The morning after a job was always the quietest.
SaiXyr sat in the Forge, Nathaniel's repair shop, listening to the hum of soldering irons and the soft hiss of steam valves. The scent of heated alloy filled the air. Outside, the rain had eased into a faint drizzle, the neon of Auralis Prime blurring in the wet glass.
Nathaniel glanced over his shoulder, prosthetic fingers moving deftly over a circuit board. "You've been staring at that chip for hours, Sai. It's not gonna talk to you."
"It doesn't have to," SaiXyr said, tossing it onto the counter. "You'll get it to talk for me."
Nathaniel's brow furrowed. "This is Black Circuit hardware. One wrong move and—"
The shop's lights flickered. A faint tremor rippled through the floor. Nathaniel froze. "That's not the power grid."
A low, mechanical whir filled the air. Through the fogged shop window, a dark silhouette approached — broad-shouldered, its eyes glowing a hostile crimson.
SaiXyr was already moving. His jacket's magnetic locks snapped shut as he grabbed a collapsible baton from the wall. The door hissed open and a combat drone stepped inside, its black chassis stamped with the Black Circuit emblem.
"Delivery?" Nathaniel said dryly.
The drone's response was to launch a spike of data-static into the shop's devices. Sparks burst from the counter. Nathaniel dove for cover. SaiXyr lunged forward, the baton snapping to full length with a sharp crack.
He struck first, the blow ringing against the drone's armor. The machine swiveled, claws slicing the air, forcing him back toward the shelves. A quick sidestep took him past its guard; he jammed the baton into its sensor cluster and twisted.
The drone spasmed, sparks flaring, before collapsing with a metallic groan.
Nathaniel emerged from behind the counter, eyeing the wreck. "They don't send these things for no reason."
SaiXyr knelt, pulling a scorched data core from the drone's neck. "They know I'm coming for them."
"And they're sending a message back," Nathaniel said grimly. "Which means this… is only the beginning."