The city of Auralis Prime never slept.
Its towers pierced the clouds, humming with streams of data that flowed like lightning veins. Streets were crowded with people and mechs moving side-by-side, neon light dancing off chrome skin and glass armor. Every breath tasted faintly of ozone from the constant hum of high-energy conduits overhead.
SaiXyr pulled the hood of his black exo-jacket tighter, rain streaking off the polymer fabric.
It had been three years since the fire. Three years since the night a squad of merc-drones, marked with the crimson sigil of the Black Circuit, stormed his home. He had found his parents' bodies under the burning framework of their hab-unit. Whoever gave the kill order had erased every trace — except the emblem.
And tonight, that trail was warm again.
The bell above Nathaniel's Repair Forge chimed as SaiXyr stepped inside. The air smelled faintly of heated alloy and circuit dust.
Nathaniel, a broad-shouldered man with a prosthetic arm that hummed softly, didn't look up from the drone he was rewiring.
"Another piece of junk?" Nathaniel asked. "Or is this about the tracker you asked me to build?"
SaiXyr slid a chip across the counter. "I found this in an abandoned Black Circuit runner. Can you crack it?"
Nathaniel's eyes narrowed. "Where'd you find this? …This is military-grade encryption, Sai. If I touch this, I'm on every watchlist in Auralis."
"That's fine," SaiXyr said, voice low. "I'm already on them."
Across the city, deep in the shadows of a steel cathedral-like tower, Russel stood before a holographic map of Auralis. His face was lit in cold blue light, his left eye replaced with a pulsating cybernetic orb.
"They think I've forgotten," he said to the silent room. "But when the streets are painted in their screams, they'll understand my pain."
A synthetic voice crackled through the comms: "The boy… SaiXyr… he's digging. Should I silence him?"
Russel's lip curled. "No. Let him come. It'll make the kill sweeter."
Back in the Forge, Nathaniel's fingers danced over the cracked chip's interface. The screen flickered — coordinates lit up. SaiXyr's pulse quickened.
Before Nathaniel could say anything, the shop's back door hissed open and a tall figure in combat-light armor stepped inside. His helmet retracted, revealing sharp eyes and a half-smirk.
"You're SaiXyr?" the stranger asked. "Name's ZypherX. Heard you're looking for trouble. Lucky for you… I specialize in it."
SaiXyr glanced at the coordinates glowing on the screen, then back at ZypherX.
"Good," he said, standing. "Because we're going hunting."
And outside, the neon rain kept falling — washing the blood of the past into the future.