ANDROMEDA CANNON showed up right on time for the end of the world. Even now, word is that they are AMBITIOUS, but still get INFLEXIBLE at the mention of how things used to be. They have been living in SOTERIA for ALL HER LIFE. If you go looking for them, you can usually find EVELYN by KIM TILLMAN playing, or use A TOO-BRIGHT SMILE THAT DOESN’T QUITE REACH THE EYES & THE CRUSHING PRESSURE OF A LEGACY TO LIVE UP TO to narrow it down.
BACKGROUND.
The Cannon family is the sort you have to keep an eye on - especially Andromeda. Ruthless, cunning, and unafraid of stepping on a few necks to get what they want, the Cannons are ambitious to the core and Andromeda is no exception. Raised by a pair of brilliant scientists in the heart of Soteria, she has never known a time when life wasn't filled with tech and experiments. Mr and Mrs Cannon were cold and distant to all four of their children, too focused on work to be the parents they should have been. Andromeda was the one who strived to live up to the family name the most, seeking the slivers of approval that were occasionally granted for hitting their high expectations. They might have called her a prodigy if simple genius wasn't the baseline.
To further spur the Cannon children on to greatness they were encouraged to compete with each other, in every way, for everything. Andromeda spent most of her time in first place which did nothing to improve sibling rivalry, and even today she still sees herself as the frontrunner, the one who has to keep everyone else in line or risk their reputation. Growing up she had few friends in or outside of the family and it suited her just fine. Friendships were distractions, and distractions were not to be tolerated.
Biochemistry became Andromeda's focus, and she couldn't pretend it had nothing to do with her desire to know just how far she could go - if only she had a little help. As the years ticked by her career seemed to stagnate; where once she had been a notable force to be reckoned with her name was suddenly fading into mediocrity, and with it went all of her self worth. At the time she had a team of scientists working under her and one in particular stood out, one shining star who threatened to overtake her own career because they had what Andromeda lacked: creativity.
It was desperation that made her do it. Desperation forced her hand, forced her to murder and steal research that wasn't her own because it promised a pathway to something more. But once it was done Andromeda found herself not feeling much remorse. Not after publishing everything under her own name and clawing back to the top of the pile. No, dumping the body somewhere far and dark for the carrion birds to find didn't seem so terrible after that.
She rode the wave of popularity for a year, until the fateful day her parents were killed, both found shot in their home with no signs of a struggle. There was little anyone could do about it, and even less idea about who was responsible. The Cannon family was the sort that gathered enemies more easily than friends and so the possibilities were numerous and each impossible to prove. Andromeda became paranoid, for a time, that their murders were somehow retribution for her old colleague and that someone, somewhere, had found out her secret. But the only thing that came of her parents death was an influx of assets.
These days Andromeda runs her own lab, having used her inheritance and ill-gotten reputation to set it up and recruit some of Soteria's best and brightest. She's still well known in her circle but progress comes thick and fast in the city, and the ever present threat of being forgotten and overlooked has her itching for a breakthrough - one that will cement her name in history.
HEADCANONS.
On the surface and in the public eye, Andromeda is quite a pleasant person, even if her smile doesn’t always look genuine. But family and employees know that she is severe, unforgiving, and obsessive.
Wears only monochrome black or white.
She’s started a fund that supports up and coming scientists in the hopes of spotting the next great genius of Soteria - what the participants don’t read in the fine print is that Andromeda becomes sole proprietor of anything they produce during their time under her wing.
Has a budding fascination with becoming immortal, in one way or another.
CONNECTIONS.
blackmailer - someone who really does know about what she did to her former colleague and how she gained her reputation, and is blackmailing her with that information.
employees/fund recipients - andromeda is not tolerant of mistakes and those who work for her know that well. she’s not an easy woman to be managed by, but her lab is state of the art and she allows boundaries to be pushed where others might not. fund recipients see a slightly softer side of her, since she wants to get them on board at the company before anyone else can snap them up.
rival - someone who is perhaps in the same field or from a family of a similar standing and they’ve just always butted heads. andromeda is incredibly competitive by nature and would see them as constantly competing; whether they see it the same way or not is unknown.
siblings - andromeda has three siblings, one older and two younger. she’s very much the dominant one and the one who took their parents expectations most seriously. i imagine at least one of them is the black sheep of the family, maybe even going so far as to move out to salus.
‘friends’ - she’s not much in the business of making friends for pleasure, so any that she does have would be the mutually beneficial kind, and fickle enough to betray if the time is right.
ex - the one relationship that she started for love and not to further her own standing, it ended bitterly because she’s always too focused on work and couldn’t put the effort in. whether there’s still feelings lingering under the animosity remains to be seen.
