ZZZ Fanfic: Jane Doe is Sarah Conspiracy

This was a Zenless Zone Zero story I thought of in 2025 to freshen things up because ZZZ has gotten stale in Season 2.

In Zenless Zone Zero, our first interaction with Jane Doe in the story episode Undercover R&B are negative, as she is initially thought of as a high ranking member of the Mountain Lions gang even by Public Security, and it isn’t revealed right away that she’s an undercover PubSec officer. There’s also the boss fight with Jane Doe at the beginning of Undercover R&B, where Seth is captured, so although Zhu Yuan and Qingyi are aware that Jane Doe is an undercover cop, Seth is completely oblivious to it, and is considered a rookie and a newer recruit after Jane became a PubSec consultant or an officer.

This created an interesting dynamic between Jane Doe and Seth where Jane saved Seth’s life without blowing her cover as an undercover cop. Still though, even though Jane ultimately did take down the Mountain Lions gang along with the rest of PubSec, first impressions matter a lot. Think of Micah Bell slowly riding in the dark snowstorm in the beginning of RDR2, or Big Smoke hiding in CJ’s house and nearly killing CJ with a bat because he thought he was Sweet at first, in GTASA.

Keeping in mind this first impression, as well as the fact that Jane Doe is known for disguises, and that Sarah, a member of the Exaltists and the puppet master at Vision Corp., have never been seen in the same room together, as well as Jane Doe’s connections to Section 6 in Season 2 of ZZZ, I have come up with a conspiracy theory and storyline idea. Hoyo should hire me as a writer after this one, bro. The conspiracy theory is that Jane is Sarah. However, after discussing this with folks on the Zenless World Discord, they have pointed out some issues with this conspiracy theory, such as Jane is a thiren, Sarah is a human, they have different jawlines and face structures, as well as different voices. Jane and Sarah have also never worn a mask apparently.

Honestly to me this is like Vince McMahon being revealed as the Higher Power during the WWF Ministry of Darkness storyline in 1999, although this is more logical in my opinion. It seemed like laying the groundwork was necessary for this, since that was the conspiracy theory part of this essay. With every villain there needs to be a hero. Enter Zhu Yuan, the captain of the Criminal Investigation Special Response Team of New Eridu Public Security. That title is a mouthful. In ZZZ Season 2 if I’m not mistaken, Zhu Yuan finds out that the proxies Belle and Wise were hiding their identity as Phaethon from Zhu Yuan even though other people like Qingyi knew, so Zhu Yuan felt betrayed, rightfully so. That reveal is a moment that would give Belle & Wise a low honor sound effect from RDR2. It is written, you shall reap what you sow.

Jane Doe, Zhu Yuan, and the proxies Belle, and Wise go to the rooftop of the PubSec HQ after a recent commission, and they chat for a moment. In this moment, no one is in danger. Wise brings up the search for Sarah of the Exaltists. “Now that that’s out of the way, we still need to search for Sarah. I wonder where she’s hiding.” Jane, almost instinctively, turns around and struts towards the side of the roof and appears to be gesturing at something off camera, then turns back around while they’re still talking. During the previous commission, Jane Doe claimed she needed to go check on something before meeting up with them on the PubSec rooftop.

Zhu Yuan replies with “Wherever she’s holed up, I promise to do everything in my power as a Public Security Officer to track her down and neutralize Sarah and the Exaltists.”

“Maybe she was right under your noses this whole time…” Jane Doe says. Everyone pauses, dumbfounded at Jane’s comment. Jane then takes off her face mask to reveal she’s Sarah.

“YOU?!” exclaims Zhu Yuan, Belle, and Wise simultaneously.

Sarah chuckles menacingly. “Here’s the deal, Zhu Yuan, you give me Phaethon, and I’ll let you live.” Sarah says with an evil sly grin on her face.

Zhu Yuan raises her gun and points it at Sarah. Belle and Wise back up and get behind Zhu Yuan. “You can keep your deals to yourself, Sarah, or Jane. I don’t even know you anymore! You’re under arrest”

“Is that so?” Sarah chuckles again. Zhu Yuan and Sarah fight while Belle & Wise get out of harm's way. “Let’s go Wise!” yells Belle to her brother as they run away. It’s an evenly matched fight, but Zhu Yuan is gaining the upper hand, able to outmaneuver Sarah. “You’re a tough cookie, aren’t you Zhu Yuan?” Sarah says in a condescending tone midfight. Zhu Yuan just growls in frustration. 

Just when it looks like Zhu Yuan is about to strike the final blow to knock out Sarah, a bomb goes off in a nearby building. Zhu Yuan gasps and diverts her attention away from Sarah for a second, which is just enough time for Sarah to kick Zhu Yuan in the midsection to knock her off her feet to the floor. Zhu Yuan drops her gun in the process, and just as she picks it back up to shoot at Sarah, Sarah dodges out of the way in a tuck and roll then jumps off the roof and escapes. It appears that Sarah/Jane’s plan here was to simply toy with Zhu Yuan and Phaethon.