Overview
Ben Auerbach is a young State Department policy figure in Burn Zone. He works with the Office of Domestic Preparedness and serves as a liaison to a State-linked nuclear-defense group.
Role
Ben attends Rupert Brunn’s May 28 meeting because of his access to nuclear-defense contacts. He explains that the Fort Drum nuclear device can go missing because the conspirators have sympathizers, and he supports the domestic nuclear deterrent plan as a one-time strike intended to force white peace.
Ben is frightened by the civilian consequences but states on the May 28 recording that he is willing to put seven or eight hundred thousand civilian deaths on his conscience for victory.
In detention, Connie Blye sexually assaults Ben. He is then taken to the tribunal, where Lorianna Blackstone plays his recorded statement and sentences Benjamin Auerbach to death for crimes against humanity. He is executed by firing squad before Rupert is brought to the wall.