28 New Quarantine Zone

[What's the point of the B*tman costume when you're just going to enter the quarantine zone through official channels, Master?] The system asked with a curious tone when he saw Daniel, obviously just wearing casual clothing, enter the quarantine zone with Uncle Eric at the outskirts of Innschbruck, the capital of Country Österreich located well up in the mountains, although accessible by roads.

Due to fears of a devastating attack from Mars, most capitals of the countries within the Federation are carved within mountain ranges or constructed deep below the sea level to prevent the impact of antimatter weapons. Of course, with the advent of city-wide energy shields, such fears were somewhat abated, leading to most governments around the Earth moving their populace onto the areas right outside the original mountain range, hence the reason why most large cities nowadays are constructed near the valleys of different mountains.

Since the season of autumn is almost ending, compounded by the fact that they were currently high above the sea level, the wind is quite chilly, forcing both Daniel and Eric to wear synthetic down jackets to warm themselves. Though, with the generation of a temporary energy shield within the quarantine zone, the weather within the zone has been conserved to standard ambient temperature and pressure (SATP), acting like a greenhouse.

Removing the down jacket, Daniel looked a little curious and asked as he took a good look at the somewhat translucent energy field protecting him from the elements outside. "Uncle Eric? Why is there an energy shield generated surrounding the area? I thought the energy yield for creating such a shield are usually to costly for the Federation."

Eric gave Daniel an understanding look before giving a shrug and replying in a nonchalant manner, "After what had happened to the previous quarantine zone, the federal governemtn decided to up their game and dispatch miniature fusion reactors to all quarantine zones, so the zones would be protected from Martian intervention 24/7. After all, we need to protect all the scientists here since they are one of the most important assets to the Federation."

Daniel simply nodded in acknowledgement as the both of them headed into one of the makeshift buildings, hastily constructed with concrete, which served as the temporary home of his uncle during this time. Looking around, he found the entire place looking even smaller than a studio apartment one would find downtown. With the lack of facilities and furniture except for two sleeping bags placed at the edge of the makeshift house and the foldable plastic table and chair placed on the other side, one would find that the place looked more like a prison cell than a home.

Though, it seems that Uncle Eric is already used to living in such a place, as he looked quite natural when walking about within his own room, placing the two's down jackets onto the wooden clips that were dangling on a string that stretched across the room, acting as a makeshift wardrobe.

"Stay here for now." Uncle Eric said with a calm tone. "I'm going back to work. I'll come and pick you up at around 7pm for dinner."

Daniel nodded, watching the former leave the house, closing the wooden door that served as the entrance to the house behind him. It was only then that he dared to answer the system's question.

"In addition to what I'm going to do tonight, this is going to be the second time I'm present in a place where adamantine is robbed. Although some might think that it's just a coincidence, an artificial intelligence like Minerva definitely wouldn't. I'm sure that if some adamantine were to be found missing, I will become the prime suspect instantly. Therefore, I would need a costume to disguise myself while also getting myself an allibi when I infiltrate the laboratory of this quarantine zone and steal the adamantine from right under the Federation's noses." Daniel explained in a matter-of-fact manner to the system within his own head.

[But didn't you already reveal your B*tman cosplay when you attended school this morning? If you're going to use your B*tman costume to steal the adamantine now, wouldn't that be tatamount to confessing your crimes?] The system retorted, sounding a little confused.

"On the contrary," Daniel replied. "Since the 'perpetrator' of the robbery of this quarantine zone is wearing a costume exactly the same as the one that I just wore this morning, Minerva would start to doubt my intelligence and reconsider me as a prime subject, since it would have been way too obvious. Instead, the AI would start thinking that someone else may have framed me for the crime, since it would be stupid for an ace student like me to basically confess to my involvement of the crime when there are much better ways to steal the adamantine under the nose of Minerva."

[So this is basically a distraction tactic! Master is so smart!] The system exclaimed, which led to Daniel snorting within his mind.

***

Daniel passed his time watching various TV shows and anime on his holographic tablet, which he had brought with him from school, until Uncle Eric returned with a smile. After changing from his military uniform, Uncle Eric donned on some casual clothing that were originally hanging from the string mentioned earlier, wearing a standard blue-colored robe given to all Federation citizens upon graduation.

Seeing the lack of creativity in this uncle's fashion sense, Daniel simply remained speechless. However, he really shouldn't be the one to judge since he himself is only wearing a plain white long-sleeved t-shirt along with standard blue-colored jeans. Well, this is not because of Daniel's lack of fashion sense but more because of his stinginess and unwillingness to buy any clothing more expensive than the ones provided by the federal government through their UBI scheme.

Since there was only one narrow road heading up towards the mountain originally before it became an impact site, the military had to hastily pave the dirt surrounding the mountain for the use of their personnel, since the only paved road had turned into an exclusive zone for the use of military vehicles.

Stepping onto the uneven pedestrian road, Daniel and Eric walked down the slope and found themselves looking at a rather large makeshift tent, with its only entrance swarming with people coming in and out. The tent itself looked as though it had just been requisitioned from a circus trope, due to the conspicuous colors plastered on.

While walking inside the tent, many of the people passing by greeted this uncle of his, some with a look of reverence, some with a look of fear. Daniel deduced that these people, even though they were not wearing their military uniforms, should be Uncle Eric's underlings from their look of awe towards him. Meanwhile, the people wearing lab coats did not even greet Uncle Eric they passed by, with some even giving a few looks of disdain towards him.

The difference in treatment by the two sides somewhat surprised Daniel, but upon thinking a little further, he wasn't as stumped anymore. "As a meritocratic state, it's not surprising that these so-called 'intelligent assets' of the Federation would look down upon these military personnel, whom they view as all brawns and no brains. Though wouldn't it hurt for them to act a little more curteous? Uncle Eric is the one protecting them after all." He thought to himself.

Not surprisingly, with such disdain towards the commander, they would be even less curteous towards the other military personnel within the quarantine zone. Due to that, the makeshift cafeteria became segregated to two sides, with the left being reserved for scientists while the right is reserved for the military.

Uncle Eric looked somewhat dissatisfied with the situation, but he could only shake his head and sigh, enduring the situation with a saddened look. Seeing this, Daniel patted on his uncle's back and said, "Don't worry, Uncle. They'll be grovelling at your feet the second they realize they're in danger."

Hearing the explicit words from this adopted nephew of his, Eric could not help but remain speechless for a while. Then, he gave out a chuckle and ruffled Daniel's hair, turning a little more cheerful again as he said, "I hear that the chef here is quite good at cooking Far Eastern Food. I know you haven't eaten anything exotic in a while, so would you like to try?"

Being in a training regiment, Daniel could not go against his recommended nutrition intake, but seeing how happy his uncle was, he did not go against the latter's wishes and simply gave a smile of gratitude, replying in a gleeful tone, "That's great! I've been only having nutrition tablets for the past month, so it's good to have a change of pace once in a while."

Stating this, the both of them lined up at the end of the queue and waited for their turn to choose what to get by the canteen.