I’m definitely late to this, but I was brainstorming how this would work with Ben in jail, and i think I’ve come up with a somewhat interesting idea. Ok, so the team gets contacted by someone at the jail, a guard or something, saying that Ben is finally using his only call. You could insert some backstory in here, but the main part of the conversation is Ben saying something that sounds for the most part normal (for Ben at least) but it has a hidden meaning. (This is also a great part where you could rely on Subject 4 to decipher the message’s meaning.) An example is maybe the first letter of every word he says spells something.

The hidden meaning ends up being that Ben is telling you that he knows about the SPIRE, and either knows how to turn it on or shut it down (depending on which is the “right” choice) but he needs the team’s help to get out of jail. But he would require you guys to do something small, not like requesting you guys to come guns a blazing to his rescue.

(Also i would love if he relays this information in a way where he is still arrogant and sort of snarky to the team, like “you need MY help, i don’t need yours.”)

Then we would have the whole, “do we trust him? What if we actually did this? What would the consequences be?” Etc. conflict between the team. In the end they decide to do whatever Ben asks of them.

So then Ben gets out of jail, and at first doesn’t hold up to his promise of helping them, (or at least, takes a while to) and the team feels betrayed. Then, little by little, starts contacting the team and guiding them. This way he still is very much an anti-hero and keeps true to how his character has so far been a loner and only doing things out of desperation.

Then once the team actually finds the spire or whatever, Ben could actually show up in person and help them. Maybe he even has a redemption moment where he “saves” one of the team members.

So this way Ben turns into sort of a reluctant helper to the team, kinda like Deb. This way the team still has some guidance in this world, like they used to with Deb, and we would get to see more of Ben which I know we would all love.

Matthias, I think visiting him in prison and asking him about the safe, the absalate, Project S.P.R.I.E, and his job at Syntec, did he work Project S.P.R.I.E? Even working with the Police or John Doe to get him out of prison and work with him to get answers to some of your questions. Most likely, negotiation would be on the table because you would have to offer him something in return for helping you and your team. Also ask him about the mask, is it keeping him alive, if he is not under the influence of the serum, what purpose does the mask serve?

This is from my post "Ben and the absalate" but I thought I'd put it here too. So yeah, this is what I think about about a redemption arc kind of thing and I thought it related to this, post, so that's why I added it here.

"The absalate is keeping Matt alive because he's being affected by the serum. Ben is also affected by the serum. He's been surviving using his mask. But, what if he gets released out into the world again, but doesn't have the mask. Or the mask breaks or something like that. Just something that makes it so he can't use the mask to stay alive. Then, he might need the absalate to stay alive. So, Ben could like try to have a conversation and get the absalate from Matt and we can see Matt's reaction to that. And, say Matt doesn't give up the absalate because he needs it to live, then it could be like a redemption arc thing for Ben or something. Like Ben realises that he won't survive without it, but also knows that Matt, Samantha, and Woods are the only way to stop Syntec. And for that to happen, Matt would need to be alive. So, Ben sacrifices himself so that they can end Syntec and stop people from suffering like he did."

Anyway, I think that Ben sacrificing himself could also help Matt, Samantha, and Woods begin to work more as a team with more trust. Because it seems like there's a lot of tension between them right now, especially with woods stealing the file and everything. I feel like there are definitely some issues with trust, so maybe by Ben saying that they are the only hope for stopping syntec, that they would become more of a tighter team. Also, I think that Ben could also like tell his personal story in syntec. And that could also answer a couple of questions they had. Like, maybe Ben knows about Project SPIRE or something like that.

I feel like this is something Ben would say “there is no good and evil there is only power and those to weak to see it”-Voldemort

I like this anti hero vibe

Remember when Matt said he was worried for Ben this could be why the team can go hunting for the antidote so he can be more stable to talk to him so he could give more info on Nelson things like how to contact him or where he’s hiding stuff like that

I mean it’s an idea

I think that the team could reach out to Ben about something they need help with that Ben might know the answer to. Ben could decide to help the team realizing the amount of power Nelsons gained, he realizes they need to stop Nelson.

I would love a Ben redemption arc! Perhaps if they help him recover or fight the serum he could help them against Nelson, i think Ben has the ability to be a good guy and id love to see it

maybe something to do with the enemy of my enemy is my friend?

What if Virgo was his and Deborah's love child which is why they spilt and Deb went to hiding was to protect there daughter Virgo and some how the daughter sees these videos and makes contact with the team to get her dad that she never got to know help and back in her life and then the team can work with them remotely to help take down syntec and to keep them safe Virgo and Ben reunite with Deb and they can be a family .....oh and somehow get Ben's face fixed cuz he looks uuuugggglllyyy lol jk but seems like a good story to me

It’s an interesting idea, but it would mean that he will now need a reason for actions thus far as he did state he was working for no one, while showing no interest in Syntech or the Serum. Perhaps we can kill two birds with one stone, make Ben a antihero while given Nelson some much need background/depth by framing Bens actions as attempts to draw Nelson out of hiding (if he is still alive), using things like the bombs and the absolute to force Nelson to play his hand so to speak. Doing this could also fix some minor plot holes.

For example It could explain why Ben was so angry at them for taking the emulator seeing how there wasn’t really an explanation to why he wanted the emulator, but did nothing when the team found the server. Maybe he though that it could help him draw out Nelson thought Deb but lost interest after seeing Deb refusal/unwillingness to so much as mention Nelson to the team/subjects (meaning she would be of no use/help). We could also apply that logic to the giant serum bomb, playing it as a trap meant to force Nelson to intervene. Think about it what good would setting off a dispersion device in the back of a small box truck do? Other then being a perfect trap as Matt demonstrated when he caught Ben.

I think this is the best solution for Ben as it would allow him to be a antihero while giving him the chance to ‘switch’ sides so long as it gets him closer to Nelson (or perhaps a different goal) while giving the writer the ability to tighten up the narrative.