QUANTUM~Billy Butcher

Quantum

Athena Banks had never imagined herself as a member of 'The Seven'. However, when Lamplighter stepped down or, as rumour had it, was forced out at Vought tower, the opportunity presented itself. Despite being content with her role as Vought's instrument for influence, Athena was offered a chance to join 'The Seven'. But she knew what went on behind the scenes at Vought, the fake saves, ect, and she didn't want to be more of a puppet than she already was. Madelyn Stillwell often deployed her at events to curry favour with senators and suppliers, taking advantage of her commanding presence that seemed to mesmerize people and compel them to seek her approval. With Stillwell choreographing her every word and action, Athena became a valuable asset in helping Vought secure the necessary influence. Her official title at the company was Head of the public relations department, but Athena's main duty was to cultivate a compelling image for Vought's other endeavors, separate from The Seven, such as promos, adverts, and of course films, sometimes the statistics showed that a product would gain more popularity if she was involved rather than heroes like 'The Deep'.

At the current moment, following Athenas decision to not join The Seven, she was tasked with extending an invitation to all individuals with superhuman abilities who were 20 years of age or older to apply to become the next prominent superhero. This invitation was announced through a televised advertisement, featuring Athena in her striking red, blue, and gold costume as she passionately outlined the benefits of joining and explained the application process. Following the commercial, there was a significant surge in the number of applications for The Seven, causing the company to struggle to keep up with the overwhelming response.

All the information had been sent up to the tower, and after much deliberation, the higher-ups finally settled on a young woman named Annie January, who would be known by her stage name 'Starlight.' She fit the bill perfectly as America's sweetheart - with her bright-eyed and beautiful appearance, blonde hair, and a captivating smile. However, Athena couldn't shake the feeling that she was looking at a younger version of herself. They shared strikingly similar features, and a nagging voice in the back of her head suggested that Vought had settled for a cheap imitation of her since she had declined to join. Vought then decided that the confirmation of Annie's place in the Seven would be made by their very own 'Quantum,' believing it would have a more significant impact and provide good publicity when Starlight would ultimately mention the process in her first interview. And now, Athena found herself sitting at her desk, about to make a phone call to the young woman. A much older-sounding voice answered from the other end of the line, and Athena could only assume it was Starlight's mother. "Hi there, this is Quantum, head of the public relations department at Vought. Is Annie January there?" A gasp escaped from the woman, and Athena could hear the phone being handed over, followed by another voice saying, "Hello?"

"Miss January, this is Quantum head of the public relations department at Vought. I'm pleased to inform you that your application into the Seven has been approved, and I would like to personally congratulate you on becoming the newest member of the Seven." A series of screams were heard on the other end of the phone, and Athena couldn't help but chuckle, Annie returned shortly with a stiff cough, claiming there must have been some interference through the phone. "Thank you so much for this Opertunity Miss Quantum I won't let you down" the hope in her voice was adorable "I'm sure you won't" she smiled at the phone and was ready to put it down when Annie spoke again "You're my favourite hero by the way".

Athena heard that a lot, especially from young girls and women, but it never got old, "Thank you Miss January- or should I say 'Starlight' someone else will contact you about arranging transfer to Vought Tower, your new home." and then she hung up, sitting back in her chair and twirling a pen in her hands, the cosy corner office provided a great view of the New York skyline and everyone below, including an odd figure standing across the street from the tower, not doing anything, just standing there. Manipulating the particles in her eyes, she enhanced her vision just enough to see a tall rugged looking man staring up at the tower, not at her, but it felt like he was looking directly into her soul, "Creepy" she muttered to herself before spinning her chair back around and getting up, leaving the office swiftly to go and report to Stillwells assistant, Ashley about contacting Starlight further after her initial call, and to just have a general snoop about what was going on on the higher levels of the building.

It seemed to be chaos upstairs as Athena entered. It seemed that A-train had run through a girl standing in the street and legal were working their asses off to try and cover it all up. She found Ashley in the midst of the drama and tapped her on the shoulder lightly as she screamed down the phone at someone. "What!" The redhead screamed turning around to face whoever bothered her, only to see Athena, a look of panic washed over her face as she apologised profusely, "It's fine I heard about what happened, I was letting you know that Starlight has been contacted and accepted, so my work is done" she smiled, but it was short lived as Ashleys face turned into a look of pain, "Actually we need you to go out with A-train when he offers his condolences about the dead girl, give a few words on behalf of Vought, you know he doesn't't read his script I need you making sure he doesn't fuck this up." Athena nodded, "Send A-train to my office when you release him from your clutches." she offered a slight laugh, but Ashley was too stressed to reciprocate and just went back to her phone call.

As Athena walked back to the elevator she heightened her hearing and caught glimpses of conversations, things along the lines off "Say he was chasing bank robbers" and "I hear she was just a step off the curb" Something about this whole thing just didn't seem right, but she kept her thoughts to herself as she prepeared to go back down to her office and wait for A-train to come through her door like a puppy with his tail between his legs. The 'Ding' from the elevator brought Athenas attention away from the whispers as her hearing went back to normal, and she saw a tall blonde donned in a blue suit and cap exiting, "Quantum" Homelander greeted with a smile. She returned the greeting. "Terrible, what happened, isn't it? with the girl?" he dropped his cheerful demeanour to a look of condolence, "It's terrible." She agreed, desperate to get away from the Supe, he was Americas star-boy but something about him always unsettled her, but given she had no reason to suspect anything negative of him, Athena felt her feelings to be unjustified. It wasn't that she hadn't spent enough time with him to create an opinion of the hero, Vought had him be her Co-star in one of her films 'Coming Home' "I'm sure you and your team are on it." Homelander smiled again bringing the conversation to an end as he patted her on the shoulder and passed her, allowing the woman to enter to elevator and let out a sigh of relief as the doors closed.