Kevin Bennell

Doctor Kevin Bennell was an organic chemist in the Nuka-Cola Corporation's Beverageer Division before the Great War.

Background
Calm and logical, Dr. Bennell often acted as a mediator, presenting a middle ground between his more opinionated colleagues; namely his boss, Lead Beverageer Rex Meacham, and Dr. Ruth Leavitt, though he was more inclined to support the former. When John-Caleb Bradberton formed a partnership with the U.S. military through General C. Braxton to develop chemical weapons, Meacham jumped at the opportunity, and Bennell and his colleague Dr. Edmund Medford offered no complaint. The team was provided with a cutting edge laboratory built into the foundations of the Nuka-Cola bottling plant. With a dedicated reactor and living quarters, it allowed the Beverageers to work around the clock.

Bennell's work contributed to Project Cobalt's first fruits - the Nuka-nuke and Nuka-Cola Quantum - and he was given three weeks of vacation time like the rest of his colleagues. However, the military applications of the project did not sit well with Dr. Leavitt. As the rest of the Beverageers continued to focus on Project Cobalt, Leavitt found it impossible to remain in the Nuka-Cola Corporation's employ, openly confronting Meacham in early October and declaring her resignation at the end of the month. Bennell considered this to be a selfish choice in wartime. Over the next few weeks, the other Beverageers pleaded with her to change her mind. Meacham tried to intimidate her into staying, Bennell tried to appeal to her through flattery and reason, and Medford simply followed Bennell's lead.

The arguments continued until the Great War struck on October 23, 2077. Bennell and the others were all trapped as Bradberton activated his panic button, engaging the automated safety systems and locking down the lab with the Beverageers inside. Within a few weeks, isolation started to take its toll on the research team, and Dr. Medford was the first to break under the strain, hanging himself in his dormitory room. His death shocked his colleagues, who each responded differently. Meacham brushed it off, considering Medford's suicide an act of weakness. Bennell instead tried to escape into his work and avoid confronting his fears. Lastly, Leavitt angrily contested Meacham and eventually attempted to leave the lab (despite further attempts at appeasement by Bennell,) and was instead killed by Meacham for doing so. Shocked by Meacham's actions, Bennell dove further into his work, keeping his head down to avoid Meacham's wrath while secretly plotting his escape.

Much time passed as the pair tinkered with Project Cobalt, trying to create a stable isotope for use by non-existent troops above ground, Meacham believing it would be the key to their salvation. In October 2078, Bennell put his escape plan in practice and fled through the reactor's emergency overflow pipe. Meacham was psychotic at this point and opened fire on Bennell as he fled, mortally wounding him. Bennell later died at the service station in the tunnel, never having reached freedom. Meacham stayed behind, continuing his work alone and descending into lunacy. In the end, he finished the project and perished as well, awaiting a nonexistent rescue team.

His skeleton can still be found in 2287, in a maintenance area between the employee tunnels and the secure beverageer lab.

Appearances
Kevin Bennell appears only in the Fallout 4 add-on Nuka-World.

Behind the scenes
Kevin Bennell's name is an amalgamation of the names of Miles Bennell, the main character of the 1956 science fiction movie Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and the actor that portrays him, Kevin McCarthy. He shares this trait with his fellow secure beverageer scientists.