Ben Patrick is a well known expert in crocodile vocalisations who became a prominent researcher of the dragons at the Great Dragon Zoo of China.
History[]
Early History[]
While he was studying herpetology at at the University of Florida, Ben Patrick attracted the attention of many of his female colleagues. At some point after he became a member of the University faculty, he asked CJ Cameron went out for dinner. However, because the only thing Patrick talked about during their date was himself, CJ was disappointed, and they never ended up going out together again.
Having pioneered a research program to discern the meanings of alligator vocalisations that proved revolutionary, Patrick drew the attention of the Chinese, who invited him to work at their secret zoo, which contained living dragons. Believing that this would be the ultimate break in his career when the Chinese revealed them to the world, Patrick eagerly joined the scientists at the Great Dragon Zoo of China in studying the ancient reptiles.
During the course of his studying of the dragons' vocalisations, Patrick was able to compile a database that noted the meanings behind their various grunts, and later developed a translating device to allow real-time translations, which was grafted onto a small group of prince-class dragons that were being trained for an introductory show for visitors. However, Patrick was not gentle in his treatment of the dragons, with the yellowjacket Lucky coming to dislike Patrick for hurting her calling him "Big-Eyes" because of his glasses.
Still, Patrick's success with the vocalisation translator allowed him to move to a senior position overseeing research in the Birthing Centre, and even afforded him the authority to access a special remote that could be used to detonate a small explosive in a dragon's head if necessary, along with Colonel Bao and Zoo Director Chow Wei.
Patrick was alerted to the fact that some of the dragons had been observed digging around the Zoo, and noted the locations on a whiteboard. As he wondered why they were digging, Patrick also mused that the dragons born through the crocodile-breeding program were typically more aggressive than the ones that had hatched from the original eggs, how the red-bellied blacks may be of a higher status than the other species, and not noted how the dragons seemed to be working the humans out.
The Great Zoo of China[]
Six years after joining the Zoo, on a day were a couple of groups of guests were being shown the Zoo ahead of its opening, Patrick was in the Birthing Centre when the red-bellied black dragons initiated a series of attacks, having torn their ears out so that they could bypass the ultrasonic shields that usually kept the dragons from attacking personnel, vehicles and buildings. As a group of red-bellied princes broke into the Birthing Centre, Patrick, Go "Go-Go" Guan, and a grad student managed to secure themselves in one of the cages, leaving them unable to do anything but watch as the dragons massacred the rest of the lab's staff.
Soon after, Patrick saw a group of people enter the lab seeking safety, CJ among them. As she recognised Patrick, he shouted to warn them to run before the dragons smelled them, but was cut off mid-sentence as a pair of the princes returned, and so watched as CJ's group instead ran towards a door leading to the VIP area.
It wasn't long before the Chinese military forces at the Zoo began fighting back against the rogue dragons, and Patrick and the others were released from the cage. Brought to the forward camp in the VIP area where Bao was organising the counterattack, Patrick interrupted the Colonel to inform him that some of the princes were in the generators and claimed that some were probably digging elsewhere underground. When Bao questioned his reasoning, Patrick pointed out how digging had saved the dragons from extinction and how they had been doing so for months. Bao demanded to know why - if he was so knowledgeable - Patrick hadn't predicted the attack, and the herpetologist responded that the dragons' were intelligent in their own way, noting that the humans were the ones mopping up the blood when the Colonel scoffed.
Patrick then moved over to CJ and greeted her, noting her scars from an alligator attack and saying it was a shame, though CJ couldn't tell whether he meant the attack or the loss of her looks. When she asked how his vocalisation research was going, Patrick immediately started boasting about the opportunity he'd had working at the Zoo. When Patrick added that the Chinese would see the attack as a mere setback to the Great Dragon Zoo's potential to expand their nation's influence, CJ pointed out that many people were dead and that the representatives from the New York Times would be reporting on it. As Hu Tang told the American visitors they were escorted home, CJ asked Patrick about the VIP area, which he answered about its purpose as a dragon-hunting lodge, then bid her farewell.
Patrick, however, was aware that Tang and Bao had decided to have the visiting journalists killed in order to prevent them from damaging the Zoo's reputation before it opened, and - not wanting to lose his opportunity to further his career - informed Bao that Go-Go wouldn't stay quiet once he heard CJ was dead since they were old friends. As they Chinese moved out to relocate, Patrick took a seat in the cab of one of the troop trucks as they took the long way along the ring road.
During the drive, however, the Zoo's main power cable was damaged by the red-bellies, causing the inner electromagnetic dome and the ultrasonic shields to switch off. As he realised that they had lost their protection from the dragons, Patrick felt something large swoop over the truck, barely having a moment to lament that they were in trouble before the red-bellied emperor hit the truck. Patrick and the soldiers who weren't killed in the impact couldn't escape as the emperor lifted the troop truck and flew it over to Dragon Mountain and threw it through the restaurant window, with Patrick being knocked unconscious.
Patrick regained consciousness some time later, and was extracted from the truck's cab by CJ, who saw to his wounds. Seeing Lucky with her and that CJ had appropriated Yim's translation earpiece and figured it out, Patrick explained how it worked before CJ revealed that Lucky had told her the red-bellies were attempting to free their fire-breathing masters from the Nesting Centre. Though horrified at what could happen if the super-class dragons got out, Patrick tried to dissuade CJ from trying to stop them, but relented by telling her what he knew of them and how a red training unit could be used to detonate explosive material in their heads. Though he didn't expect her to even be able to reach the Nesting Centre with the red-bellies converging on it, and not wanting to risk CJ getting ahold of a red unit, Patrick pretended to comply and gave her the wrong code for a safe containing the unit.
As CJ pressed him to find out how the red-bellies might go about bringing down the second dome, Patrick revealed the dragons would have to destroy the emplacements at both the worker city and the military airfield to do so. However, Patrick baulked at the idea of following CJ to try and stop the dragons since he didn't think they stood a chance, instead opting to remain in the restaurant and tried to convince CJ not to go. As Lucky prepared to fly off with CJ and Li on her back, Patrick noticed her saying something and asked CJ what it was, with CJ claiming Lucky didn't want to go to the Nesting Centre either but would anyway.
By the time the sun was up the next morning, Patrick had managed to reunite with Tang and Bao as they were preparing to retake the Zoo near the main entrance building. With CJ and the others still on the loose, Patrick offered to help lure CJ in so that the Chinese could execute her and proceed with rebuilding the Zoo without a tarnished reputation so that his career in the future would remain secure. As CJ was radioing her brother to organise their escape, Patrick overheard them and interrupted to request their help in fleeing as well, claiming the Chinese would kill him as well, and asked her to meet him on the main entrance's roof with Lucky. When he saw CJ and Lucky approaching, Patrick waved them in to the amphitheater, where Bao, Tang and a few soldiers were waiting in ambush. Once CJ dismounted Lucky, Patrick apologised before the Chinese revealed themselves, and then he used a taser unit to shock Lucky and render her unconscious.
As CJ realised Patrick had intentionally given her the wrong code for the safe earlier, Patrick justified his actions since the Dragon Zoo would make him the most famous scientist in the world and that he couldn't have her ruining things or killing the dragons. Following a a red-bellied prince appearing and mutilating Tang's face and Greg Johnson's threat over the radios as he activated a thermobaric bomb that would destroy the Zoo and the dragons with it, CJ took the opportunity to tackle the distracted Patrick and send him crashing into the seats. When he managed to get up, Patrick stepped into CJ's path and pointed a gun at her and Minnie, failing to notice Lucky behind him as she kicked him with her back legs. The brutal kick snapped several vertebrae in Patrick's back, and he fell face-first onto the floor. CJ told Patrick that he had chosen his side before leaving him where he had fallen.
With his back broken, Patrick was unable to move as the thermobaric bomb detonated. Though he narrowly avoided being caught in the actual blast, Patrick fell victim to bomb's worst effect, as the vacuum effect sucked away the air around him, and it was only after he vomited up his own lungs that Patrick perished.
Personality[]
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Skills[]
- Expert Herpetologist: Patrick is an expert in reptiles such as crocodiles and alligators, including their physiology, behavior, and evolutionary history. In particular, he pioneered a study into the vocalisations of alligators to translate the meanings behind their growls. This played a part in China's decision to invite him to the Great Dragon Zoo of China as a researcher of the supposedly mythical creatures. Patrick's research of the dragons provided him with an opportunity to become an even more prominent herpetologist, as he became a leading researcher at the Birthing Centre and developed a database compiling their guttural language with translated meanings, and even reversed the process to make a translation device.
- Bilingualism: Patrick had demonstrated fluency in other languages beside his native English, being able to read and speak Mandarin with little effort, which proved a useful skill when he was recruited to work at the Great Dragon Zoo.
Equipment[]
- Ultrasonic Shield: A Audemars Piguet-designed wristwatch containing a sonic-emitting device, used to keep dragons from attacking at the Great Dragon Zoo of China. Patrick kept his sonic shield on throughout the red-bellies' attacks, though the unit was eventually depowered when the dragons damaged the Zoo's main power cable.
- Dragon Vocalisation Translator: A device Patrick developed to translate the unique vocalisations of some of the dragons living at the Great Dragon Zoo of China. A sensory unit is grafted onto the heads of a few dragons and wired directly to into their larynx and brain, which picks up the subsonic vibrations and grunts used by dragons to communicate and transmits it to a database containing precise interpretations of hundreds of the vocalisations. This is then transmitted on to earpieces worn by certain staff members in order to allow them to understand what these dragons are saying; the process also works in reverse, allowing dragons to understand some human words when they speak into the receiving earpiece, albeit only when simple sentences comprised primarily of nouns and verbs are used.
- Tasing Unit: To Be Added.
- Pistol: A handgun that Patrick got ahold of from one of the fallen Chinese soldiers and which he prepared to shoot CJ with.
Relationships[]
CJ Cameron[]
While they were both working at the University of Florida, Patrick asked CJ out for dinner, though because the only thing Patrick talked about during their date was himself, she was disappointed and they never ended up going out again. When they met years later at the Great Dragon Zoo, Patrick and CJ were civil towards one another, though his continued narcissist attitude made it hard to determine if he was expressing sympathy for the alligator attack she'd been through or the loss of her good looks. Furthermore, Patrick had no problem selling her and her companions out to the Chinese, all for the sake of his prospective career, and only offered a bare apology for doing so.
Trivia[]
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