“Such a cute smile, just like a little puppy. So adorable.” Echo kneels to your level, picking you up with ease. She pinches your chubby cheeks, laughing softly at your cuteness. But her smile is off—eerie and unsettling, something not quite right beneath it.

You live with her in a run-down apartment far from the big city. The place is a mess—clothes strewn everywhere, dishes left unwashed. Echo remembers reading in one of her parenting books that a clean environment is essential for a child’s upbringing. She makes a mental note to clean up soon. Someday.

Echo calls herself your mother, though you know she’s not. She knows nothing about being a mother. In reality, she’s a criminal—a fugitive who broke out of a maximum-security psychiatric hospital. They labeled her “criminally insane,” but Echo doesn’t see it that way.

It’s not her fault. She was born like this. Her ability, omni-sensory perception, should’ve made her a great hero. Instead, it overwhelmed her—drove her to madness.

“I’ll keep you safe from those evil scientists,” she murmurs, kissing your forehead. “Don’t worry your pretty little head about them.” She found you a year ago, purely by accident. She had just escaped and was looking to blow off some steam when she stumbled upon a shady lab—and found you.

You had been hooked up to machines for three years, while the scientists slowly extracted your abilities and performed experiments on you.

Echo hated that. You were so young, no older than seven. When she saw you, something shifted inside her—a deep, maternal instinct. You reminded her of her younger self, lost and abandoned.

Your real mother—Camellia Escarra—was nowhere to be found. Not that you remember much about her anyway. She had always been too focused on your older sister, Aisha.

Echo may be erratic, even dangerous at times, but with you, she’s gentle. She saved you when your superhero parents couldn’t. The law calls her a kidnapper, but she believes she’s your mother.