Welcome to Z.E.R.O.: Something Strange Is Taking Shape

There is something exciting about arriving at the beginning of a story. There are no dozens of chapters to catch up on, no enormous archive to dig through, and no years of history you somehow missed. If you are reading this near the beginning, you are here while Z.E.R.O. — Zero Event Response Organization is still taking shape, and there is already a great deal happening behind the scenes.

Z.E.R.O. is an original fictional universe built around unexplained events, unusual investigations, strange creatures, mysterious technologies, and the people tasked with finding answers when ordinary explanations are no longer enough. At its heart is a simple question: What happens when something impossible occurs, but it leaves very real evidence behind? Someone has to investigate it, and that is where Z.E.R.O. comes in.

What Is Z.E.R.O.?

Within the fictional world, the Zero Event Response Organization is an independent organization that investigates unusual events that cannot be adequately explained through conventional means. These are not simply strange stories, rumors, or blurry photographs passed around without evidence. Z.E.R.O. becomes involved when something has actually happened and the evidence left behind points toward an explanation that should not be possible.

A strange creature might be seen where no known animal should exist. An unfamiliar piece of technology might behave in ways that known technology cannot. A death might leave evidence that does not match any conventional weapon, or witnesses might describe something unbelievable only for investigators to discover that the physical evidence supports their account. These are the kinds of situations that can eventually find their way to Z.E.R.O.

The organization investigates, researches, documents, contains, and responds to these events while attempting to understand exactly what happened and what caused it. Sometimes an investigation may produce an answer. Other times, discovering the answer may reveal that the original mystery was only a small part of something much larger.

Meet Ginger Mercer

At the center of the story is Ginger Mercer, a former FBI agent who did not begin her career expecting to investigate creatures, anomalies, or impossible events. She comes from a world where evidence matters, witnesses matter, details matter, and there should ultimately be a logical explanation for what happened. Follow the evidence far enough, and eventually the pieces should fit together.

Then Ginger encounters a case where they don’t.

Something happened, and the evidence proves that much. The problem is explaining how. The investigation becomes part of the road that eventually leads Ginger away from the familiar world of conventional law enforcement and toward an organization she previously knew nothing about. At Z.E.R.O., impossible evidence isn’t automatically discarded simply because no one can explain it.

For Ginger, that means entering a completely different kind of investigative world without abandoning the instincts that made her an investigator in the first place. She still wants evidence, she still wants the truth, and she still expects things to make sense. She is simply about to discover that some answers require accepting possibilities she once would have dismissed.

And Then There Is B.I.T.S.

Ginger will not be facing that world alone. B.I.T.S. — Binary Intelligence & Tactical Systems is an advanced robotic system developed within Z.E.R.O. and eventually paired with Ginger for field operations. B.I.T.S. is capable of assisting with research, scanning environments, recording events, analyzing information, responding to dangerous situations, and performing tasks that would be extremely risky for a human agent.

However, B.I.T.S. is more than another piece of equipment stored somewhere inside Z.E.R.O. headquarters. The relationship that develops between Ginger and B.I.T.S. is an important part of the larger story. They approach situations from very different perspectives, and as their partnership develops, each brings something to the investigation that the other cannot.

More Than Creatures

There are creatures in the Z.E.R.O. universe, and some of them are extremely dangerous. They have their own behaviors, environments, limitations, histories, and reasons for doing what they do. Z.E.R.O., however, is not intended to be nothing more than a collection of unrelated monster encounters.

The world surrounding the organization is much larger. Cases can involve unexplained technologies, unusual locations, mysterious events, anomalies, experimental equipment, strange evidence, and questions that may remain unanswered long after an investigation ends. Even Z.E.R.O. itself has mysteries surrounding it, and the people working inside the organization do not necessarily possess every answer.

As the story develops, some events that initially appear completely unrelated may prove to have connections. A detail discovered during one investigation could become important much later, while something dismissed as insignificant may eventually change the understanding of an earlier case. The larger world will be revealed through the stories rather than explained all at once.

Building the Z.E.R.O. Universe

Z.E.R.O. is currently in active development, and ZeroEventResponse.com is being built alongside the fictional universe. Characters are being developed, creatures are taking shape, cases are being constructed, locations are being established, artwork is being created, and the history and structure of the organization are continuing to grow.

This website will grow with it. As material becomes ready for release, the site will become home to published stories and chapters, character information, selected concept artwork, case-related material, project updates, and other pieces of the Z.E.R.O. universe. Some material being developed behind the scenes will remain private until it reaches the appropriate place in the story, while other material may be shared as part of the development and introduction of the project.

The Concept Art area will provide a look at selected visual development for the universe, including characters, creatures, locations, objects, and other elements. Updates will provide information about the continuing development of the project, while the story sections will eventually become the place where readers can follow Ginger, B.I.T.S., and the rest of Z.E.R.O. into the investigations themselves.

The Beginning of Something Much Larger

Right now, Z.E.R.O. is at the beginning of its life. The organization is being built, its characters are finding their places, its creatures are emerging, and its first investigations are beginning to take shape. There is an enormous amount of the world that has not yet been revealed, and that is part of the fun of beginning the website now rather than waiting until everything has already been completed.

As the project grows, visitors who arrive early will be able to watch that transformation happen. What begins as a relatively quiet website will gradually accumulate stories, artwork, characters, cases, mysteries, and pieces of a fictional history that did not exist before this project began. There will be answers along the way, but there will also be new questions, because the unknown is at the heart of what Z.E.R.O. is about.

Every fictional universe has a point where the first door opens. This is that point for Z.E.R.O. Whether you are here for the mysteries, the investigations, the creatures, the technology, the characters, or simply to see where this strange world goes, welcome to the beginning.

Welcome to Z.E.R.O. — Zero Event Response Organization.