Guys, I finished the previous stage of the novella a week ago, but haven't had a chance to write about it. Unexpectedly, I got an offer to work on creating a series of images. I had to urgently dive into learning Ai. At night I handed in the test work and now I can get back to the novella while the customer makes a decision.
This work will not make it into the Novella, although I like it very much.
What's next: it looks like I'll have to be away from the computer for 1-2 weeks, and I won't be able to render new images. I'll spend that time writing the script. That work should bring the novella to about the halfway point.