# 🦾 Strata 7 Jarome and the Scritters, (Trade and Barter) The Book of Immersion Teen Fiction An episode of [Toddle Poddle](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1710389589), 13 Mar 2026, 7:40. Audio: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/70629094/elevenlabs_untitled_project.mp3 Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/toddle-poddle--5908781/support. πŸ‘‡πŸΌFREE KINDLE BOOKSπŸ‘‡πŸΌ https://amzn.to/474y2KX As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Apple Podcasts 🦊 🐞 πŸ‘Ά 🌈 πŸ¦‹ πŸ¦† 🐭 🐯 🦧 🍟 Rat Gang Crew Paperback Kids' Kindle Kids' Blog YOU TUBE 🦊 🐞 πŸ‘Ά 🌈 πŸ¦‹ πŸ¦† 🐭 🐯 🦧 🍟 ## Transcript [0:00] Speaker 1: Welcome to immersion. Strata seven Jerome and the Scritters trade [0:04] Speaker 1: and barter. Humans have developed uniqueness from animals through a [0:08] Speaker 1: process of cognitive evolution. They are exceptional cultural learners and [0:13] Speaker 1: can read situations. These skills have enabled them to develop [0:17] Speaker 1: complex trading tools. They rely heavily on these skills to [0:20] Speaker 1: create abstract, cerebral, and linguistic representations when placing themselves in [0:26] Speaker 1: various situations. The cultural and socio political environment in which [0:31] Speaker 1: humans have evolved has led them to acquire the cognitive skills, [0:35] Speaker 1: particularly mathematical, to support a sophisticated disposition, along with a [0:41] Speaker 1: capacity for reciprocal cooperation. Humans understand conceptual ideas of property [0:47] Speaker 1: and exchange value. Humans are savvy humans broker deals. Outside [0:53] Speaker 1: there was an optimistic sun, and the people busied around [0:56] Speaker 1: the market, unaware of any of the commotion that had [0:59] Speaker 1: occurred in the bat Pawse informed Renike that he had [1:03] Speaker 1: lost negligible battery power and there was no damage to [1:06] Speaker 1: his mechanical structures. The robodog and the cat had waited [1:11] Speaker 1: patiently outside the bank and now trotted diligently at their sides. [1:16] Speaker 1: Mabeleine returned to Rennike's pocket for a nap. You got [1:19] Speaker 1: my bits, asked the woman. For nearly getting us killed, [1:23] Speaker 1: asked Renike, contemplating the difference between irony, sarcasm, and humor. [1:28] Speaker 1: Pawse began to explain, but Renike shut her out. He [1:32] Speaker 1: really did not want to know at this juncture. Listen, mister, [1:35] Speaker 1: whoever you are, there's many a hiccup ahead. You are [1:39] Speaker 1: in the zones now you need to get used to [1:40] Speaker 1: the hiccups. Sides, I gotta feed my cat. She ain't [1:44] Speaker 1: no robot like that mutt. The robodog gave a little [1:48] Speaker 1: yelp and lowered its head in shame. Queenee's cat moved [1:52] Speaker 1: closer to Renike and sniffed the air for any scent [1:55] Speaker 1: of lunch. Renike took something from the bag, the smallest [1:58] Speaker 1: nugget he could find, and handed it to Queeny. That [2:02] Speaker 1: is very generous of you, she said, taking the payment [2:05] Speaker 1: and subtly raising an eyebrow with the tiniest of smiles. [2:09] Speaker 1: The payment was excessive, and the cat would eat for [2:12] Speaker 1: a month. Renike was none the wiser. Then Queenee was gone, [2:17] Speaker 1: running into the crowds as lithe as the cat behind her. [2:20] Speaker 1: A blue feather shimmied to the ground for some reason. [2:24] Speaker 1: Renike was compelled to pick it up and put it [2:26] Speaker 1: in his pocket, and Mabelene wrapped it around herself. Back [2:30] Speaker 1: on the main street, Flex approached, smiling and jaunty. Renike [2:35] Speaker 1: was reassured to see him. I need a vehicle, Flex, [2:38] Speaker 1: something to get me to where I am going, said Renike. Yes, yes, yes, [2:43] Speaker 1: mister leatherman. Where you goin is where I'm going. Let's [2:46] Speaker 1: find a vehicel Jerome. He is the car man. He [2:50] Speaker 1: got cars and bikes and scoots and copters and airships. [2:54] Speaker 1: So they say, take me to Jerome, said Renike. Flex [2:58] Speaker 1: took Renike into a disused concrete building as the robodog [3:03] Speaker 1: curled up and waited outside. There are the echoes of voices, activity, [3:08] Speaker 1: and motor engines being revved from another part of the building. [3:11] Speaker 1: There is a smell of fuel and mumbled communications. Somewhere too, [3:15] Speaker 1: there is music. Flex beckoned Renike to Jerome's office, a [3:20] Speaker 1: ramshackle room filled with books, more books than Renike had [3:24] Speaker 1: ever seen. Books were no longer used in most homes [3:27] Speaker 1: or schools, and the paper shortages after the warmings had [3:31] Speaker 1: meant that they were no longer being produced commercially. Paper [3:35] Speaker 1: had become heavily taxed, and there were also problems with scritters. [3:39] Speaker 1: S Gritters were large, crawling insects that had been genetically [3:43] Speaker 1: made in a laboratory by the Russian military. They were [3:46] Speaker 1: a fusion of a cockroach and a wasp, but their [3:49] Speaker 1: wings had become lost in the process. S gritters were [3:52] Speaker 1: highly protective and thus easily trained. They looked deformed, with [3:57] Speaker 1: big insect heads and metal body parts. At birth. S [4:01] Speaker 1: gritters or borne with a soft back. They seek protection [4:04] Speaker 1: from any material that offers a hard shell. Because of [4:08] Speaker 1: the huge landfill areas all around the world, the rubbish [4:12] Speaker 1: of hundreds of years had provided the perfect materials for protection. [4:16] Speaker 1: Plastics and metals were abundant. During the Russia China Wars, [4:21] Speaker 1: scritters had been used to carry tiny incendiary divides on [4:24] Speaker 1: their backs were not affected by the nerve gases. But [4:27] Speaker 1: after the wars, the s gritters had bread like wildfire, [4:31] Speaker 1: devouring paper and trees and nesting in book spines, where [4:34] Speaker 1: the glue offered a perfect cocoon for pupy. Whole libraries [4:39] Speaker 1: had been mutilated by them. They were a scourge on [4:41] Speaker 1: the planet, and another reason so many houses were built [4:44] Speaker 1: on stilts in the midcast projects as s gritters were [4:47] Speaker 1: terrified of heights. The more paper they ate, the more [4:50] Speaker 1: they reproduced. Books and paper matter that had not been [4:54] Speaker 1: digitally copied had been devastated and lost forever. A car, [4:59] Speaker 1: you say, Jerome, I got plenty, but the fuel we [5:03] Speaker 1: got no fuel. We are working on some alternatives, but [5:06] Speaker 1: all prototypes so far they cut off our fuel. After [5:08] Speaker 1: the riots, and the food supplies. I have been missing gummies. [5:12] Speaker 1: I love those. Renike nodded as Jerome continued, Transport is [5:17] Speaker 1: a big problem. You'll be better off walking, my friend, [5:20] Speaker 1: if you can get through the tunnels. But there are [5:22] Speaker 1: booby traps all around the perimeters here in the zones. [5:25] Speaker 1: Renike checks Pause for details, but the tunnels are uncharted. [5:30] Speaker 1: Pause seem to be struggling with connection and was operating intermittently. [5:35] Speaker 1: I have a hybrid cart, continued Jerome. It runs on solar, [5:38] Speaker 1: but only for about three hours per full charge. If [5:41] Speaker 1: you do under forty kilometers, and if it is a [5:44] Speaker 1: cloudy day an hour, I can let you take it [5:46] Speaker 1: for three thousand g bits. It won't get off the [5:49] Speaker 1: ground without jet fuel. But it can drive on flat [5:52] Speaker 1: ground well enough. It doesn't hold the road well, but [5:55] Speaker 1: if you are a good driver, it won't be an issue. [5:59] Speaker 1: Renike is on sure of his driving skills, and Pause [6:02] Speaker 1: was glitching again. This man was rambling on and Renike [6:06] Speaker 1: needed facts urgently. It was hard to know what was [6:09] Speaker 1: important without pause. Can you drive, Renike asked, flex, Flex laughed, [6:14] Speaker 1: of course I can. A scritter crawls across the floor [6:18] Speaker 1: and Jerome stamps on it. A black tar oozes from [6:21] Speaker 1: under his foot. Jerome sees Renike might be changing his [6:24] Speaker 1: mind about the deal. I will take till you got [6:27] Speaker 1: some tell. Pause gets a signal TELL, abbreviation of tellurium [6:33] Speaker 1: found in copper ore used in mobile phones, especially older versions, [6:38] Speaker 1: where it was added to other metals, improving their strength [6:41] Speaker 1: and hardness and reducing corrosion rare due to demise of [6:45] Speaker 1: traditional copper minds. Renike begins to feel confused about whether [6:50] Speaker 1: to get the vehicle and asks pause, I am not [6:54] Speaker 1: programmed to have opinions. I do not have access to [6:57] Speaker 1: data about the vehicle. It has no computerized system. The [7:00] Speaker 1: cellar seems to be shield protected, but readact is within [7:04] Speaker 1: easy walking distance for a mark three. Rennike looks at [7:07] Speaker 1: Flex and then at Jerome. A scritter is crawling up [7:11] Speaker 1: his boot, and he throws it off with a kick. [7:13] Speaker 1: He feels a rising panic and a thumping in his [7:16] Speaker 1: chest which he does not recognize. Why was it so [7:19] Speaker 1: important that he not make a mistake? Why was he [7:22] Speaker 1: not able to understand the virtue or danger of the exchange. Finally, [7:26] Speaker 1: Rennike says, I will walk. Jerome shrugged his shoulders and [7:31] Speaker 1: stamped on another scritter, mumbling time Waster under his breath, Flex, [7:36] Speaker 1: looking aghast, sighed to be continued. Shows are listed from Apple Podcasts' charts and directory, and Podcast Index where it is used. Every show and episode belongs to its publisher and plays from the publisher's own feed; this site hosts none of them.