*Eighteen, congratulations for becoming an adult Kerenai*
*Thanks, I only wish...*
*We know, how's the search going anyways?*
*The Cybertronians have lost leads after going through as many of them as possible*
*I think...I think it's time to call off the search Kerenai, more than likely he's dead by now*
*Sorry but Jazz won't give up until he's brought home one way or the other and you won't get him to budge on that either due to the fact that he's Spec Ops*
*Okay yeah I have no hope of stopping him because I've worked with American Spec Ops in the past and they are determined to see the mission through no matter the cost*
*Exactly, in any case though I'll let them know not to intensify their efforts unless they have an extremely solid lead*
*Wait, they've been doing that this entire time?*
*Yep, whenever there's been a lead one or more of them chase said lead*
*Tell them to stop, also...you're going to need an actual apartment to live in soon*
*Why? I thought it was okay for me to live at base?*
*It has been but that was because you were a minor, our superior's want to know you can live on your own now that you're technically an adult and have been working with us for almost a year*
*Guess I'm going apartment hunting then*
And so Zoe tells her family about the request from the police regarding Jiban and also asks for help with beginning the apartment hunting and for two and a half months gets nowhere's when suddenly one day a newer police officer gives Zoe the answer she had been looking for the entire time
*Well maybe you could get an apartment meant for two people for when Tamura gets back, maybe be his grounding point and the person who helps him transition back to a normal life*
*Actually that's not a bad idea Kerenai, after all we're using his current place as a safe house and while normally it would be great to just have him back at his place...*
*You know somehow Yoko don't you?*
Yoko switched to English so that the conversation could be kept private since everyone in the room spoke only Japanese except for her and Zoe
"Yes, I had my suspicions a while back and his long absence has only confirmed them for me, especially since he disappeared in his one form and you've been covering for his other form"
"So you know how dangerous it would be for him to be by himself because of his other form"
"Yes I do"
"Still why didn't you come to base and confront us on our lie if..."
"Because I felt it better that I feign ignorance still for the safety of my fellow officers"
"I see"
"By the way the fact that you knew for sure before me is why he was your liaison wasn't it?"
"Yes, and it's also why we didn't want any new officer for a liaison either because you might have found out about his secret that he's tried so hard to keep this entire time"
"I get it, don't like it but I get it"
"In any case though I now have an idea of what apartments to look at"
"That's why you've been struggling isn't it?"
"Yeah, I knew I needed my own place but I was subconsciously thinking about him as well and it was affecting me in ways I didn't even realize, especially with the propriaty issues"
"Good point, I would have him stay with me for the time being until he found his own place but my place is even smaller than his original or even new place was"
"I remember the last time I was there I could barely..."
Suddenly Zoe looks at her phone after it sent the notification that she was receiving a text but then simply puts it away without seemingly acknowledging what the text was about
"What was that about Zoe?"
"Nothing serious I promise, for now though I think it's best we switch back to Japanese"
"Good point"
*Could someone inform the bosses that I have to leave early today?*
*I thought you were staying your full shift because of yesterday*
*That was the original plan but you know as well as I that they don't like me calling about apartment hunting during work hours and unfortunately the place I go to will be shut down for three days starting tomorrow so I have to book an appointment today for when they're open again besides that there's an EDC meeting that I just got texted about that's due to start during the last hour of my shift*
*I don't think we have to do that Kerenai, look*
Zoe looks and sees her boss come to the group and signals for her to get close
*Let me guess the EDC informed us at the same time about the meeting*
*Exactly Kerenai, you're leaving two hours early so that you have time to prepare for the meeting*
*Understood*
*Still, why is the meeting so sudden?*
*That I don't know, they normally wouldn't do that unless...*
*Unless what?*
*Unless something comes up that I'm not currently allowed to speak about*
*When will you know you can tell us?*
*Hopefully at the meeting*
*Understood*
And so an hour before the meeting was scheduled to start Zoe left her job for the day and made arrangements to see an apartment that might work better for her the following weekend when she was off and then finally the meeting started
"Hey Zoe, I know this was sudden but we have a reason for calling this meeting, and don't worry none of the leaders are in danger right now that we're aware of so it's not in regards to you taking leadership of us like their wills state, here I need you to look at this information to see what this meeting is about though"
Zoe does a quick flip through of the information and quickly sucks in air at shock
"How certain is this?"
"Certain enough that I'm sending in two of my more experienced members to confirm"
"Right, this goes no further than the EDC until confirmation"
"But Zoe..."
*No Sunstreaker, I can't give them false hope, it's bad enough that I'm dealing with hope they shouldn't have to deal with it too, not after they've mainly gotten past his disappearance*
*But Zoe...*
*Sunstreaker why are you still arguing against my decision?*
*It's not that I'm arguing it's just...don't you think someone besides yourself should know the news just in case something happens to you? I mean, I get you not wanting to give your comrades false hope but still... *
*Sorry Sunstreaker, but I have my reasons*
*Very well, I concede to your request, but if something happens to you that affects your ability to continue to make decisions all bets are off*
*Agreed*
*In the meantime though I think some training is in order since we haven't seen you in almost a week*
*I still live here guys, at least until I find an apartment, which might go better next weekend*
*But you haven't been training Zoe, and Sunstreaker is right, we really haven't seen you in almost a week because of your apartment hunting alongside your job*
*Very well we'll do some training*
And so the group did intensive training and then went back to normal routines and the next weekend Zoe found the perfect apartment with the second one she was shown in the same day
*I'll take this one*
*If you're sure but...you said that you're the only person who's staying here*
*For now anyways, I hope that one day soon a missing friend is found, when that happens I will have them live with me while they adapt back to normal society and also help them with any PTSD that they might have*
*Understood, just understand that you still have to pay the full amount for the apartment every month*
*Don't worry I can do that*
*Very well then I'll bring the required paperwork*
*Thanks, bring it to the police station and ask for Kerenai, I work at the station as a dispatcher and I have a shift beginning in two hours so I'd best get going*
And with that Zoe leaves the area and makes it to work an hour early
*You're early Kerenai*
*Yeah well I want to get in some shooting first, besides while it's not exactly official since I don't have a move in date or have signed the paperwork yet I have an apartment now and need to let the bosses know the new address*
*Ah, that makes sense*
And so after Zoe explained to the bosses about how she'd found an apartment but didn't have an official move in date quite yet she spent the rest of her time before shift doing target practice and she was shocking many of the newer officers with her accuracy, not just with fatal shots but they could also tell that she deliberately hit non vital areas as well
*She's scary accurate for a simple dispatcher*
*Yeah, really scary accurate*
*There's a reason for that actually, and that's the fact that she's not just a simple dispatcher*
*What?*
*She may not be an official police officer, probably because of her age but she fights in the field depending on certain situations*
*She doesn't look capable of handling incidents even if she's a good shot*
*When the time comes you'll see what I mean*
That afternoon was when the newer officers would see Zoe in action
*We need EDC backup here now!*
*What's going on? I need to know so that I can make the right call you know that guys*
*Linfarnins, Quintessons and...oh great Kal'strants*
*Right, backup on the way guys* (switches frequences) *Kerenai to all available EDC officers and Cybertronians backup needed in west Beika immediately, will already be on scene most likely*
As soon as she finishes talking she gets up and puts on her gun belt and then shouts before running
*I'm heading to the scene someone take over for me!*
And with that she runs out of the office and quickly gets to a car where she speeds out of the garage to head for the scene that was far enough away that she couldn't run and still have energy to do what was needed in battle and as soon as she got to the location she started firing her weapon which had special bullets and doing damage but eventually even with her family showing up soon after she had to use her powers to level the playing field and eventually end the fight with minimal losses or injuries to her family and officers
"That took long enough"
"Indeed it did, but still at least losses on our side were minimal I just wish..."
"Yeah Hook, I know, I also wish the same thing"
"Well we all have reports to write so I guess we'd best get going"
"Yeah, definitely"
And so Zoe goes back to her job and writes the much needed report and time passes while she waits for word if the lead panned out or not by moving into her new apartment and joining in on any Bioron or EDC fights while also simply being a police dispatcher whenever those two situations weren't in play and soon enough it had been a year since Jazz had sent his agents out and she was nineteen wondering when they would have further word
"When Jazz, when will they report in?"
"What's wrong Zoe?"
"I don't even know if the scouts you sent out are even still alive to follow the lead we had a year ago"
"They are alive Zoe, they have to give me regular status updates and while they haven't gotten any further regarding that lead they are looking into it"
"Fine then, in any case though I have work to get to"
"Right, see you after your shift for that thing that's going to happen that you need to attend"
"Right, see you after my shift"
And so Zoe goes into work as usual that day not knowing that she would have to deal with EDC and Bioron business that was kind of important. She was simply doing her usual police dispatcher duties when the word Bioron came over the radio and her superior who was right there simply nodded and took over for Zoe who quickly joined the fight and after an hour the fight ended
*Well, that takes care of them*
*True but still, with Bioron getting bolder without Jiban to stop them I worry about the future*
Suddenly they hear a deeply missed voice
*But I am here, I finally returned home after a long journey*
(Softly) *Jiban?*
Yoko turns and shouts the name everyone had been thinking of while shouting the name this time
*Jiban!*
Yoko starts to turn towards him but Zoe stops her with one of her shields, and voice
*Wait!, this isn't Jiban*
*What?*
*Indeed Zoe, how can you say it's not me?*
*I have my reasons, for one of them it's the fact that though no one else knew this Jazz sent two of his more well experienced agents to chase down a lead in the depths of space that Jazz felt was solid enough to do so, and as far as I know they haven't reported back yet telling us if the lead panned out or not. Second and more importantly though you have a very distinct smell that only I can detect because of my abilities*
Suddenly Zoe has a sword in her hand
*You're not Jiban, you're the female bounty hunter Gin'shre'an, you can take the form of anyone that you see either from a physical picture which my family sent out posters regarding Jiban so you would have easily gotten a hold of one of those posters, or you read the minds of people and can get a picture of what someone looks like from their mind*
*Hmph, didn't expect to run into someone who could smell me on this planet*
*You're lucky you didn't take the form of another person that these officers are missing or you would most likely be dead by now, now then I have one question and one question only, have you seen Jiban?*
*Not in person, just his silly picture*
*I see, then I have nothing further to say to you except that you're under arrest and that you can either come willingly or we'll fight it out*
*I choose the hard way*
*Your choice*
*Quick question before you go any further, is she wanted by the EDC?*
*Oh yeah, she's been on our wanted list for about five years now if not more*
*Then we're backing your play Kerenai and do our best not to get in your way*
*Thanks, now then Gin'shre'an by the authority vested in me by the EDC I hereby place you under arrest*
And with that the fight was on and after about fifteen minutes Zoe managed to win, but she also didn't actually succeed in arresting Gin'shre'an because ultimately she had to kill the bounty hunter to preserve her own life
*So much for arresting her*
*Yeah, she had information on some things that my family wanted, oh well it was either her or me in the end*
*By the way, you need checked out and have two different reports to write*
*Oh yeah, forgot about that shoulder injury*
*How do you forget a shoulder injury?*
*Training, though admititly it helped that there's no blood loss*
*In any case though it's the hospital for you and then paperwork*
*Right*
Ultimately Zoe was diagnosed with a potentially strained shoulder though doctors warned it could be worse than that and x-rays and other scans not revealing it to be the case
*Considering what we were told about the injury you're lucky it isn't dislocated*
*I know, now then I need to know something considering my shoulder, am I cleared for full duty or just desk duty?*
*For at least a week while we test that shoulder you're strictly on desk duty since I know what you're actually asking about seeing as how on your paperwork you stated that you're a police dispatcher, but I've heard your name from other officers Kerenai and you join in on certain incidents*
*Understood I'll let my bosses know*
*Good idea*
And so life continued on, as it turned out what happened to her shoulder wasn't exactly a strain, but it wasn't a full dislocation either, instead the shoulder was dislocated just enough to cause her pain but not enough to actually show up on any x-rays or other imaging devices meant to catch such injuries
