Ladies and gentlemen, we have entered a new phase of the Novel 14 delay cycle.
Michael has discovered the โcat girl at the Nevada Test and Training Rangeโ conspiracy and now fully believes there is a classified underground program hiding anime women somewhere between Area 51 and the Tonopah Test Range.
And unfortunately for me, he would now like emotional support and validation.
Not happening.
First of all, if cat girls existed anywhere near the NTTR, fighter pilots would have found them within approximately eleven minutes. There is not a chance in this universe that generations of aviators, maintainers, contractors, bored Security Forces troops and Red Flag participants would collectively keep that secret. Absolutely none.
Youโre talking about a community that can identify:
an engine vibration by feel
another squadronโs jet by sound
whoโs dating who three bases away
and where the good coffee is within a 200 mile radius
But Iโm supposed to believe nobody noticed an entire species of cat women wandering around Nevada?
No.
By 1997 there would have been challenge coins, unofficial patches, two divorces, a country song and at least one fighter squadron with a completely inappropriate callsign tied to the incident.
The maintainers would already have a checklist:
โCat Girl Encounter Forms AFTO 781-C.โ
The intel officers would be trying to classify paw prints.
And somewhere thereโd be an O-6 giving a briefing that starts with:
โFor the last time, stop trying to bring them to the officerโs club.โ
Meanwhile Michael is over here acting like disclosure is imminent.
Sir.
You have a manuscript due.
You do not have time to join the Cat Girl Task Force.
At this point I fully expect him to call me tomorrow and whisper:
โRedโฆ what if theyโre real?โ
Michael.
My Brother in Christ.
You are behind schedule.
The only mysterious entity I am interested in locating is Novel 14.
Frankly, if a cat girl appeared tomorrow carrying a fully edited manuscript, properly formatted and ready for production, I would reconsider my position. Until then, I remain unconvinced.
Current assessment:
UFOs: possible
advanced aerospace programs: likely
cat girls at NTS: negative
Michael getting this manuscript to me before September: increasingly classified information.
Additionally, I have reviewed my existing contractual obligations and can confirm that โcat girl management,โ โinterdimensional waifu liaison duties,โ and โfeline humanoid disclosure operationsโ are NOT covered under the terms and conditions of my agreement.
I would therefore like to formally renegotiate compensation before this situation escalates further.
(I literally started writing this while he was still trying to make his case.)