So here, I'm going to be switching to the secondary main character of my story. Hope this isn't too jarring for you guys.

Chapter 7: An Unusual Corpse

"Detective Larson!"

A blond-haired man wearing a tan trench-coat was startled from his slumber in the racetrack building break room by a voice coming from the walkie-talkie attached to his belt. Rubbing his eyes, he picked up the walkie-talkie and pressed a button.

"Yeah, what is it?" Larson asked.

"Have you seen Roxana Lupine? She's late for the meet-and-greet," said the voice on the other end of the walkie-talkie. "She told me she was on her way thirty minutes ago, but I haven't heard from her since."

"No, Mr. Racel, I haven't seen her," replied Larson. "Isn't it your job to keep an eye on her as her campaign manager?"

"Excuse me?" the voice sounded insulted. "I hired you and several police officers to keep her safe during this meet-and-greet session, so technically it's your job to watch her! Now when did you last see Miss Lupine?"

"When you introduced her to me and the security team. She didn't seem to like me."

"I remember that very distinctly," Racel confirmed. "Then she insisted on having the Security Bots be her escort."

"Right," Larson nodded. "She went to the bathroom right after with a bunch of those Security Bots, and that was the last time I saw her."

"The same is true for me, until I called her. After she said she was heading my way, she gasped and said the name 'Freddy' before hanging up."

Larson didn't seem concerned. "Maybe she was approached by someone she knew."

"Even if that was the case, doesn't it seem odd that she should be gone for such an unusually long time?"

"They could have had a lot to catch up on."

"Listen, you! If you're not going to take this matter seriously, I will report your incompetence to the Chief of Police."

"Okay, okay, I'll go find her. This might just be a false alarm, though."

After Racel hung up on him, Larson got up from his chair. He went over to the coffee-making machine and got himself a cup before heading out. Retracing his steps to the place he met Roxana, he was able to follow the direction she went. It wasn't long before he came across a pile of Security Bots that were partially damaged with their wheels spinning and flailing their arms in the air. There was also a discarded red dress and black heeled shoes, which Larson knew belonged to Roxana.

Kneeling close to the floor, he could see faint footprints that were in a running motion and scuff marks created by what looked like army boots. Larson followed these prints to a nearby locker room, where he came upon a terrible sight. Sitting against a wall across from him was Roxana, wearing nothing but a red top and short-shorts. Her body was beaten, bruised, and her eyes were completely removed from their sockets.

"Don't move!"

Flinching, Larson looked to the right and saw a woman pointing a strange-looking gun at him. She had light blonde hair tied back into a ponytail, green eyes, and wore a white raincoat with black pants.

"Who are you?" asked the woman with the green eyes.

Calmly, Larson reached into his coat pocket and pulled out his badge. "I'm Detective Larson, of the Endopolis PD. Now would you mind telling me who you are and what you're doing at the scene of this obvious crime?"

The woman sighed and put away her gun. "Forgive me. I was looking for clues when I heard you coming, and assumed you were the criminal coming back to clear the crime scene of evidence that could lead us to him."

"Us?" Larson was confused. "You're a detective too?"

"Yes," the woman answered, and held up a badge that was similar to Larson's. "I'm Vanessa Whit, and I just started working for Endopolis' police department today."

"I see. Were you a street cop before?"

"No, I was a security guard at a mall."

"What kind of mall?"

Vanessa hesitated to answer. "It's kind of embarrassing to talk about. Plus, I don't remember much of what happened there."

"It must have been a pretty bad experience then," Larson assumed as he put his badge away.

"Actually, I did end up in a coma because of an accident that happened while I was working…and now my memories are somewhat fragmented."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Larson apologized. "No wonder you don't want to talk about it."

"There's no need to apologize, Detective. I'm slowly recovering my memories bit by bit."

"Well, that's good." Glancing back at Roxana's body, Larson decided to change the subject. "So when did you find the body?"

"About five minutes ago," Vanessa answered. "Why?"

"Because this woman went missing thirty minutes ago according to her campaign manager, which I can confirm because he and I saw her last," Larson said as he walked up to Roxana's body and touched her arm, feeling no pulse. "Do you know who she is?"

"She's Roxana Lupine, the mayor candidate," replied Vanessa as she knelt beside Larson. "I know she took a radical stance on being pro-robot, which has caused a lot of protests from people who think robots will take away their jobs."

"Hence her campaign manager insisting on a police escort, along with some security robots. Unfortunately, they've been incapacitated not too far from here."

"Do you think it was done by whoever killed her?"

This answer surprised Larson. "So you've checked her pulse already?"

"Yes, I'm sorry I didn't mention it."

"It's all right. But why didn't I see you when Roxana met the security team earlier?"

"Um, I was running late. So I didn't show up until after Roxana left."

"But when you found Roxana, why didn't you alert me or the other security team members on the walkie-talkies?"

"I forgot to pick up mine at the station, since I got here in a hurry."

Larson wasn't sure whether to trust Vanessa's story or not, as she gave him a nervous look that almost seemed guilty. But as he examined Roxana's eye sockets, he noticed there was no flesh or blood vessels. Instead, there were black wires spewing a red liquid that resembled blood and gray metal plating.

"Are you seeing this?" Larson said.

Compared to Larson's surprised expression, Vanessa looked surprisingly calm. "Seeing what?"

"This stuff," Larson clarified, using a small flashlight to shine on the wires and plates. "I've seen my fair share of dead bodies, but nothing like this."

To be continued…