours, he was already approaching the orphanage. He entered the orphanage and headed straight back to the hall that lead to Echo's little cell. As soon as he entered that hall he knew something was amiss. Through the Plexiglas Marbles saw Echo curled up on her bed, the hood of her sweatshirt pulled up over her head. Marbles rapped his knuckles against the window but got no response. He opened the door.

"Echo?"

No response.

Marbles walked over to the bed and touched Echo gently on the shoulder. She reacted like she had been touched with a live cattle prod. Echo leapt back into the corner, pressing herself into it.

"No! Don't touch me!" Echo wailed. "Stay away!"