B. Ransome

"Nobody's clean; everyone's got a little dirt on them. You just gotta know how to use it to make them squirm."

―Ransome (from Corporate Lockdown)

B. Ransome
Biographical Information
Rank	Senior Executive
Serial number	4121
Affiliation	Seegson Sevastopol Station
Status	Presumed deceased as of December 11, 2137
Physical Description
Species	Human
Gender	Male
Hair color	Dark brown
Eye color	Light brown
Other Information
Portrayed by	Ben Cura

B. Ransome was an executive for the Seegson Corporation stationed aboard Sevastopol Station. He was the senior Seegson employee on the station. When the crew of the USCSS Anesidora unwittingly unleashed a Xenomorph infestation on Sevastopol in 2137, he attempted to aid Weyland-Yutani's efforts to acquire samples of the species, hoping to gain a substantial financial reward for doing so. However, when the company abandoned him, he became one of the many survivors on the station desperately waiting for rescue.

Although his exact fate is not known, it is highly unlikely he could have escaped Sevastopol before its destruction and it is presumed he perished on the station. Amanda Ripley discovered several archive logs recorded by Ransome while she was on Sevastopol.

Biography

Life on Sevastopol

"I appreciate the work you put in, but understand we live in different worlds. Yours is full of extrapolations and estimations. Mine has an executive suite and eight thousand dollar suits. Bottom line is: I've got to look after the money, buddy!"

―Ransome, to Smythe (from Alien: Isolation)

For Ransome, daily life on Sevastopol consisted of reducing costs by cutting corners and blackmailing others to get what he wanted. To this end, he often hacked into private messages and camera systems on the station and also paid unidentified members of the Colonial Marshals on the station to keep him informed of any important developments. Just one example of his money-saving measures was when he denied Smythe's request to upgrade the Working Joe androids using Weyland-Yutani's more advanced variants as a template; ironically, this move later backfired when Ransome was attacked by a Joe in his apartment. When Sevastopol was scheduled for decommissioning, Ransome was involved in trying to find a buyer.

Helping the company

"I'm sending over some samples for investigation. I want the minimum number of employees on this."

―Ransome, to his contact in Gemini Exoplanet Solutions (from Alien: Isolation)

When Catherine Foster was brought aboard Sevastopol with a Chestburster inside her, Ransome learned of the incident from his informant in the Marshal bureau. He immediately took an interest in the situation, blackmailing Dr. Lingard to gain access. As a result, he was actually present when the Chestburster emerged from Foster and subsequently managed to acquire biological samples of the creature. These he surreptitiously sent to be analyzed by the Gemini Exoplanet Solutions technicians working in the Project KG-348 labs, again using blackmail to keep the situation quiet.

Within 24 hours, Weyland-Yutani purchased Sevastopol, the company having learned of the burgeoning Xenomorph outbreak on the station; whether this was as a result of Ransome contacting them directly, or whether they simply learned of the situation via another source, it is clear that Ransome was soon in regular contact with Weyland-Yutani and working to secure a live Xenomorph specimen for them — and a huge financial reward for himself. To this end, he attempted to convince Marshal Waits that capturing the Drone alive rather than killing it could ensure they were both "set up for life". He also began investigating the disappearance of the Nostromo, attempting to decrypt and access the report packet that the ship had relayed via Sevastopol before beginning its fateful final journey in 2122.

Betrayal and attempted escape

"You sons of bitches. I was loyal to you and you cheap bastards left me twisting in the wind. I was going to give you the find of a lifetime."

―Ransome, to his contacts at Weyland-Yutani (from Alien: Isolation)

After APOLLO cut Sevastopol's communications and began using the Working Joes to eliminate any potential threats to the Xenomorphs on the station, Ransome realized he had been hung out to dry by Weyland-Yutani. With the situation on Sevastopol spiralling out of control and the Xenomorphs overrunning the station, he immediately began an attempt to escape. He fled his executive suite in the Corporate Penthouses, avoiding the Drone that had slaughtered the other penthouse residents, deleting all of the incriminating data linking him to the Xenomorph incident along the way.

On his way to Seegson Communications, Ransome passed through the San Cristobal Medical Facility, where he continued to erase evidence of his blackmailing activities on Sevastopol. He also stole the few research notes that Lingard had compiled on the Xenomorph, hoping to use them for financial gain after his escape. Upon reaching the communications center, Ransome continued his efforts to hamper Weyland-Yutani by disabling the station's comms. He also recovered an audio log recorded by Ellen Ripley regarding the Alien that killed her crew, again hoping it could be valuable later on.

Despite encountering another Drone in the area, Ransome managed to escape in an elevator. His fate after this is unknown, although it seems unlikely he escaped Sevastopol and he is presumed to have died aboard the station.

Personality and traits

"No one else needs to know about it, right? If you talk — well, there'll be consequences. I mean, there's plenty Marie doesn't know, right?"

―Ransome, blackmailing Hughes (from Alien: Isolation)

Ransome was a manipulative, selfish and arrogant individual who had a particular affinity for blackmailing others to ensure they cooperated with his agenda. However, this blackmail was almost never done explicitly — instead Ransome would drop hints throughout his messages, just enough to make his victim aware that he knew enough to hurt them while still maintaining plausible deniability. He was also actively involved in Sevastopol's black market smuggling racket. When the Xenomorph incident aboard the station began, Ransome was more interested in how he might benefit financially from the situation than the death and destruction befalling Sevastopol's residents. He had no problem with cutting corners, hiring people based on how cheap rather than experienced they were.

However, despite his generally callous nature, Ransome did save a survivor from burning to death in San Cristobal, showing that his sense of humanity was still at least vaguely intact. In addition, he was repulsed by Weyland-Yutani being ruthless enough to leave the entire station and its populace to their fate. Ransome's messages to Spedding were also noticeably more direct, less condescending and sometimes even friendly, and — unlike his messages to Lingard, Waits and others — never involved blackmail or coercion for personal gain. Similarly, while still somewhat condescending, his messages to Smythe also never involved blackmail. This hints at a friendlier nature, hidden within Ransome.

Trivia

• Ransome never actually appears in Alien: Isolation, his only presence in the game being through various archive logs that can be discovered by the player. However, he is a playable character in the Corporate Lockdown DLC, and goes on to make a very brief physical appearance in the subsequent Trauma DLC.
• Ransome's name can be seen on copies of the Eye on Seegson magazine scattered around Sevastopol. An open copy can be found in the Seegson Synthetics showroow apparently containing an article about Ransome, including an image of him.
• In the novelization of Alien: Isolation, Ransome's first name is given as Kenry, or "Ken" for short. However, his ID card in the game gives his first initial as "B".
• Unused subtitles in the game files reveal that Ransome originally played a more significant part in the story, although in one old storyline he still did not appear in person. At one point, Ripley was to enter his penthouse in pursuit of Marlow (who was not originally in the custody of the Colonial Marshals from the beginning). Later, it was to be revealed that he perished trying to flee the station aboard the Solace, a ship also cut from the game that was to appear in an additional opening sequence.
• However, aspects of this plot would later be incorporated in Corporate Lockdown, which follows Ransome trying to escape Sevastopol and get on board the Torrens.
• There are animations for Ransome left in the files of Alien: Isolation for dialogue, and cutscene 18 which did not make it into the final game.
• In some ways, Ransome is very similar to Burke from Aliens, in that both characters are corporate executives who had relations with Weyland-Yutani and whose goals involved Xenomorph procurement for personal financial gain — regardless of the human cost. In fact, Mike Tanaka's sketch of Ransome depicts him looking very similar to Burke.

Appearances

• Alien: Isolation (voice only)
  • Corporate Lockdown
  • Trauma

Gallery

A sketch of Ransome by Mike Tanaka.

A second sketch of Ransome by Tanaka.

Ransome's ID tag.

Ransome's survivor mode portrait.

Ransome's in-game model.