The newest addition to the Wright Anything
Offices.
Personality: In the time-honored tradition of female
defense aids, Athena is cheerful, excitable, and fiercely
loyal. In enthusiasm, nerves, and temper, she doesn't do
anything by halves. Her inexperience sometimes leads to a
lack of confidence, however.
Misc Facts: Athena studied psychology overseas, which
is also why she was able to pass the bar exam at such a young
age.
Her going-into-court catchphrase is, "Let's do this!" (which
she says in English, even in the Japanese version).
Athena has extremely keen ears that allow her to pick up
subtle emotional clues in a person's tone of voice. She uses
this skill along with a mini computer and display called the
Mood Matrix to pick up "noise" in a person's emotional state
for use in cross examination. It has the unfortunate side
effect of blurting out whatever is on her mind at random.
Friends and Family: Juniper is one of her childhood
friends. Since joining Phoenix's firm, she considers Apollo
her sempai (and calls him as such).
Name Origin: English: "Athena," matching the origins of Phoenix and
Apollo, is a reference to Greek mythology (Athena was a god of
war, wisdom, and justice, among other things). "Cykes"
probably comes from "psychology."
Japanese: The kanji in her surname are "rare" and
"moon." Her given name means "the sounds of a heart"
referring to her ability to hear a person's mood in their
voice.
Background: Athena attended law school in America,
where she also studied psychology to use as a tool in court.
Spoiler: AA5-5
Athena's father is unknown, but
her mother is Metis, a famous psychologist who applied her
knowledge toward crafting advanced AIs for robots (along
with her close friend, Aura). Athena and her mother lived
at the GYAXA space center; the employees called her
"princess" and she considered them family, including
Clonco and Ponco. However, as a child she was very
withdrawn. Her hearing gift was so pronounced that it gave
her sensory overload, and she often avoided other people
and missed many days of school. Her mother required her to
wear a pair of headphones that were heavy and
uncomfortable. For years Athena incorrectly assumed that
the headphones were amplifying her gift; she hated them,
and held some resentment toward her mother, who she
thought was using her as something of a guinea pig (Simon
revealed later that the headphones were actually
sound-dampening, Athena's gift was that sensitive).
Seven years ago, Athena went to see her mother in the
robotics lab, where she stumbled upon the Phantom dressed
in a mask and space center jacket, and the bloody body of
her recently murdered mother. In a panic, Athena grabbed
up a knife and stabbed the Phantom in the side (which
Ponco witnessed). After he had fled, Athena tried to wake
her mother. In her childlike denial she had Ponko move
Metis to the robot repair area, thinking it would be able
to "fix" her just like the robots. It was there that Simon
found her, and, fearing that Athena was the killer, he
dismantled Ponco and confessed to the crime himself in
order to protect her.
In the aftermath, Athena was traumatized by the ordeal and
repressed many of her memories. She tried to speak up in
Simon's defense, but no one listened to her. Once she was
old enough, she went into law and psychology, praying that
one day she would be able to come back and free Simon.
