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Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Zeta Project'. I do not own any of its characters. I deeply appreciate Robert Goodman as the creator of 'The Zeta Project' and all 'The Zeta Project' team. So it's just a fanfic.

A/N Chapter Two of Book Two 'Why' of 'You Need Me' will come really soon. But meanwhile I want to offer you this story.

This is a fan fiction version of Ro's Reunion, told from Zee's point of view.

As English isn't my native language I want to thank LTC for her editing work on this chapter and also to Imajine for her help and support.

And I want to give a great thanks to SteelNeko for her help.

Ro's Reunion

Chapter One

Zee's point of view

Actually… I was a little bit worried that Ro might be angry with me, but… I was most of certain I had to do this, so I led her… to a Ground Wire nearby.

No, the thing I was worry about wasn't the cyber café. We had spent so much time in computer clubs searching for some information about Dr. Selig or some research for Ro's brother's location, so going into Ground Wires was hardly surprising anymore. After all, we came to Twin City with the goal of finding any trace of Casey Rowen. But my insistence to wait exactly for that computer, in the corner, definitely astonished Ro. I loved to surprise her, so I didn't say anything. We just waited for those two young men to leave and we sat in that corner. I connected my wrist's cable in the computer and started with my usual quest for Dr. Selig, then for Ro's brother. I didn't find anything, but instead of continuing my search, I disconnected my cable and it disappeared in my hand. Ro frowned, but I didn't explain. I merely observed around and as soon as I was sure nobody will see the light from my changing hologram, I made it – I holomorphed in Ro's brother.

Why not? As soon as I was capable of becoming into anyone I see, then why not use my ability to Ro's advantage? Especially if it will make her happy…

But she said nothing. She even didn't smile. She was surprised, indeed, but somehow sad and that definitely confused me. I managed though to keep the amiable expression Ro's brother has on the picture and I couldn't help but hope she'd be glad at least in the end of that 'meeting'. Besides, except some vague likeness in the cat-shape of their sky blue eyes, my blonde Ro didn't resembled at all to her reddish haired brother. But that didn't bothered Ro, just the contrary – that made her more confident that probably she has their father's hair color and Casey – their mother's hair color, as it was Ro's firm belief that sometimes in a family, a girl could resemble more to the father and a boy - could resemble more to the mother. So having already Casey's photo, it was a little bit as if… Ro already knew how her parents probably could look like and most of all – her mother. Yes, Ro definitely was changed since she got the news she has a brother… she so frequently looked at his picture, she was so moved, so excited and upset, so curious and impatient thinking at an eventual meeting with him, that now I offered her the chance to experience that meeting…

Ro pulled out her brother's picture looking at times at me, at times at the picture and although she started to pretend that she was really talking to her brother, she was still sad, "I mean, this whole thing's been freaky. I didn't even remember I had a brother until I got this." Then she put down the photo, staring at me and waiting my answer.

That was my chance to turn her sadness in a good mood, so I picked up a voice, which I hoped would be proper for her brother's appearance and said, "I remembered you. I, I even looked for you. You were moving around so much, no wonder I couldn't find you."

"But you looked."

"Of course! You're part of my life, Ro. When someone you care about is taken away from you, imagine how much it must hurt."

I thought I was said something very suitable, very serious, truthful and even… beautiful, but she canceled the play somehow nervous and harsh, almost ordering to me with a stern tone, "Okay, that got much too sappy. Switch back."

I always trusted her and with time that feeling was transformed in a habit of immediately obeying her, so I restored my Zee appearance. But I couldn't hide the disappointment in my voice and I was sure – I had a disappointed expression as well, when I asked "Didn't you like it?"

Usually, when she noticed that she was treated me too rough, she tried some excuse, but this time she even turned her back on me, "At first. But any brother of mine would be so much cooler than that!"

Judging her behavior I concluded I had messed up somehow. Of course I haven't any brother or sister of mine and I had no idea what the real feelings toward a sister were. Obviously her real brother would be much tougher than I, so I said nothing. Ro was silenced as well. She got out of her chair and leaned on the computer we were sitting next to. Then she said, trying to sound lively, "Anyway, back to the real guy?"

Yes, anyway, indeed. I know she didn't mean to hurt me, so I turned my chair and I tapped again into the computer with my wrist's wire, "We should scan the national care records for any boys with your last name. We might be able to find him…"

But we found only some old, invalid information. There was nothing about Ro's brother's present address.

Ro was disappointed, very disappointed, indeed, but not only because there was no current records again. She was disappointed from me, because I failed yet another try to find anything about her brother's location. Ro was getting used to my super-human abilities and she always expected me to transform every impossible situation in possible one. Maybe for an ordinary human being like her, such an attitude towards a super-power synthoid like me was something normal, but I wasn't almighty, all of my powers and abilities had some limit…

That wasn't an excuse. My main goal, my main purpose, my destiny, the reason I lived for was Ro, her safety and her happiness. I knew Ro's goal was my freedom and I wanted my freedom too, of course, but since I met Ro things were changed for me. Nothing was more important to me than Ro. Even my freedom was becoming… the most important thing, which could eliminate any danger and any threat against Ro's life. My duty was to do everything for her. And it wasn't my programming; it was my choice, my own decision. So despite that that lack of information wasn't my fault, I felt guilty I couldn't help Ro to find her brother and I felt obliged to offer her our only option – finally to go to the Social Service office.

She didn't say anything, but she didn't refuse either. We both knew it was too risky, but if I ignored any caution just because I wanted to try every possibility to find Ro's brother, she ignored any fear because of… the same reason. We had to find some clue about her brother and it was her right to insist. Her family existed somewhere, we just had to find where. That's why Ro waited for me to offer that we go to the Social Service office. Yes, it was her blind trust in me again, her over-expectations for me, but also she knew that I always had plans not only how to get somewhere, but how to escape and now, offering her this option, I had a plan for escape as well. I'd protect her, I wouldn't allow anything bad to happen to her. I'd watch over her as always and she really didn't have to be scared – she was with a super-power synthoid after all, wasn't she?

So now we had sitting across the desk from a social worker, an auburn-haired, middle-aged woman with a stern face and features that were somehow too sharp.

I wasn't good enough at estimating people, I worked at it and I tried to do my best, but most of the time I felt lost, as I was now. I disliked that woman the moment I saw her, but I didn't know why, and I hadn't any logical reasons. It was like…

No, it wasn't easy for me to figure out what exactly I felt toward that woman, but… it was like a warning, as if I had detected some virus' threat, which tried to enter my system, but…

It was really much more difficult for me to deal with my feelings than with my detectors. There was no 'searching' and no 'scanning' for my feelings, I couldn't see them, their parameters didn't appear before my synthoid's vision, there was no 'deleted' or 'recorded', no 'off 'or 'on', no 'play' or 'cancel'. I have all of the encyclopedia's explanations about all of those feelings, indeed, but the real experience of feeling them was something different, something too strange, too vague, but interesting at the same time. Yes, it was so interesting to test and identify my feelings, to recognize them, to learn their meaning, to deal with them, to control them, to trust them, and to use them in the right way…

I wished I could be more certain than I was now. I tried to reject that groundless antipathy toward the unknown woman, but… I couldn't. Ro looked more frightened and helpless than she had ever been before, and that worried me. I was used to her being a lively, optimistic, even sarcastic girl; a brave girl, so mature for her age… and now Ro was so scared as if she was a child, waiting for some unfair, undeserved punishment.

I made that comparison because of all those movies I had seen and all those books I had read. They weren't exactly real life, indeed, but they were very similar to real situations that actually they were my second most important source in studying human behavior, after Ro's explanations and her own personality of course...

That woman definitely made Ro feel humiliated and vulnerable, and that was enough to confirm my dislike. Even Ro's voice was unusually uncertain while she explained what exactly we looked for, "Can you check your records for a guy named Casey Rowen? According to the net, he was in a foster home here in Twin Cities a few years ago. The system has stopped tracking him when he was eighteen, 'cause that was the last info we could get. He'd be about twenty now."

"And what about you?" the social worker coldly asked Ro, "You're obviously underage and you're wandering around on your own. What'll I find out if I type your name in here?

It was an unhidden threat, aimed at Ro because of me. As we looked for Ro's brother, it was more than clear I wasn't her brother. Usually Ro introduced me as just a friend of hers, but this time she didn't say anything and it was useless. Obviously that social worker thought a young man like me was too suspicious, too weird an attendant for a teenage girl to travel with. Actually Ro had mentioned once that if I was human it would be almost impossible for us to live together day and night. But she didn't enter in any details, so I still didn't understand why exactly this could be so impossible or as that social worker thought now – so wrong. I wondered if it was possible that that woman would be more friendly to me if she knew I was a synthoid, but I doubted it. Usually people were not only scared, but even terrified of my synthoid appearance, so I decided it would be better if I let her think I was just a young man.

But… I really couldn't get rid of a strange sensation that the social worker was so angry with me that she would hide any true information just in order to bring Ro back into a girls' home tearing her away from me.

But that was only a feeling again. I hadn't any proof, so I tried to hide my antipathy, unlike the woman who was openly harsh towards me when our eyes accidentally crossed.

No, certainly I was wrong. That social worker was just too tired having too much work to do…

I wasn't good at estimating people, indeed.

So I tried to have an optimistic smile on my face, when Ro looked at me with so much hope and unhidden wish to find in me a solid confirmation that only few seconds separated us from the moment she'd know where her brother was. Apparently I managed to give Ro some strength, as she turned toward the social worker saying, "Look, I know I took a risk coming here, but I need your help. I'm supposed to be living in a girls' home in Maryland, but they weren't exactly nice people and I really don't want to go back. I have a family out there, my own family, and the home wasn't going to help me find it. I'm hoping you will."

"Okay. I'll give it a shot", answered the social worker almost politely, and I started to think I was really wrong about her. "If we can find your family it'd be better than going back to the home anyway. But I wanna warn you: our computers were hit hard by a virus last fall. A lot of our records were lost" she paused typing the keyboard and waiting for some information to appear on the screen…

"Yeah", she sighed, "I couldn't even tell you what family he was with. I'm sorry."

Wait, wait a minute! Why did this sound so fake?

But I hadn't time to think about it, because Ro sighed, "I knew it couldn't be that easy" and she was so sad, bending her head, that she even looked somehow much more fragile and small than ever.

Ignoring that stern woman in front of us, I gently wrapped my arm around Ro's shoulders. If it was possible, that social worker would kill me with her indignant look. I really felt how her hate tried to push my tenderness away from Ro's shoulders, but that only made me more protective and I looked at Ro with all of my sympathy and all of my understanding. After a few minutes we'd leave this office and we'd remain together, so it was million times more important for me to be good to Ro than to avoid confirming someone's wrong impressions.

And as it was already more than obvious that that woman wasn't the way for Ro to find her brother, I was about to say that it was time for us to leave. But suddenly the social worker said, "You know, there's someone else who can help."

I looked at her, totally aghast. I had been wrong again. That woman was the way for Ro to find her brother…

to be continued…

A/N Please review!