A Name They Knew
Kiwi was finishing up the coding class when the bell rang for the last time that day. All the drones had begun to grab their things and leave the classroom when suddenly a shrill, ear-piercing scream could be heard from outside. The young adults all stopped in their tracks and looked out the window.
Kiwi and N both glanced out the window, and Lizzy could be seen screaming over something. Kiwi brought her head back in and looked at her phone; it was 2:45.
"What the hell is happening?" Miss. Parkson woke up from the screaming and sat up quickly.
"Lizzy's screaming about something" Kiwi stated as she grabbed her bag and quickly headed out. She weaved through the hallway, as students made their way out to the courtyard to see what was happening.
As Kiwi made her way out, she noticed a trail of oil on the ground, which was odd. She followed the trail and found out what Lizzy was screaming about.
The body of a female worker drone was laid on the ground. Her body was cut into multiple pieces, oil leaked from the detached limbs, and cuts laid on her arms. Her core was ripped out, the once glowing red core was now gone.
Kiwi gasped, covering her mouth, her eyes hollowing out in fear.
N stood behind her seeing the body.
"Oh biscuits" he saw his own eyes hollowing out as well. He tapped his fingers together nervously. "Kiwi...?" N was suddenly dragged away by the pigtailed drone from earlier.
"N there you are come on!" Some of the students watched the lifeless body of the worker drone, some whispered that the murder drones. Some say that may have done it. This angered Kiwi slightly, but she didn't show it.
Sophie and Finley quickly came through the crowd and hugged Kiwi.
"Oh, Kiki are you alright?!" Kiwi looked at Sophie and a few tears streamed down her face. She knew the girl who was dead. It was Jessie, Kiwi's close friend. "They found Jessie all cut up!" A few tears streamed down Sophie's own visor. She was afraid and it was plain to tell.
"I, I can see that Soph"
"Lizzy's the one who found her first, and the police were called by the dean. They should be on their way" Finely crossed her arms and looked away from the body.
"Do you think one of the disassembly drones did this?" Sophie questioned Finley.
"No, they couldn't have. N was in my coding class, and just because they're disassembly drones doesn't mean they'd murder!" Kiwi defended the drones. Sophie and Finley looked at her with a mix of confusion and pride.
"If they didn't then who?" Sophie questioned looking around.
"I don't know, but something doesn't seem right here" Kiwi stated, and crossed her arms.
After about 15 minutes of hushed chatter, some tears being shed, and curious stares, the police arrived. A woman with pale skin, and black hair, wearing a bow on the back of her head, moves the students looking at the body.
"Alright everyone, back to your dorms, or classes!" The woman's Australian accent came through as she directed the students off somewhere else.
N had come over to Kiwi and the other two girls.
"Did you guys know the victim?" he asked.
"She was a friend of mine" Kiwi stated quietly.
"I see, I'm sorry for your loss" Kiwi thanked N quietly. Sophie and Finley told Kiwi they'd meet her at the dorms as they couldn't bear to see Jessie's body anymore.
"I'll catch up with you guys in a bit" Kiwi watched them go, and then looked up at N. N stared at the body and then at Kiwi.
"This is bad," he said slightly.
"It's odd actually, she was just fine this morning. I saw her all fine and dandy" Kiwi said. "Jessie didn't have any enemies, she was popular with the student body" N was about to say something but noticed the woman with black hair coming over.
"Hold that thought"
"N, how're you holding up?"
"Fine Miss. Tessa" N replied to the woman. Wait, Tessa James Elliot? The famous detective?
"Good, you must be Kiwi Rosengarde yes?" Kiwi nodded slightly.
"How did you know Jessie George?"
"I did yeah"
"When did you last see her exactly?" Tessa pulled out a notepad and began to write down notes. Kiwi crossed her arms answering the questions.
"I saw her this morning in English" Kiwi answered honestly.
"How did she seem? Did she seem flighty or anxious?"
"No, she seemed fine, she was laughing with me and Sophie"
"Did she have any enemies?"
"No, she was loved by everyone"
"I see, and where were you during the hours of 1:30 and 2:25?"
"In coding class teaching" N piped up.
"I was there Tessa" Tessa looked at N and nodded flipping her notepad and closing it.
"Alright, thank you for the answers. Forn ow, you guys should head to the dorms, while we clean up the body and ask some of the staff questions" Tessa stated as she went back to the police crew that had come to investigate. Kiwi rubbed the back of her neck and sighed slightly.
"I suppose I should go meet up with Sophie and Finley"
"I have to go as well, I have to help V and J with their luggage and boxes. I'll walk you" N smiled down at her.
"Uh y-yeah sure" Kiwi stuttered slightly which was odd for her. She and N started walking towards the dorms, Kiwi looked back to see a police drone cover Jessie's body. Kiwi gulped nervously all of a sudden.
"You did really good teaching during coding class today by the way" N blushed slightly as he walked.
"Huh? Oh thank you, no one's ever said that to me before actually. Its... nice" Kiwi stated looking up at him.
"You're welcome!" N smiled, and Kiwi found herself smiling as well. The two began to talk more about random things to ease the silence and tension.
"So, who are those two other drones with you?" Kiwi asked.
"Oh you mean J and V! They're like my adopted sisters."
"You're adopted?"
"Sort of, it's a looong story" N giggled slightly.
"I'm actually a lab-born drone" Kiwi stated as she walked.
"A lab-born drone?" N questioned, puzzled for a moment.
"Yeah, basically I was made in a lab. I was made by Rose Hildengarde, she's like a mother to me"
"That's what Tessa is like to me!" N smiled and looked at Kiwi. Kiwi laughed, he was like a golden retriever almost.
"What kind of things do you like?" she asked.
"Well I love drawing, even though I'm not really good at it, I love golden retrievers, and I like flying with my wings on starry nights" Kiwi nodded finding it ironic that he likes dogs when he's like a giant sweet, kind puppy. Kiwi blushed as she thought about this, she looked away clearing her throat.
"Oh shoot I never asked your name! How rude of me!" N smacked his forehead. Kiwi giggled and looked at him.
"It's alright N, my name is Kiwi Rosengarde" She introduced herself properly.
"Oh, such a pretty name, what kind of things do you like?"
"I like music, fish, and coding. I actually have a small aquarium at my dorm if you ever want to see it." Kiwi offered. N nodded saying he'd come by and see it one of these days. The pair continued to walk and talk until they arrived at the dorms. There was a sleek black car in the parking lot, J and V were grabbing boxes from the back. J looked over and scoffed slightly, frowning.
"There you are, were you really talking to the sentient fork?" J eyed Kiwi. Kiwi shrunk back slightly looking down.
"Her name is Kiwi, and yes, we were getting to know each other!" N defended himself and Kiwi.
"Whatever, just come help us unload the rest of these boxes. We did most of the work while you were chatting up the fork. Your stuffs in your room by the way" J said as she walked into the dorm building.
"Sorry I gotta go Kiwi, we'll catch up later!" Kiwi waved to N as he went over to help with the boxes.
Kiwi walked into the building heading to the third floor to Finley's room. Knocking on the door, she heard a muffled come in.
Opening the door Kiwi headed in shutting it behind her.
"There you are, we were worried, what were you doing?" Sophie asked as Kiwi sat down at the table.
I was talking to N, the new disassembly drone student" Kiwi answered as she set her bag down.
"You were talking to him?" Finely and Sophie said at the same time, staring at her in disbelief.
"Yes? We were getting to know each other, it was, nice honestly" Kiwi smiled replaying the memory in her mind.
"He didn't try to eat you or drink your oil?" Sophie asked, Finley elbowed her.
"Soph!"
"What? I'm just asking" Kiwi laughed and looked at Sophie.
"You're insane, no he didn't do any of that, he's like a big puppy dog honestly" Sophie scoffed and crossed her arms.
"Surprising"
"Now let's get to the main business at hand, what exactly happened? I mean we all saw Jessie's dead body" Sophie and Kiwi looked at one another.
"Yeah her body seemed cut up in pieces, expertly. I don't think it was a suicide" Sophie stated.
"Me either, no drone can do that to themselves. Her core was broken and bleeding" Kiwi shivered.
"Maybe the murders are happening again" Finley stated.
"Not the Drone Ripper" Sophie gagged.
"The Drone Ripper?" Kiwi's curiosity peaked.
"Yeah, a few summers ago, there were strings of murders of drones being cut up, strung up like art pieces, and just brutally murdered, no one could figure it out. Human nor drone" Finley explained. Kiwi raised an eyebrow.
"How am I only learning about it now?"
"You were gone for that summer in Paris remember?" Sophie said.
"Oh yeah that was right" Kiwi sighed. "I still think we need to investigate"
"And investigate we shall"
"The three of us?" Sophie asked fearfully.
"Yes, Sophie" The girls all made a gameplan and nodded, Kiwi thought that this plan couldn't go wrong.