Wordcount: 229
Rating/Warnings: PG
Summary: To fit between A City of Ghosts and A Scurry of Squirrels.

NOTE: This is a very rough draft with no editing at all (per National Novel Wiriting Month rules) and is presented for amusement value only. Think of it as a periscope into my writing process rather than a coherent story!

There will most likely be spelling and grammatical errors afoot as well as flat out bad writing, info dumps, plot holes, contradictions/retcons, uneven characterization and pacing. These snippits are also posted out of order, so please refer to the Outline to figure out where it’s supposed to fit.

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Dances With Nuts

There was a flurry of movement as several other small metallic not-quite-squirrels started appearing from the windows and cross the roofs of the buildings around them.

“I was wondering when they’d come.” Said Bell, “I suppose they were making sure you weren’t going to destroy the mobile unit.”

“I don’t think I could,” said Blue, distracted by the dozens of new arrivals. “It’s made of metal and I’ll I’ve got are knives.”

“They break easily,” said Bell, “they aren’t mean for combat, or even falls—there’s just enough here to manipulate things and not much more.”

“Oh,” Blue was slightly comforted by this since the crowd of squirrel onlookers kept growing. “Um, how many of you are there, exactly?”

“There are hundreds of mobile units,” said Bell, “but we can build more if we need to. On the other hand there are thousands of us scattered about the city, but she’s sectioned us off. There’s more of us then there used to be because Atlantis is larger than she used to be, it’s a logarithmic scale and we’re at the tipping point.”

“She doesn’t like us much.” Said another squirrel as it hopped closer, seemingly caught in the need for endless movement. It ran back and forth along the roofs, working its way down to a little above Blue’s head and then up again.

“I’m sorry?” said Blue, confused.