[Placeholder] (Complete) NaNoWriMo 2016

Ones and Zeros

"So, ten days left." Simon said as the Writer walked into the living room trailing tendrils of story fog behind her. The mists didn't seem to want to let go and the puddled around her feet like cloth when she sat down. "Are you normally this far behind at this point in the game?"

"Sometimes," said the Writer with a sigh. "Most of the time I just give up around the early 20's word counts, but I promised myself that this month I wouldn't throw in the towel no matter how bad it got."

"Well, that's... something. I guess." Said Simon with a frown. "So what's next on the 'things that can go wrong' agenda?"

"I have no idea," said the Writer, and set the word sprint timer anyway. "But the novel's lovely dark and deep, and I have plot points yet to reach, so there's words to go before I sleep, so many words to go before I sleep."

"Pretty sure that's cheating."

"Shush."

~*~*~*~*~

Ship had let them out of the round room without a word and hadn't spoken to Simon or Cat since. Simon was a little annoyed at the sudden lack of communication, but the Ship had been less talkative to them lately so he wasn't sure if it was a bad thing.

The rest of live went on as normal. The Ship slowly opened up new areas for them to explore and the food was provided as expected.

Cat was sulking and had hardly spoken to Simon since they left the round room. That was actually more concerning than Ship's silence, but Simon wasn't sure if he should pester the cat about it. He had yet to see the feline's fur return to a steady black since the flight and he wasn't sure what that would mean for the cat's normally amiable attempts at conversation.

He had a feeling Cat would be much more willing to take offense and Simon was sure he wouldn't last more than a few seconds if it turned into a fight.

So he sat on the bed and dug into the what information Ship had allowed him access to on the blueprints of the ship and the civilization he had come from.

~*~*~*~*~

Cat needed something to hunt.

He had brought most of his feral instincts under control, but it was always easier when he could let off steam by indulging them.

He'd pondered hunting one of Ship's bots, but the little guys were nowhere to be seen and Ship wasn't responding to their questions anymore. For a brief moment he'd thought about asking Simon to play prey, but the human was much too fragile. It was frustrating beyond measure and he had to find something to do before he started clawing the walls. Again.

But he was Waiting-by-water and he didn't get his use-name for lack of patience. So he paced and napped and dreamed of the hunts he couldn't have.

~*~*~*~*~

"This is just repeating what you already wrote," Simon pointed out, a bit confused.

"I'm trying to get better at getting inside your heads," said the Writer, leaning back to stretch out her back. "Even this far into the month I don't have a very good handle on how you think and why you think. It may seem repetitive and a bit disjointed to do all this head-hopping, but it really does help."

"If you say so." Simon was not really convinced, but this was his first NaNoWriMo, maybe there really was a method somewhere in the madness. Maybe.

~*~*~*~*~

"We have a problem."

Ship's voice cut through the silence and both Simon and Cat jumped a little. Simon had been buried in what appeared to be technical specs for small aerial drones of some sort and Cat had been systematically shredding one of the pillows from the bed.