On the Rim, Ch 17: Benjamin "Ben" Grotan
Story by comidacomida on SoFurry
Welcome to Chapter 17 of "On the Rim"! This is a short story series based on a computer game I am playing called "Rim World". Rim World is a really cool indie game that accommodates an amazing array of mods that allow me to create a setting very similar to my story world in which several of my stories take place including "Fathom's Phantoms", "The Farlight Initiative", an "Paid in Kind".
This is the first chapter focused on Benjamin Grotan-- "Ben", for short. As with the others, we get a little peek into who Ben is, where he's come from, and what happened to him since the Venture was destroyed. We also get to see a little of what happens around the cave system while the away team is gone, and what happens once they return. So... what next? Here are the options:
A) Overseer Simpson handles a meet and greet with a distressed Cytkus visiting the camp, and then has to deal with keeping everyone safe when the cave system is attacked by tribesmen!
B) Doctor Zimmerman handles two back-to-back awkward conversations. Later, he seeks cover when a large raiding party from nearby tribesmen rush the valley.
C) Captain Archie interrogates a distressed traveler and, later, oversees the protection of the cave system from some surprisingly aggressive tribesmen.
D) Corporal Grizz spends the morning with Missy-- lovey-dovey stuff and some flirting, but that's interrupted when the group is attacked by a large group of tribesmen.
E) Missy spends her morning with Grizz and later, when the group is attacked by tribals, she and Roscoe provide support.
F) Leo checks in on three of his 'favorite people', spending time in the morning being a social butterfly before becoming a killer bee when the tribesmen attack the settlement.
Voting won't be available long and no, the decision won't change the events of the story, just how they're presented along with who we get to learn more about via their point of view.
Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy "On the Rim"!
On the Rim, Ch 17: Benjamin "Ben" Grotan
2020 copyright comidacomida
Ben was one of a fairly small number of Gens who could rightfully claim to have originated on Earth, and an even smaller number who were naturally born there rather than created in a lab. He was, in fact, one of so few, that he often got picked on for calling it 'Earth'-- only 'Earthlings' did that; everyone else knew of it as Terra. Still, he didn't mind; if people picked on him then that meant that they didn't care that he came from the Grotan family, one of the most prominent Gen dynasties in the Sol system.
Despite constant health problems, growing up had been easy to him, and he often felt conflicted about his extensive privilege. He went to the best schools, had the best teachers, and already had any number of corporate contacts before he'd even gone to college. As for college, his parents weren't okay with him having just one alma mater; they made sure that he attended three ivy leagues-- ones that would be prominently known throughout the core worlds. He was also fairly certain that his parents would have paid extra 'tuition' to assure he get good grades, but those he earned himself, and he was proud of it.
The Wolf focused almost exclusively on his studies in university, not because he didn't have friends (he was likable enough), nor because he was hung up on impressing his parents (he'd realized early on that such a thing was nigh impossible), and not because he had any true desire to make the tuition worth the expense (his parents had absolutely no respect for the cost of anything). No, Ben focused on his studies because he loved knowledge for knowledge's sake. In fact, the only thing he loved knowledge for more than that was the applicable use of certain kinds of knowledge.
He took just over 8 years to get his doctorate; it would have been within reach faster but he had to take time off periodically to handle some health set-backs. Three operations later, much of the faulty tissue in his body had been replaced with synthetic or surrogate cells, but he always managed to get right back on track. The surgeries had taken their toll, however, leaving him permanently stunted, but he didn't let that slow him down; if anything else he felt like he had to move faster. That wasn't great for his asthma, of course, but the 'medical improvements' done to him made sure that it was more an annoyance than a threat to his life. That assumed, of course, that he was always near quality medical services-- and on Planet A of the 7HIA system, that wasn't the case.
Ben didn't warm up to new people easily; he grew up in a world of ulterior motives, half-truths, and people always seeking more out of relationships than others' are willing to give. He was fortunate then that, after wandering around the wilds for days, that he found other Relegra survivors from the Venture, and Overseer Sandra Simpson. He didn't personally know Sandra and he didn't work with her, but she was a familiar face and that was a start. The fact that he quickly became a pivotal member of the team also helped.
Out of everyone in the group, the Overseer became his guiding light; he kept busy and focused on doing what she needed. During many of those projects he was assigned to work alongside Cole, a black-furred Stallion a few years younger than himself, and Duct-Tape, a white-furred Fox who was probably over double-his age. The Wolf's tail always twitched in amusement as he considered the strange yin-yang element of their interaction.
He often also wondered what a three-way yin-yang would be called; considering his gray fur, being between their ages, and combining Cole's "hands on knowledge" with Duct-Tape's "down to earth applied knowledge" it felt often enough that he was a bridge between the two. Then again, he realized, neither of his coworkers had advanced degrees but, he often reminded himself, a piece of paper didn't identify the quality of someone's character no matter what his parents had to say on the issue.
The group of three were thanked often by the Overseer, and that was only more so once they got the communication table set up and connected to their trade beacon. Ms. Simpson thanked them again after they reached the first orbital trader; although the ship made it a point not to pick up passengers they did send a representative down in a drop shuttle to exchange goods and, suddenly, the group had extra medicines, which was good for Ben since he'd need something to keep his asthma in check.
Another two orbital traders came and went during the absence of the group who went out to check on lead provided by the tribesmen. All of them seemed willing to trade but nobody was willing to take on passengers; honestly, considering the pirate presence in the system he wasn't going to blame them; it seemed like any ships that spent any longer than a few hours in orbit became targets for pirates-- he could only imagine how much worse it'd be for ones who planned on landing to pick up passengers.
During the trades, Overseer Simpson managed to trade some unprocessed food for some fine meals (to celebrate their success, she said). She also succeeded in setting up a trade to get rid of a variety of 'herbs' that Missy had brought back to the settlement. Nobody had said anything about them until Ben made the mistake of mentioning that they looked like they would normally only be acquirable on the black market-- he knew at least two of them were used in the manufacturing of recreational drugs. Rather than make a big fuss about it, however, the Overseer thanked him for the information; they were bartered off in the next trade.
Orbital traders were not the only visitors; several of the friendly settlements sent envoys over to say hello and, before long, the cave system felt more like a busy meet-and-greet faire than a refugee den. The levity and smiles were always kept in check by Captain Archibald however; the Dog's job was to keep the group safe, and Ben respected him for that, despite the unpopular decisions he had to make to get that task done. The group they'd set out arrived in the afternoon that day, and the information (and wreckage) they brought back made Ben appreciate the security Captain even more.
Ben had been working with Duct-Tape to fine-tune the hydroponic and lighting system that'd been set up in the caves when Cole came to collect him; there was something the Overseer wanted him to look at. He followed the Stallion out into the open ground between the cave entrance and the wall of plants that marked the start of the jungle, but the Wolf came to a halt when he saw many of the group gathered around what could only have been described as what looked like the plastisteel frame of a high-tech, bipedal, humanoid robot. He jogged over, pausing to catch his breath before asking "Is that what I think it is?"
Captain Archibald reached out and patted him on the shoulder. "I think it's time to prepare some defenses."
Corporal Grizz and Claw helped move the 'corpse' inside so Ben could inspect it closely while the Captain put a few work crews together to start handling what he called 'funneling walls'. In the event of an attack it would help direct enemies to where the defenders wanted them, not where the attackers wanted to be. Once the primary defenses were in place, however, the Overseer collected the workers and brought them back to the base for a 'civil project'. The Captain was not pleased, but Ben kept out of their affairs and focused on his own project: he was trying out how best to manufacture emergency batteries for the group.
At some point before dark there was a little commotion as both the Captain and the Corporal were rushed into the infirmary; at first Ben was worried it was an attack but, when the information finally made it into the side tunnels where the Wolf was setting up brackets to house the batteries, it was in the form of Leo laughing. "I can't believe it-- two full-on combat capable guys each getting taken down a peg by wild animals."
Ben had always been a little intimidated by dynamic personalities, and Leo definitely fit into that list, but he wanted more information and the Lion was the only one he'd seen in over an hour. "Why? What happened? Is everyone okay?"
Leo walked right up to him, invaded his personal space, and gave him what felt like a very condescending pat on the head. "Aw... don't you worry about it, pup... they'll both be fine. Cap'n has Cole going back to pick up some pork from where he'd stumbled into a wallow of wild pigs, and apparently our resident bad-ass Grizz got into a 'hand-to-hand' with a real bear... probably gonna have another scar to add to the beauty already on his head."
Despite the straight-forward information, the disclosure was more distracting than it was informative; Ben owed that to the unsolicited personal contact, as well as being called 'pup'; as far as he could tell, the Lion was MAYBE 5 years his senior, so such a statement was more of a power play than anything endearing. "Okay... thanks. I gotta get back to work on this battery set up, so--"
Leo either didn't notice or didn't care about the polite request for space, and he drew closer, looming over him as if to look at the work he was doing. "So... what'd you find out about that robot thing we brought back for ya?"
The Lion was obviously not going to give him space, so Ben too it for himself. He stood up and moved across the tunnel to work on the battery placements on the opposite side; unfortunately Leo just followed him. Rather than kneeling down to let the rather imposing fellow loom over him again, Ben about-faced to address him. "I'm still putting my report together for the Overseer... but right now from what I can tell it looks advanced... REALLY advanced."
Leo, surprisingly, didn't loom, giving him a respectful distance. Crossing his arms, the Lion tried to look at least partially disinterested, but Ben saw the way his tail thrashed in surprise. "Oh? So... you mean... like a drone or something?"
Ben scoffed. "No... I mean like a fully autonomous unit... self contained artificial intelligence."
"Wow... probably worth quite a bit then."
The Wolf shrugged. "Depends... three out of five kinds of experimentation into artificial personality technology is illegal, and one of the two remaining kinds is looked down on... only biological systems like the Gens are--"
Leo held up a paw to silence him. "Lost interest already. I'm gonna go see if the Overseer's interested in messing around with it... We'd be a lot safer with a dozen battle bots protecting us."
Ben went to follow him. "That's not how stuff like that works, Leo! The--"
The Lion glanced back at him, silencing him with a glance. Ben then got a wink from Leo for his troubles. "You should probably finish those batteries placements tonight-- I think the Overseer wants them ready to go tomorrow."
The Wolf frowned; he liked to think he got along well with everyone, but he just couldn't bring himself to think positive thoughts of jerks who reminded him of his family. Mumbling to himself, he got back to work. "I didn't study advanced physics just to work as a proctologist... please god, no more assholes tonight."