NaNoWriMo 2021 Day 2, 1,700 / 19,080.

Three hundred words below target number and THAT’S JUST FINE.

had only known Adam by sight; he was one of those fresh-faced, hearty types who thought rambling through alien forests with nothing but a backpack and a flashlight was just the best thing, ever. I have nothing against people like that, honestly. I just don’t understand why anybody wants to go back to nature. I’m from Jefferson, where nature still comes into your house and leaves tracks on the floor. Civilization is much better, thanks.

Unfortunately, all that fresh air and exercise meant that Adam was now a muscular violent psychotic, and he moved fast. I jumped, mostly out of the way of his knife, and my jacket took the blade; but he ripped it up pretty good before colliding with the wall, so that was just good luck. My bad luck? The attack had sent the gun flying out of my hand.

I ignored that and yelled, “Hey! Process! I found Adam!” — only to hear silence. And not just from The Process, either. The entire datanet around me was collapsing into static as the network went down. That scared me more than the space-happy maniac now picking himself up. I mean, it’s not the first time I’ve been isolated from the entire universe, except for the bits I could personally sense. But never while somebody was trying to murder me!