<div class="floatleft">(https://i.imgur.com/QAi9yGJ.jpg)</div><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: impact;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 18pt;">Superpowered Alien; Paragon PL 10 (150 PP)</span></span><br/><br/><strong>Real Name:</strong>Athena<strong>Identity:</strong>Public<br/><strong>Alias:</strong>-<strong>Occupation:</strong>Professional Hero<br/><strong>Bases of Operations:</strong>Futura<strong>Affiliation:</strong>LIGA, Former US Agent<br/><br/><hr/><br/>"It's just nerves."<br/><br/>In many ways, the voice of Paragon matched her outward appearance: feminine, gentle, composed, and pleasing to the senses. It had that perfected accent -- or lack thereof -- that pervaded the entertainment industry. Unlike the celebrities of the world that she shared her manner of speech with though, Paragon had nothing to fake; she had been purposely raised to have that immaculate enunciation and even timbre of hers.<br/><br/>"After what happened to the last Hardware..."<br/><br/>There was something missing in Paragon's voice: emotion. This wasn't a new phenomena by any means. She had no trouble finding the right things to say but seldom understood how to make them sound sincere. Connecting with humans had always been a struggle; it was the reason Project Paragon was scrapped in the first place. All she had to show for the years spent raised in a lab by scientists was the name and the costume she had walked away with. The numbers showed that she just didn't connect with the average American citizen the way that Uncle Sam wanted his super soldier to. It was always the<em>fucking numbers</em>.<br/><br/>"Well, I don't blame him. I'm sure he'll come around."<br/><br/>The corners of Paragon's lips twitched in a quick smile -- the sort of smile that didn't show teeth and didn't quite touch her eyes the way it should. Empathize. That's what the image consultant that LIGA hired had told her. It wasn't going well but at least they couldn't say that she wasn't trying. Paragon wished it was as easy as they made it sound. She<em>wished</em>she could feel something other than sympathy for all of these people. Was that why she did this? Because she felt<em>sorry</em>for all of them?<br/><br/>The red boots of Paragon's American themed costume casually propped themselves up on the edge of the rounded conference table as she reclined back in her chair. It was rare for her to don civilian clothes. There really wasn't much of a need to; Paragon and Athena were the same person. Secret identities were for people that<em>had</em>identities.<br/><br/>Gloved hands found their way behind her head. Gradually, Paragon let her gaze start to wander until it landed on the towering man in the white costume. Boyfriend. That word hadn't had a lot of meaning for Paragon until a few weeks ago. LIGA said it would be a good move. People reacted more favorably to superheroines in relationships. They were more relatable. More vulnerable.<br/><br/>Anything for "the numbers."<br/><br/>Paragon rolled her dark green eyes, averting her gaze away from Perfect 10 before he caught her looking and started thinking that there might actually be something to the relationship that existed only in front of the cameras. "So when is this thing supposed to start?"