The Ziploc Protocol
The attendant was passing through the coach, discreetly checking to make sure all passengers had their disposables in, helping where necessary. Most were regulars, and needed no reminders or assistance. Only the cheerful, elderly woman in 15C, taking a bucket-list trip on the UET-1, asked for help positioning the applicator properly over her eyes and clicking the button that neatly snapped the disposable overlay in place. A slightly awkward but not painful operation.
"There you go madam, just click that button to apply! Take your time, we have 15 minutes before we enter the Zoothesia zone. That's it, you got it! No, hold on to that applicator. There's a little trick you can do with it to remove the overlay comfortably once we've exited the zone."
The young man sitting across from her smiled reassuringly. He already had his disposable on.
Once the attendant had moved on to the next carriage, the young man grinned at his older companion, winked conspiratorially, put a finger to his lips, and took off his baseball hat. Next, he took out what looked like a small yarmulke-like cap from his carry-on bag, positioned it carefully on his head, touched a small switch, and put his baseball cap back on.
With the confident nosiness of the elderly, the old woman asked, "What's that cap you just put on young man? Is it a kapala halo? My guidebook had a bit about it."
The young man nodded yes, looking impressed.
"So what can you see that I can't?"
"At the moment, nothing. But once we enter the zone, you'll see some dull scenery out the window, but I'll be able to see the slums to the east of the station. They run for at least three kilometers along the track. I'm doing an investigation of the slums."
"Doesn't the ECOROUTE system detect it? What if you get caught?"
"No ECOROUTE only detects if you're not wearing your disposable. It won't register the halo. So long as you don't disembark anywhere in the zone, you're safe. I don't even really need the hat. The attendants don't care."
"And are you planning to disembark?"
The young man grinned.
They watched through the windows in silence for the next half hour, as the train trundled through different landscapes for each of them. Then it began slowing, approaching the first stop in the zone.
The young man took the halo off from under his hat, extracted two ziplock bags from his pocket, and began carefully disassembling the halo. It came apart into a small pile of wires, bits of fabric, and electronic parts. This, he divided into two smaller piles, and placed one in each of his two ziplock bags. He placed one in his carry-on bag, and the other in his jacket pocket.
He looked up at the old woman, who was watching the proceedings curiously.
"The detectors at the exit are pretty dumb. They only register electronic devices, and only if certain components occur together. I'll put it back together once I'm out."
"Oh, that's pretty clever."
The young man smiled, stood up, bowed slightly, and headed for the exit.