Over the next few days, Travis did not get much time to write, as he was busy at work due to some urgent fixes and change requests. But he still continued to write a little bit every day. Finally, on Saturday, he was able to devote sufficient time for his story.
He decided to start writing early in the morning itself. so that he could make the most of the weekend when it came to NaNoWriMo. He had targeted to write around ten thousand words over the weekend, so that he would be in a comfortable position to finish on time.
So, on Saturday, he first reviewed what he had written so far. He had set up the initial opening of the story, where a murder happens at Energised Incorporated. Then he had devoted the next two chapters on the detectives' failed attempts to trace the source of the poison by using their network of informants and covert operatives. In those chapters he had also spent some time on character building.
This had required considerable thought on his part. Initially he had decided that Riley, the main character, was to be a family man. Joe, being a supporting character, was not to figure much outside of the investigation. So, there he could do with omitting details of his private life altogether. But the more Travis thought about it, the more he realised that it would be a lot more difficult to actually write that.
For one thing, a lot of work (as far as he was concerned) would be needed to make such a character believable. A story works, he knew, only if the readers can relate to the protagonist and the situations he is in. And that can happen only when the portrayal of the character comes across as something one would expect to see in real life. And Travis knew too little about family life to be able to do anything like that.
But what Travis had a fair idea about was living alone. He himself was living in the city away from his parents due to his job. He had enough experience in living alone in the city to write a convincing description of that kind of life. And so he had decided to portray the character of Riley as somewhat of a loner, not having much of a life outside of work.
Today, Travis was going to write one of those so-called exposition scenes, which are often required to convey details to the readers. This was to be an interview with Oscar, wherein Riley and Joe gain an idea about how Energised's technology actually works. This was needed in order to set up the stage for possible ways in which the nLight1 can be sabotaged.
This was the first time he had to actually going to explain the main sci-fi element of his story. So, it was crucial to explain it in a way that could be easily understood by the readers. At the same time, it was also important to keep the concept somewhat believable, so that it came across as something that may be built in the future.
So, Travis again gave it some thought. He had decided that the whole concept had to revolve around the electricity generation being self-sustaining. So that was to be the core of his fictitious invention. Now all he had to do was to spin a believable tale around it.
The basic requirement for any power generation device to be self-sustaining, reasoned Travis, is that it should be able to generate power and utilise this process to power itself. As Travis read the materials about the nanogenerator, he realised that the piezoelectric effect was one of the common effects employed in their construction. This, he reasoned, could be used as a basis for creating the self-sustaining aspect of the whole thing. The reason the approach was still in sci-fi territory was probably because it would require specialised manufacturing techniques. Also, he could throw in some other types of nanogenerators in the mix to act as supplementary power generators. Obviously, the generated power must be stored in a battery of some sort, which would then be used by the appliance being powered.
Satisfied with this concept, Travis opened his browser, created a new issue for his story, and began writing.
The next, Oscar received a surprise visit from the two detectives. They were, for some reason interested in learning how nLight1 worked. Like a good employee protecting his employer's best interests, Oscar politely refused at first. But as the two detectives told him their theory of an impending sabotage attempt on nLight1 and how having some idea of how it actually worked might help them identify possible threats, he agreed.
"It is all actually very technical, but I will try to explain it in as simple terms as possible." he began. "I believe you are aware what a generator is."
"Yes, it is a device to generate electricity." answered Riley.
"Yes. Now it is important to understand that generators come in all shapes and sizes. From the big ones we used to have at the power plants to the small ones that power your home, to the even smaller ones which you cannot see."
"You are referring to the nanogenerator obviously." said Joe.
"Yes. But a single nanogenerator by itself produces a very very small amount of power. The only machines it would be capable of moving would be nano sized motors."
"Then how do you use it to power a light bulb." asked Joe.
"To understand that, let us first understand at the working of something more common. Are you aware how the internal combustion engine works?"
"Yes, we learnt about it during school." said Riley, "The four phase cycle of Intake, Compression, Power and Exhaust."
"Precisely. But have you seen how the different cylinders are arranged in an engine.?"
"Not many." replied Joe. "But I believe that there are different arrangements possible, depending upon the angle between two cylinders."
"Exactly. Now we come to an important point. Do you know why they are arranged that way?"
"Efficient use of space?" hazarded Riley.
"In some cases, yes. But most importantly, it is to make the process self-sustaining."
"You see," he continued, seeing the confused look on their faces. "the angles between the cylinders are so fixed that when one cylinder is undergoing the intake and compression phases, one or more cylinders are at the power or exhaust stage of the cycle."
"So the motion of the pistons during the latter two stages powers the intake and compression in the other cylinders." said Riley, beginning to understand what Oscar was trying to say.
"Yes."
"And you have found some means to replicate this self sustaining behaviour in your nanogenerators." finished Joe.
"Yes. We use a mesh of piezoelectric nanogenerators to achieve a similar effect." answered Oscar. Then, realising that the detectives probably did not know much about piezoelectricity, he added, "A piezoelectric material is one in which application of force produces a voltage difference and vice versa. What we have done is connected the different piezoelectric generators such that release of pressure on one of the generators produces a force on the surrounding ones."
"Okay." replied Joe. "Which brings me to my next question. How are these generators connected?"
"They are connected by copper cored nanowires of a highly elastic but strong composite material, so that the arrangement is strong enough without losing its flexibility." replied Oscar. "The copper wire at the core is used to carry the generated current, which is then used to charge the battery."
"This is very interesting." said Riley. "But tell me, Mr. Johnson, what will happen if one of these connections between the two nanogenerators were to break? Would that severely impact the power generation capabilities of the device?"
"You would need to take out at least half the number of nanogenerators for that to happen. For we have used the structure of Fullerene as a basis for modelling the mesh. Here, let me show you what it looks like."
And so Oscar showed them an image of a fullerene, explaining how this massive mesh extends in three dimensions to create a dense network of nanogenerators.
"How is this whole mesh protected?" asked Joe. "Is there anyway someone could damage it?"
"We enclose it in an air-tight chamber which is made up of hardened glass. The composite by itself is resistant to damage by atmosphere, but a corrosive agent like sulphuric acid could easily damage it."
"Is there any special reason for using glass?"
"We also use solar powered nanogenerators as a complement to the mesh of the piezoelectric ones. Their function is similar to the starter motor of an internal combustion engine." replied Oscar.
"And where are these solar powered ones located?" asked Riley.
"They are built into the inner layers of the glass casing itself.
"No offence, but is there any way this sabotage could be carried out in this plant?"
"That possibility has not escaped us." replied Oscar. "We have tight security near the production lines. Also, there are closed circuit cameras installed throughout the entire facility, in addition to infra red sensors. so it is highly unlikely that anybody could sabotage the production lines without us knowing about it."
"Okay." said Riley. "That will be all for now. We will get back to you in case we need to know more."
Travis stopped writing and read the whole conversation again. It looked detailed enough to serve the purpose. He debated whether to add some more details about the working of an internal combustion engine, but decided against it, as that information was easily available on the Internet. This done, Travis turned to the next order of business, that of continuing the story.
Now how should he go about this? Should there be another murder? Or should there be an attempt to sabotage Energised's production lines? Or should he branch off into a sub-plot which would later somehow (he did not know how just yet) join into the main plot?
The more he thought about it, the more confused he got. Finally, he decided to write about a sub-plot that may or may not link back to the main plot. So he started writing.
Late evening, as night was slowly making her way into the city, a lone figure stood outside the dilapidated power plant.
That was all he could think. He tried to think who this mysterious person should be, but came up with nothing. He tried to think of a reason for being near the ruins of the power plant, but could not come up with anything other than meeting someone. When he tried to think what the meeting would be about, he again came up with a blank. He decided that he would try again the next day.
But the next day was no different. Ideas failed to come to him. He ended up coming with the same situations as yesterday, without any clue about how to proceed. It was like his thoughts were stuck in an infinite loop. And what he sought could only be obtained after breaking out of this loop.
And then the realisation dawned upon him. He was under the grip of the dreaded writer's block.
Travis decided that a stroll outside would probably help in get his thoughts in order and come up with some ideas. So, it was late afternoon on Sunday when Travis was strolling aimlessly in the downtown market area.
He spent some time looking at the shops, his mind wandering, searching for a source of inspiration in all the things his eyes were seeing. And so it happened, that after twenty minutes of window shopping and idle walk, Travis found himself in front of a toy store.
The store had been decked with all the new toys, in preparation for the upcoming holiday season. The sight of toys brought back happy childhood memories. Also, at the same time Travis realised that there might be some sci-fi themed toys or games which might supply him the source of inspiration he was searching for. So, he decided to enter the toy store and have a quick look around.
On entering, he saw a section dedicated for soft toys. These failed to provide any ideas, and so he moved along, finding himself in the section of board games. Here, he came across a few detective themed games. Stopping for some time to read the description on the back cover, Travis realised that one of the collectable card games had a game play rule which could be able to use.
The card game allowed for simultaneous turns, i.e. both the players place their cards on the table at the same time. This, Travis realised, was something his story needed. He had started on a sub-plot, but had failed to establish the time when those events were taking place with respect to the main plot of the game. This was important if he were to even think about having the sub-plot tie into the main plot. He made a mental note about it and moved on.
The next section was of action figures. Here, he finally got what he wanted.
He was looking at an action figure of a commando when he remembered. He had completely forgotten about the little scene he had described towards the end of the prologue. The one involving the discussion about the sniper rifle. That could be used as the starting point for the sub-plot. He could devote some time on describing how the parts were being discreetly brought into the city, so that the police would not get suspicious. Also, he could throw in a few hints here and there that the death of Terence Plank was to serve kind of signal to initiate the plan.
That brought him to the next question. What should be the endgame of this sub-plot? How should this tie into the main plot? Or was it better to leave it as a sub-plot? He finally decided, that the sub-plot would work better if it were a part of the main plot. He also decided to make the sub-plot to be the planned assassination of Energised's owner, who would be present at the launch, the idea being to 'send a message' to anyone who tried to attempt something similar in the future.
Travis completed his tour of the toy store, mentally noting a few other plot devices which occurred to him as he glanced over the various toys on display. He then exited the toy store and started homeward.
Immediately after reaching home, Travis took out his notebook and began jotting down the ideas he had got. When he was finished, he ended up with the below list.
Concurrent story lines: Plot and sub-plot must happen simultaneously1304Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2IuV6NMuhn
Sniper rifle from Prologue: Being assembled to assassinate Energised's owner1304Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRtFKSgM6D1
Sabotage attempt: Necessary to send detectives on the trail of the bad guys1304Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWj13z74XSy
Money: Has to be involved somehow. But how? If not money then what else?1304Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgvzvSa2hX7
Pieces of the puzzle: How will the detectives get these? Will someone be leaving clues for them anonymously?
He then turned his attention to the sub-plot he had started writing. He decided this would be another meeting between the mysterious Government official and the Power Monger introduced in the prologue. So, he started writing.
Late that evening, as night was slowly making her way into the city, a lone figure stood outside the dilapidated power plant. He kept looking first along one road that led to the plant, and then along the other. It was clear that he was waiting for someone.
He did not have to wait for long. For five minutes later, another figure came walking towards the plant from the road to the west. The two figures met each other outside the gate of the power plant and proceeded inside.
He then continued to write the conversation that followed in detail. The discussion centred around the progress of the 'import' of the rifle in the city. The government official was telling the Power Monger about the increased security measures following Terrence Plank's death, and the two were deciding the best route to move the different 'pieces' to their rightful place. In addition, he added one or two lines about how the 'rest of the plan' was proceeding on schedule. In the end, he decided to add the first indication that this sub-plot was actually part of the main plot. Realising after a moment's thought that he also needed to move the story forward, he decided to kill two birds with one stone. So he continued writing.
"The investigators are clueless, aren't they?" asked the Power Monger.1304Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfFLC6cGoUF
"As clueless as they could be. They have no idea what is actually happening." agreed the government official.1304Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVBtNqMQpq8
"Maybe it is time to send them a little clue, don't you think. Our plan requires that their investigation proceeds along the right track."1304Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqiu1sFOQ3z
"That is true. The possibility of them reaching a wrong conclusion or coming to the right conclusion too late is unacceptable. They are in dire need of a helping hand."1304Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz98VPHYRDP
"Indeed. It is time Mr. Thorn's involvement in this was brought to the notice of the authorities." replied the Power Monger. "I will have one of my men 'attempt' to sabotage the plant and make it look like Mr. Thorn paid him to do it."1304Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ30fZKLNwz0
"Yes. That would serve our purpose just about right."1304Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrM7hzkKe7w
And thus the meeting ended. Five minutes later, both of them were gone their separate ways, and all that was left was the silence of the night.1304Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe9kYsnDjlp
Travis reviewed what he had written and was satisfied with his efforts. He saved the draft of his work and decided to continue it in the coming days.
ns 15.158.61.48da2
