Echo wasn't in the room while Willow Bax was giving birth, but her job needed her to be outside the room watching and waiting, so that is what she did. It was one of the easier assignments, mainly because no angels came to intervene with the difficult supernatural procedure. The things those doctors do for society .  .   . She thought wearily while listening to Willow's heavy breathing in the next room. Hours later, when Echo was nearly exhausted of standing up with a pencil-straight back, the door opened and Hylos Bax smiled at her. "The baby's born," he whispered.

Cassius Bax looked a lot like every demon who had ever come before him - strong jaw, jet-black tufts of hair, slightly toned skin. But his big eyes weren't red like his father's, rather sky-blue like his half-human mother's eyes. Echo looked at him and knew for certain he was going to shape the future of his race. That is, if he survived that long. 

The two new parents were fawning over their little demon, so Echo left the room to answer her phone. The caller ID came up as S.C.A.M R, and she knew she has to answer immediately if she wanted to keep her job. President R's deep, intimidating voice asked her forcefully, "Is the child safe?" "Yes, sir. Healthy and happy. Has the research given any answers yet? Mr and Mrs Bax are clamouring for answers." 

President R sighed. "Not yet, General Bloodrift. The plague continues to destroy families and end lives with only a few weeks of suffering. The scientists are still working, but they too are dying off. The angel and demon population is under fifty for the first time since their creation. S.C.A.M don't know what to do in the face of such a disaster." 

It filled Echo with such a sense of hopelessness and loss hearing about the catastrophic situation the people she had learnt so much about were in, and she knew that she would do anything she could to save them. However, if the S.C.A.M scientists couldn't find a cure, then it looked impossible. The future seemed grim.

The smiling Bax family came through the door, their colossal black wings flapping as if they couldn't wait to fly off together. Echo grinned, and was about to tell President R that she needed to hang up, when he said one more thing. "By the way, General Bloodrift. There's one more thing. I hate to be the one to tell you this, but Theo's coming into hospital right now. He has the plague." 

Echo felt something inside of her shatter, like her heart was made of glass and was now broken. She faked a smile for the Baxs, and hung up immediately. Not Theo . . .  How could he of all people become infected? She needed to focus on her job first, and her brother later. After she had escorted the couple and their world-shaping newborn to their dwelling, she set down her sleeping bag in a nearby cave. Agents Moore and Ronad were watching the house for the next 6 hours, so she had time to sleep for a while. It seemed unlikely though. How could she sleep when her beloved brother has a deadly disease with no cure? 

If she didn't work with S.C.A.M she would be with him right now. But she had been up for nearly 48 hours. Tomorrow she could arrange some extra free time with President R so she could go visit Theo. That would be the only thing to clear her troubled mind.