Noon.
New York.
As the most populous city on the East Coast of the United States and one of the nation's centers of economy, commerce, and entertainment, New York appears prosperous and thriving. However, it has a history of being a place of severe inequality.
The gap between the rich and poor is vast, the cost of living extremely high, and violence and crime are constant threats, leaving the average person's quality of life low despite the city's outward appearance of glamour. Beneath the surface, life is full of struggles.
Manhattan, where the Empire State Building is located, and Brooklyn, less than five kilometers away, should be a typical comparison of extreme wealth disparity. However, Brooklyn now boasts a large number of new buildings and even some massive construction projects still underway.
A closer look reveals old Hextech robots assisting workers with welding and assembly on the open construction sites. The site supervisors, wearing white hard hats, have the red "Λ" symbol of Atlas on their uniforms.
It seems Atlas has contracted these projects, creating more job opportunities for Brooklyn and significantly increasing the area's income and consumption levels.
Moreover, Brooklyn's streets are filled with holographic technology, and the infrastructure is becoming increasingly advanced. Occasionally, box-shaped "objects" can be seen flashing through the air. This scene bears a striking resemblance to the rebuilt New Arcadia, though with fewer patrol drones.
In contrast, Manhattan's development seems slower.
Despite Atlas providing numerous job opportunities, not everyone is willing to spend five days a week, seven hours a day at work, even if the jobs come with comprehensive medical and retirement insurance, triple overtime pay, holiday benefits, and an average hourly wage of $12.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average hourly wage in New York at the beginning of 1999 was $6.89.
By all accounts, working hard is one of the best ways to improve one's life.
However, a small portion of people always look for shortcuts, hoping to secure a lifetime of luxury in one stroke, or end it all and start anew in the next life.
At this moment.
In a remote neighborhood of Brooklyn, inside a local branch of a New York bank;
Holographic screens displayed advertisements for various financial products, along with recommendations for partner beverages and foods. The central screen showed the status of each counter and the real-time date and time:
Monday, February 1, 1999, 10:35 AM.
Perhaps because it was a Monday, or because Atlas paid salaries on the first of every month, the bank lobby was packed with people waiting to conduct transactions. Even the ATMs were at full capacity.
Despite society having entered the digital age, with mobile payments and online shopping making life more convenient, many people still preferred to convert their salaries into cash.
The internet made it possible to shop and spend without leaving home. For example, on Atlas's online marketplace, private sellers might label accessories and clothing with "Only $9.99! Free Shipping with Gift! Limited Time Offer!" to entice people to buy.
A single $9.99 purchase might seem insignificant, but three, four, or more such purchases can add up quickly. It's easy to lose track of spending, with the impact only hitting home when checking the bank balance.
In contrast, physical cash, though less convenient, provides a tangible sense of spending, with each transaction felt directly. Both methods have their pros and cons, and people must find the balance that suits them best.
This was the time when many banks held large reserves of cash, providing opportunities for criminals.
Outside on the street, an old white van sped up after crossing the intersection, coming to a screeching halt in front of the bank.
Screech—!
As the van braked sharply, four armed individuals, dressed in black, with black masks and gas masks, immediately poured out.
!
Two security guards, who had noticed the van's unusual behavior, barely had time to reach for their holstered guns before they were staring down the barrels of four 5.56mm caliber rifles.
The leader of the armed group, in a dull voice, warned, "We're only here for the money, not to harm anyone. Drop your guns and lie down if you don't want to die!"
"."
The two guards hesitated, frowning, but ultimately decided to surrender, dropping their guns and lying on the ground with their hands over their heads.
"Cuff them! Let's move."
The guards were bound at the wrists with plastic ties and dragged into the bank lobby by the armed men.
"Everyone, hands up! Get down! Get down!"
"Ah—"
"Shut up! Or we'll put a bullet in you! This is not a joke! Get down!"
Before anyone in the crowd could scream, the armed men had already taken control of the scene. However, the bank staff had already pressed the silent alarm.
The leader, seemingly aware of this, glanced at his watch and shouted, "Three minutes! Move it!"
Three of the armed men began binding everyone with zip ties and overseeing the hostages.
The leader punched the bank manager in the face, leaving a visible injury, and then threatened him into opening the vault door. Everything was proceeding according to plan.
They had studied the local police patrol routes and intervals, calculated the time from the activation of the silent alarm to the police response, and arrival at the bank.
Well-equipped and well-trained, these were clearly professional robbers, not amateurs out for a quick score.
"Ugh! Ugh!!"
Suddenly, a middle-aged man in a checkered shirt began to have difficulty breathing, his body convulsing uncontrollably.
His hands were bound, preventing him from reaching the medicine bottle in his pocket. The convulsions and struggles grew more intense.
"Beep-beep!"
The smart wristband on the man's left hand emitted a sharp alarm.
"What's going on?" The leader rushed back into the lobby, alerted by the commotion.
"Maybe it's a heart attack?" one of the robbers shrugged, indicating their "innocence."
"Forget it! Stick to the plan!" The leader didn't dwell on it and returned to the vault.
Soon, the man, unable to take his medication in time, passed out completely.
Meanwhile, the leader successfully dragged two black duffel bags full of cash back into the lobby, shouting again, "Forty-five seconds!"
Before he finished speaking, one of the robbers quickly stepped forward to help the leader carry their "loot."
But just as they were about to leave the lobby...
Bang! Bang!
Outside on the street, large-caliber gunshots rang out, hitting the engine of the van that was supposed to be their getaway vehicle, cutting off their escape route.
Rat-a-tat!
The confused driver stepped out to check and was immediately shot in the arm and leg, collapsing on the street, screaming in pain.
"Enemy attack! Take cover!"
Seeing the sudden turn of events, the leader shouted, dropping the duffel bags and preparing to grab the 5.56 rifle slung across his chest.
The other robbers also prepared to fight, knowing they had hostages and plenty of ammunition, hoping to create an opportunity to escape.
Bang—Bang—!
However, before the four robbers could spread out or find cover, eight "armor-piercing rounds" pierced the bank's walls and accurately struck their shoulders.
Pop—Pop—!
But just before these rounds could penetrate their shoulders, they all exploded with low-intensity charges.
Buzz—!
The four robbers, with their arms suddenly rendered useless, fell to the ground, only able to hear a ringing in their ears and feel a numbing sensation in their shoulders, unable to comprehend what had just happened.
As blood quickly drained from their bodies, their consciousness began to fade.
!!!
The hostages, lying on the ground with their hands bound, were shocked. Some, overwhelmed by fear and having overeaten, vomited their breakfast on the spot.
Outside on the street.
A flying vehicle, primarily white with red accents, hovered low around the bank, with its side doors open, assisting the "soldiers" armed with AMWS firearms in neutralizing all the robbers.
However, these soldiers, equipped with mechanical exoskeletons, wore combat uniforms in medical green, with armor and helmets in medical white, resembling a "special forces unit" from a hospital.
Once the threat was confirmed to be neutralized, the flying vehicle hovered in front of the bank's main entrance.
Then, five soldiers carrying specialized equipment jumped from the aircraft and quickly rushed into the bank lobby.
Two of them headed straight for the man who had suffered a heart attack and began resuscitation efforts.
"No pulse, no normal breathing detected. Prepare for CPR."
"Three, two...one! Check status."
"Heartbeat and breathing restored. Prepare to transfer the patient."
In less than a minute, the two soldiers had fitted the man with a breathing mask and transferred him onto a folding stretcher.
The other three soldiers maintained and controlled the scene, checking if any of the hostages had suffered physical injuries.
While cutting the hostages' bindings, the soldiers also warned everyone not to move freely, partly to avoid disrupting their comrades' rescue efforts and partly because, aside from them, everyone present was a potential suspect.
Until the police arrived, no hostages were allowed to leave the scene.
As for the four robbers and their driver, they too received basic medical treatment from the soldiers and were fitted with universal metal handcuffs, rendering them immobile.
Next, the flying vehicle slowly descended, allowing the soldiers to carry the heart attack victim into the cabin. Then, under the watchful eyes of the police officers who had arrived on the scene, the vehicle took off again, gradually disappearing into the sky.
"Whoa," one of the officers quipped to his partner, "Atlas's medical squad—what a misleading name!"
"Stop
joking around, let's secure the scene and report back to dispatch that we've got five scumbags needing medical attention."
"Got it."
The officer stopped goofing off and quickly assisted his partner and the other arriving colleagues.
Atlas's medical squad, formally known as the Atlas Emergency Medical Response Team (EMRT), or simply the medical squad, was a team of former professional SWAT officers with emergency medical certification.
The medical squad also had the authority to intercept police communications.
If a violent crime was taking place in New York City involving Atlas insurance customers, especially when the customer's life was at risk and regular officers couldn't arrive in time, the medical squad had temporary law enforcement powers to handle the situation before the police could.
Atlas's customers only needed to pay an annual premium of over $1,200 for themselves or $1,800 for their family to enjoy the emergency rescue services provided by the medical squad.
However, activating this service required purchasing a $39.99 smart wristband to continuously monitor the customer's health, as the medical squad also needed to guard against false alarms.
Atlas's ability to exert a certain degree of law enforcement authority in New York stemmed from agreements signed in 1998 between the city's new mayor and Atlas, aimed at improving healthcare and creating jobs.
Looking deeper, the roots of this power trace back to the collapse of Vought International at the end of 1996. Nearly two and a half years had passed since then, bringing us to February 1, 1999.
The fallout from this event led to a reshuffling of the U.S. political landscape, plunging the nation into over two years of turmoil.
The internet not only provided the convenience of shopping from home but also created diverse channels for news dissemination, allowing people to access vast amounts of information instantly.
Through the internet, "Soldier Boy" exposed the politicians who had been bribed and coerced by Vought International, revealing their true nature and actions behind the scenes.
This sparked public outrage across the United States, with the West Coast cities led by Seattle and Los Angeles being particularly radical. In the South, cities like Houston and Dallas saw the formation of a militia group of over thirty thousand people, standing in opposition to the National Guard and the federal government.
The South had always been at odds with the federal government, and the exposure of such damning scandals caused the southern populace to completely lose trust in the federal system.
But Atlas, or rather its mastermind Samuel Young, seized the opportunity during this period of greatest unrest to support a group of "rising political stars" and actively participate in the mayoral, gubernatorial, and congressional elections in the United States from 1997 to 1998.
Over half of these "new stars" won the elections, thanks to their track records and clean backgrounds, in stark contrast to the scandal-plagued politicians, earning them the votes and support of the public.
Of course, their success in the elections was also heavily influenced by Atlas's vast financial resources and the covert operations of the Hunter Battalion.
In reality, some of these rising political stars were investigators Samuel Young had planted in the government years earlier, while others were genuine politicians who Atlas had leverage over.
The upheaval in American politics allowed Atlas to further expand its control within the main universe, and no other military-industrial complex, whether in the open or the shadows, could rival Atlas at this point—they simply weren't on the same level.