Harlan Bennett

It was the scientist in me, you see. It was the desire to see all the everything beyond the Golden City. To escape the sycophants, the provincial. The hunger to know. It is my greatest weapon. But the mask conceals this… But I know a secret that I cannot yet tell.
―T’Challa, “Black Panther #6,” by Ta-Nehisi Coates

Harlan Bennett

Statistics
Age 42, Nationality: American, Birthplace: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 1983.
Song of Ghroth: Second Stanza, Ghroth Points: 13, Mi-Go Conditioning: POW 60.

Combat

Skills
Accounting 15%, Anthropology 1%, Appraise 5%, Archeology 1%, Charm 20%, Climb 20%, Computer Use 90%, Credit Rating 60%, Cthulhu Mythos 1%, Disguise 5%, Drive Auto 20%, Electrical Repair 30% Electronics 65%, Fast Talk 5%, First Aid 30%, History 15%, Knowledge (Cartography) 45%, Knowledge (Comic Books) 65%, Intimidate 15%, Jump 20%, Law 15%, Library Use 55%, Listen 30%, Locksmith 1%, Mechanical Repair 35%, Medicine 5%, Navigate 10%, Natural World 25%, Occult 5%, Operate Heavy Machinery 5%, Operate Radio Telescope 25%, Paranormal Studies 5%, Persuade 25%, Psychology 20%, Psychoanalysis 1%, Ride 5%, Science (Astronomy) 65%, Science (Astrophysics) 80%, Science (Biology) 10%, Science (Chemistry) 15%, Science (Mathematics) 80%, Science (Physics) 40%, Sleight of Hand 45%, Spot Hidden 55%, Stealth 20%, Streetwise 10%, Survival 10%, Swim 20%, Throw 20%, Track 10%.

Languages: English native; Italian 20%

Spells
If Harlan Bennet begins hearing the Third Stanza, the Keeper may determine that his insights into the Mi-Go Apeirogon are worth granting him a few “spells.” Good candidates are: Ariadne’s Twine, Contact Hounds of Tindalos, Create Gate Window, Flight, Journey to the Other Side, Lift Veil, Limbo Gate, Rend Veil, View Gate. Such spells could be modified and presented as technological innovations or mutant superpowers.

Education
B.S. in Mathematics from University of Pennsylvania, Minor in Astronomy, 2005
M.S. in Astrophysics from Pennsylvania State University, 2007
Ph.D. in Astrophysics from Columbia University, focus on Computational Astrophysics, 2013

Description

Dr. Bennett is a soft-spoken man who favors rumpled, casual clothing that conceals a trim, athletic frame. He wears a short goatee and has slightly unkempt hair. He used to wear glasses, but recent Lasik surgery has corrected his vision and given him a perpetually anxious expression, like he’s half-expecting the world to go suddenly and irreparably blurry.

History
Born Harlan Gosse Bennett IV in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, “H4” grew up in an affluent, middle-class family that valued education. His father is a cardiac surgeon at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, and his mother is a poli-sci professor at Lincoln University. A serious young man who enjoyed football, puzzles, D&D, and stargazing, Bennett earned a degree in Mathematics from the University of Pennsylvania, then completed his Master’s degree in Astrophysics at Penn State University. He moved to New York and earned a Ph.D. in Computational Astrophysics from Colombia.

Harlan remained in New York the next few years, working at the Flatiron Institute’s Center for Computational Astrophysics and living in Park Slope, Brooklyn. He returned to Philadelphia in 2015 to launch a software startup with two associates, but he resigned after the company was purchased by Yoyodyne Propulsion Systems in 2017. After a year working for PrimaLuceLab in Italy, Bennet returned to the States and accepted a position as Associate Director of Data Analytics at the Great Plains Cruciform Array in 2019.

Hired under the aegis of the Cruciform Array Sky Sweep (CASS), Bennett serves as the GPCA’s chief computer programmer, data analyst, and all-around tech trouble shooter. The astronomers determine which celestial objects to study, and the array operators direct the telescopes to collect the data; but it’s Bennett who manages the programming they use, and it’s often Bennett who performs the most difficult data reductions. His role includes supervising a small team of offsite software engineers, most of whom work remotely or from the NRAO offices in Socorro, New Mexico. Bennett takes a very hands-on approach to his work, and is often found in the control room.

Scientific Work
During his “academic era,” as Bennett likes to describe his rush through school, Bennett authored several papers on computational astrophysics, computer modelling, and Lobachevskian geometry—he’s fascinated by non-Euclidean geometry, particularly apeirogonal tiling. These days his scientific work is expressed more in algorithms, system upgrades, and white papers overflowing with the arcane jargon of data reduction.

Personal Life
Dr. Bennett met his wife Judith Robinson at an Erykah Badu concert in Brooklyn in 2012. They began dating, but placed their relationship on hold after Bennett left for Italy in 2017. After Judy told him to “Come home soon, or stay in Porcia and find some Italian bitch,” Bennet returned to the states and married Judy in April 2018. A year later their daughter Shuri was born, named after the techno-savant sister of T’Challa in Black Panther. The family moved to North Platte in 2019 when Bennett accepted his job at the GPCA. Judy works as a paralegal, and maintains a thriving side-business selling personalized glass awards on Etsy.

The Bennetts are a happy, young couple who maintain an active lifestyle. They support progressive political causes; enjoy seeing musicals, plays, and concerts; frequently visit their parents in Philadelphia and Brooklyn; and take numerous family vacations, including a recent trip to Italy. This idyllic life has recently come under stress from two disparate causes. The first is Bennett’s job. This last year Bennett has been working late hours, and seems to suffer from episodes of depression and lethargy, sometimes punctuated by bursts of anger. He’s been hard-pressed to explain why, and Judy has been “pestering” him about seeing a therapist. The second is Shuri. Their six-year old daughter came home from first grade and announced she was “non-binary.” Judith is taking this very seriously, but Bennett believes it’s just a phase, the result of “social contagion from rich white kids.” This disagreement has resulted in the couple’s first serious argument, and when the scenario begins, Harlan Bennett has spent the last two nights sleeping on the couch!

Although Bennett was considered a “blerd” growing up in Philly—nothing rankled him more than being called “Urkel”—today his geeky side is restricted to collecting Marvel comic books and seeing the occasional fantasy film, more from nostalgia over teenage D&D games than any real love for the genre. (Bennett’s more a “superhero guy” than a sci-fi or fantasy geek, and has a near encyclopedic knowledge of the X-Men.) He’s never played sports, but enjoys professional football and basketball, dividing his loyalties between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Brooklyn Nets. He listens to old-school R&B, neo-soul, and hip-hop, and acquired a taste for opera during his stay in Italy. (Bennett has tried to share this interest with Neal, but the Director just sniffs at Puccini’s “overly-ornate Italian confections.”)

Notable Possessions
Bennett drives a 2021 Toyota Camry with a Columbia University sticker on the back window and a small Eagles helmet on the dashboard.

Reactions to Nemesis

Dr. Bennett has been resisting the Song of Ghroth better than most members of the Nemesis Team, and has been “stuck” on the Second Stanza for several months. This is the cause of his work-related stress, of course, as well as his recent lethargy and irritability.

Bennett’s Delusions
Bennett’s delusions combine the two influences fighting for control over his mind—the Mi-Go conditioning and the Song of Ghroth. Bennett remains unconvinced by Neal’s theory on Nemesis, and privately sides with Dr. Mancini and the late Dr. Swann, believing that Nemesis is some form of ancient artefact. Its purpose is not yet clear, but he’s beginning to formulate certain ideas. Ever since Bennett’s exposure to the Song of Ghroth, he’s become strangely fascinated by the “Hyades Valentine” that Leo Sawyer showed him during the 2023 holiday party. He still thinks Leo is a feckless lunatic who went off his meds; but lately Bennett has been increasingly troubled by certain mathematical implications of the data. He’s been having disquieting dreams that reality is constructed around some alien geometry, a multi-dimensional structure that permeates the very fabric of space-time, a majestic and terrible apeirogon like an infinite web. And if one could somehow access this geometry, one could perform all manner of technological miracles such as faster-than-light travel; nay, interdimensional travel…

If Dr. Bennett gains 2 more Ghroth Points, he’ll begin hearing the Third Stanza. At that point, he’ll become convinced that such an “apeirogonal network” actually exists, has been built by ancient civilizations, and could be used by humans. Especially if those humans were special; perhaps possessing buried genetic markers dating from some primordial time when Homo sapiens were seeded by another race. And if such a human—or perhaps a better word is “mutant?”—could awaken that power, he would become almost superhuman! Once Bennett embarks down this path, he begins to see Nemesis as an alien beacon sending as signal to “awaken” this potential in select human beings.

Episodes
Dr. Bennet has been responding to Ghroth by having episodes of anxiety, lethargy, pain, and sometimes anger. There’s something bullish about the man—he’s slow to anger, but when he snaps, it isn’t pretty! If Bennett continues to lose Sanity, he’ll develop a monomania almost as powerful as Neal’s, becoming convinced that he’s one of the few humans “selected” for a glorious destiny. If he can just understand the “apeirogonal network,” he’ll be able to “fix the stars and open the gate of infinite sides” and pass through to other worlds! If the Keeper desires, an “awoken” Bennett may discover he can use certain “spells.” And if this results in him accidentally summoning the Hounds of Tindalos, that’s just the kind of thing that happens at the end of a Call of Cthulhu scenario, isn’t it?

GPCA Relationships
A generally reserved man, Harlan Bennett gets along with most of his colleagues, but doesn’t consider any of them “friends.” Gerald Neal’s an asshole, sure, but you gotta know how to deal with him. C.T. Guest is nice—probably too nice—but should grow a spine. And while the loss of his wife Peggy was terrible, Guest really needs to move on. Diane Mancini is ultimately unknowable, and Bennett respects her desire to remain private. Freddie Pike is a lot smarter than he looks, and the two have had some excellent conversations about computer modeling. Jay Osman and Mason Dauterive are fine operators, if overly chatty. Jenny Hooper is clearly a genius, but it’s obvious the GPCA is just another step on the ladder to a brilliant career.

The only colleague Bennett genuinely dislikes is Jackie Bernard-Wu, a shallow rich kid who’s wasting his potential. However, as the scenario progresses, Bennett may come to realize that there’s more to Jackie than he thought—after all, both are laboring under the delusion that Ghroth is giving them superpowers. This relationship could go in either direction. They may become bitter rivals or they may become allies, especially if Jackie combines his understanding of quantum computing with Bennett’s insights into non-Euclidean geometry.

The Role of Harlan Bennett

Harlan Bennett has been reacting to the increasing tension between the Song of Ghroth and his Mi-Go conditioning by becoming moody and withdrawn. This makes him preoccupied and often terse with visitors. The best way to attract Dr. Bennett’s attention and win his trust is to present him with hard data that helps define his growing suspicions about the Mi-Go Apeirogon. He’s fascinated by computers, data, and non-Euclidean geometries, and anything that helps him understand his dreams is going to be welcome—the Hyades Valentine, information about The Message, a working or inert colophon, etc. Bennett is at a moral crossroads, and it could be the actions of the player characters that pull him back to his humanity, or push him towards the Brotherhood of Mutants!

More than any other scientist on the Nemesis Team, Bennett’s a family man. He couldn’t bear to see anything happen to his beloved Judy and Shuri. If Bennett could become convinced that the Team’s actions are putting his family at risk, he might lend his support to the player characters’ attempts to contain the Nemesis signal. On the other hand, if the player characters alienate Bennett, he has the ability to become as cold as Dr. Neal. Bennett has no problems calling the authorities to deal with threatening situations or people.

Notes and Inspirations

If Bible Black were a movie, Harlan Bennett would be portrayed by Mamoudou Athie, whose performance in Archive 81 was a masterclass in repressed desire and understated tension.

Bible Black > NPC Profiles
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Author: A. Buell Ruch (Based on work by Kevin A. Ross)
Last Modified: 2 November 2025
Email: quail (at) shipwrecklibrary (dot) com
Bible Black PDF: [TBD]