POD (The Pattern Universe) Read Online Free Page B

and had no intentions of waiting around while they reverse engineered it.
    It had noted earlier that the room where it was being held prisoner had a high ceiling. Pod had calculated that there was enough clearance above it to maintain itself out of reach of the humans as long as they didn't wave their arms in the air. Its personal experience indicated only a 3% chance of this occurring within its direct vicinity.
    Pod was currently unable to escape the room using the D-Jump because the inner wall of mesh, installed as a screening device, blocked its ability much like the outer shield. It had not previously scanned this room and could not read anything outside, so whatever else it was designed to do, it was also an effective D-Jump screen.
    Pod had taken note of the molecular signatures and would research the materials further when it had more time, but at the moment it had other pressing priorities. There was so much information and innovative design here. It seemed a shame these people were at war with each other. Together they would be formidable.
    Pod waited until the limit of the shield was approaching. It would move just at the moment they anticipated success as this would create the maximum effect. They would not know if they had caused the result, or not.
    The last of its uploads had finished moments before. It calculated that there would be enough confusion and air disturbance, in the seconds during and after its jump across the room, to ensure that nobody noticed its movement within the laboratory. It was a safe assumption as they would believe it had exited the room.
    The time approached quickly as the temperature began to peak. It D-Jumped from the floor to the top front corner of the ceiling out of reach of most of the humans, close to the double doors. It had not anticipated the ensuing chaos that occurred when the tractor beams had nothing to attach themselves to.
    Had the laser, without its intended target in front, not beamed across the laboratory and through Lockwood' head, he might have been able to identify Pod's new location. By virtue of him having his head de-cored at close range, this information was not readily available. As a result, when they did have an opportunity to consider it, all the occupants believed the captured object had disappeared.
    There was absolute chaos as various alarms blared throughout the level. Two security guards, stationed outside, raced in with NRG’s raised. The place became instantly jammed while everyone tried to sort out what was happening. Quickly making the Laser and NRG weapon safe, and seeing no direct threat, the guards holstered their weapons. Then, keeping either side of Goeth for his protection, as the most senior scientist, they managed to get things calmed down.
    Pod saw the death and injury of the two technicians as unfortunate, but, with its growing awareness, it recognised their involvement in the development of weapons, and their death and injury by same partially justified the result. Beyond that, it didn't consider the situation.
    It waited until the double doors opened to get the injured lab technician out and bring in repair crews to make the room safe. Then it dropped down to access the doors and pushed its cloaked and shielded shell through the opening, shunting aside two confused emergency workers in the process who luckily remained none the wiser.
    Once clear of the shielded wall, Pod found it was able to sense everything around it again. It noted the exterior signature of the shielded room for later analysis so it could find it again on a scan. It then D-Jumped into a vacant room it had detected in an earlier scan. The room was quite large, empty and in total darkness. Remaining cloaked, it hovered in position while it carried out its remaining tasks.
    Seeing that it was still trapped inside the shield, detectable by external sensors, Pod decided if it remained here it would be temporarily safe.
    It had a plan to extricate itself from the complex.