Not far from the Westbrook lockdown zone.
An NCPD cruiser was parked by the roadside with its lights flashing, but the officer was sitting on a stone bench a short distance away.
His Cyber-Eye was fixed on the battle on the overpass.
"Half a month of overtime in a row, three months' worth of overtime pay still owed, and they've still got the nerve to ask us to work overtime."
The rookie standing beside him looked more solemn. Watching the explosions and flames over there, he was deeply shaken.
This was his first month with the NCPD.
Everything he'd experienced tonight felt a little too surreal.
"Captain, have you seen what's going around the precinct right now?"
"I have. So what?" The officer's expression didn't change.
"If it's true..."
"If it's true? There's a nine-in-ten chance it is. That's why they sent us here. They even called it 'Skyscraper duty' and offered triple overtime pay. Whoever wants to get involved can go ahead."
The rookie was deeply shaken.
The officer stood up and saw Tyger Claws cars starting to get shoved off the road.
"Nice work! Damn, I've been sick of those Tyger Claws assholes for ages. Every one of them acts like they own the place. If I weren't a cop..."
"Captain, I think 'cop' is a derogatory term for us."
The officer looked at the rookie and repeated, "If I weren't a cop..."
But after repeating himself, he stopped.
Then what?
He didn't say the rest-not a cop, he'd go work in a factory.
He was kidding. The people speeding around on the overpass didn't even seem human. Did he think he could do that kind of thing just because he wasn't a cop?
But the helicopter would be here soon.
Even if those three really did have