The Upper East Side was a famous wealthy district in New York. You could tell just from the facilities lining both sides of the streets. In the United States, identifying whether a neighborhood was upscale was simple: just see whether there were benches by the roadside.
After all, only safe places allowed people to sit down and admire the streetscape. Otherwise, they became VIP seats for watching street shootouts—the kind of VIP seats where one careless moment could get you "sent off."
The car carrying the four of them was now parked in just such a neighborhood. There were not only clean benches along the road, but also beautifully trimmed street trees. Judging by the species, they were birches, their white bark and palm-sized leaves casting patches of shade beneath the sunlight.
The houses along the street were slightly old-fashioned in style, but impeccably maintained. Their white exterior walls and fluted porch columns looked elegant and stately.
The crime scene was an upscale apartment building. From a distance, they could see the building manager, his face full of panic, speaking with the police.
"Late again. Same as usual?" J asked for his partner's opinion as the car slowly coasted around the corner toward the scene.
"I don't like wealthy neighborhoods. The police respond too fast." K pressed a button beneath the steering wheel, changing the license plate to an FBI-registered number. "Did it even take us three minutes to get here after we got the notification?"
"Definitely not." J checked his pistol, the silver Energy Weapon concealed against his body. "Computer, do you know who lives here?"
"Searching records."
A voice suddenly came from the car's center console, and the display showed the image of a bald AI.
Judging from its stiff tone, it was not a strong AI—far inferior