34 Escape?

Commander Eric was furious when he saw the teenager that he treated as his own son kidnapped by an unknown assailant that he didn't even notice anything odd about such an absurd development. At that time, when the mech suit was threatening Daniel's life, he was too focused on how the suit managed to enter the quarantine zone undetected and kidnap the only teenager within the zone while escaping the hundreds of guards and drones scounting the entire area 24/7. Though, the only thing mainly in his mind then was how to rescue Daniel first while deciding that he would ask questions later.

Eric chased after the mech suit after giving about a few seconds of breathing space between them, so as to not alert the perpetrator. Though, half of his forces remaind behind in order to safeguard the rest of the meteroite fragments and the scientists while also placating the latter at the same time.

Once he got out of the cave, Eric immediately took one of the buggies parked next to the entrance and directly told Minerva to chase after the mech suit. Since the satellite had already arrived in place, supported by the multiple security cameras and sensors within the quarantine zone, the AI managed to locate the mech suit the second it came aboveground. However, due to the command from Eric, the drones were only allowed to stay in docile mode without firing their weapons, only watching as the mech suit passed by them at high speed.

Since Eric was a brigadier-general, he's ranked highest within the quarantine zone and noboy within had the authority to override his commands. Therefore, even as many of the soldiers felt discontent within their hearts, thinking it would be better to blast the mech suit and the hostage into smithereens that to let it escape with the research material with high research value, none of them say anything and could only grit their teeth in silence, though they were already silently writing letters of discontent within their hearts, which will be sent to the higher-ups once the whole situation is over.

Although Eric placed Daniel's safety first, he wasn't dumb enough to just let the mech suit go like that. Therefore, not only did he manage to sneak a tracking device onto the mech's body as it passed by him earlier within the bunker, he also had multiple mech remote-controlled by Minerva follow him at exactly 1 kilometer behind, making sure that they would be able to chase after the suit and capture it the moment it released the hostage.

Since the very beginning, Eric felt it was unlikely that the person operating the mech suit would ever release Daniel, even though the former said he would after leaving the quarantine zone. Therefore, he already had a drone directly aimed at the mech suit that can instantly send out an electrified net against the mech within less than a second. Though such an act would also electrocute the person within the suit, at least the victim can be rescued afterwards.

Fortunately, Eric did not need to make use of his contingency plan as the mech really did release the hostage as promised before, to the former's complete surprise. However, once the mech released Daniel, making the latter fall head first onto the ground, Eric did not have the time anymore and told Minerva to speed up, trying to get to this teenager of his as quickly as possible.

When the commander finally arrived, he couldn't help himself and immediately ran towards Daniel's collapsed body, instantly kneeling down and hugging him while asking with a frantic tone, "Daniel! Are you alright? Were you hurt anywhere?!"

Eric's shouted right next to Daniel's ear loudly, making the latter wince from the noise. Though, since the latter knew that the adult was simply worried for him, he did not feel angry and instead gave out a weak smile and spoke in response with a low tone, "I'm fine, Uncle. I just feel a little bit tired, that's all."

Eric wanted to speak again but noticed that Daniel had already collapsed onto his arm, becoming unconscious even before the former could ask any of the questions that were filling up within his mind by the second.

Daniel was sent to the infirmary of the quarantine quickly after the incident. After walking in circles outside the examination room, Eric's fears were finally placated when the doctor in charge said that the boy who collapsed before his arms earlier was simply tired and would recover after drinking plenty of fluids and having enough sleep. Heaving a sigh of relief, Eric finally sat down beside Daniel's hospital bed. After staring at Daniel's pale face for awhile, he also managed to fall asleep after watching over him for a few hours.

***

Since Daniel was given the clean bill of health the moment he woke up from the infirmary, he was immediately faced with a solemn-looking Eric, who interrogated him for the next two hours, forcing him to pump out all the details of his kidnapping from within his mind. Unfortunately, the result was less than pleasing since Daniel could only remember that after falling asleep inside his own sleeping bag within Eric's makeshift house, he was forced awake by the bumping motions of the mech's movements. Though, since he was completely restrained, he wasn't even able to move the entire time even after struggling and could only stay helpless the entire time.

Although Daniel looked to be okay after the incident, Eric felt guilty again for being unable to protect this kid for a second time. Therefore, even though Daniel wanted to stay, he was forced to leave and was escorted all the way back to his own home by the commander. His lonely, broad back that seemed to be filled with guilt as he left Daniel's apartment etched within his mind until now, making Daniel feel a little guilty for lying to his uncle like that while also feeling slightly relieved that he could finally act like himself after going through everything.

In the end, he couldn't help but comment within his mind, "It's lucky that Uncle Eric was the one commanding the soldiers back within the nuclear bunker, or else I would have been instantly riddled with bullets back then, if any one else were in charge."

***

Rewinding back to the previous night when Daniel had just blasted through the entrance of the nuclear bunker, he had originally thought his life had come to an end when he had an epiphany.

Although every solider was wearing a helmet back then, since Daniel had been interacting with Eric for most of the former's life since birth, it wasn't hard for him to notice that the commander was actually his own uncle Eric underneath the mask. It was then that he immediately came up with that ridiculous hostage plan in order to bluff his way out with his head still in tact.

To his surprise, the plan worked way better than he had thought! Even Daniel himself didn't think Uncle Eric would endanger his own position as a brigadier-general and negotiate with a non-existent terrorist while giving away military secrets just so the commander could save him. When he thought of this, Daniel couldn't help but feel guilty again. He could only brainwash himself by saying that he had no other choice to make himself feel better.

[Master is so smart! You actually manage to overcome your own demise and come out with a generous amount of adamantine as well! Though, why didn't you just have your physical body absorb the entire mountain right then and there at the time?]

"And become a guinea pig and be dissected by the Federation scientists immediately afterwards?" Daniel scoffed. "Since they know humans can absorb these meteorite fragments, once the Federation know I have absorbed some, they would instantly place their eyes on me, taking notice of my every move to analyze the effect of the absorption. And that's just the best case scenario. At worst, they might directly quarantine me within a black site and experiment on me for the rest of my life."

"I had to find a place where nobody was watching back then to absorb the fragments to stay out of Minerva's grasp. The only place where that's possible was inside the corridor between the entrance of the cave and nuclear bunker. Since the EMP had destroyed all electronics within the area, nobody would be able to see the absorption, and since the speed of my suit is way too fast for cameras to capture, nobody would realize that I've already absorbed the stolen meteorite fragments when I came into Minerva's sight again outside the cave." Daniel explained, sounding as though he was speaking towards an idiot.

[As expected, Master is a genius!]

"Though, I'm still a bit sad that I wouldn't be able to use the B*tsuit again in the near future, since everyone on Earth should be scouring everywhere to look for it by now." Daniel muttered.