Chapter 1 The Rumble Begins, Rat Gang Crew: Synthia's Not Normal by Sarnia de la Mare #autism #ADHD

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Chapter 1 – The Rumble Begins Synthia waited at Pipe Junction 8b, counting the drips. Drip. Drip. Drip. Thirty-seven drips per minute. Three more than yesterday. The difference made her uneasy. The world was full of patterns—safe ones, jagged ones, loud ones—and when they shifted, it meant something was coming. Something big.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chapter one, The rumble begins. Rat gang crew. Cynthia is
not normal by Sarnia de law mayre hash autism, hashtag adhd.
Cynthia waited at pipe junction eight B, counting the drips drip, drip, drip,
thirty seven drips per minute, three more than yesterday. The

(00:21):
difference made her uneasy. The world was full of patterns,
safe ones, jagged ones, loud ones, and when they shifted,
it meant something was coming, something big. Anything that was
different was frightening and should not be ignored. Her ear twitched.
There it was again, that loath rum vibrating through the

(00:42):
metal under her paws. Not a train, not wind, not
anything the other rats would believe. She rubbed her paws together,
stemming hard until the vibration settled in her bones like
an angry song initiating sequence. The walls had said last night,
But walls don't do they. A distant shout snapped her

(01:04):
out of the trance scinth. Are you glitching again? Or
can we come in? Scarlet's voice was bold and bossy,
as usual. She swung down from the ladder with Atlas
right behind her, his massive tail wrapped around his waist
like a Scarf, Ivy and Emily climbed down more carefully,
Ivy blinking through her giant glasses, Emily hopping the last

(01:26):
run like a gymnast and finishing with porl That would
pass any audition. The whole rack gang, minus Cynthia because
she was still the maybe a trial period before becoming official.
Scarlett eyed her. We've been calling for five minutes. You
are loud, said Cynthia flatly and early. Omily grinned. You

(01:48):
said mid day? It is mid day, said Ivy, checking
her wristwatch, depending on whether you're counting from sun up
station chime or can we not do the nerd stuff
right now? Now, grown Scarlet, We've got actual business, something
shaking events by the tram wires. Cynthia froze, you felt

(02:09):
it too, Scarlet blinked, Wait what I thought it was
my imagination or ants? Cynthia stood till flicking. There's a
vibration under the junction too. It's irregular, low frequency, possibly directional.
Everyone stared. Alice scratched his head. Right, so not the usual,

(02:33):
the boilers having a tantrum thing and not ants. I
get scared of ants when they all visit at the
same time. Said, I be hiding behind atlas. No, Cynthia
pressed the pot to the wall. It's awake. Silence. Then
Emily burst out laughing. Oh wow, we missed your drama

(02:55):
since you've gone full overground sci fi. I'm not joking,
I know, said Ivy softly. That's why it's a bit scary.
Scarlet stepped forward. We're not here to mock you. Look,
the gang needs you. Just explain what you mean slowly.

(03:16):
Cinthia blink. Usually, this was where she got the irol,
the whisper, the why can't he just be normal? Face?
But now now they were waiting. Everyone was listening, four
pairs of eyes, glinting and blinking, all waiting for her expertise.
I think there's something mechanical moving underground, she said, not trains,

(03:38):
something old, maybe alive, maybe listening. Alice whistled like a robot.
I hope it can dance, giggled Emily. Cynthia frowned like
an a. I a network, A forgotten one. She paused,
something's changed. Scarlet cracked her knuckles. Right, well, let's go

(04:04):
see what woke it up. Everyone bring torches. Ivey held
up a torch the size of a space rocket. Check
outless grinned snacks too. Holding up a huge bag of
mousy potato crusts, Amily twirled the spanner. Let's break into something,
Cynthia hesitated. You really want me to come, Scarlet raise

(04:28):
an eyebrow synth if something creepy and Cody is coming
alive under the city, who else would we want on
the crew? You're the only one who actually likes haunted tech.
Plus you know your audio. A quiet warmth bloomed in
Cynthia's chest. Maybe she was different, but maybe different was
exactly what the rag Gang crew needed. She followed them

(04:51):
down the rusted pipe path toward the echo of a
repeating rhythm, the rhythm of something that wanted to live,
and behind them in the dark, the walls vibrated once more,
initiating sequence to be continued w w W dot Taleteller
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