Almost Midnight, from "The Midnight Rebellion"

**SPEAKER_1** (0:00)
Running a business is hard enough, so why make it harder with a dozen different apps that don't talk to each other? Introducing Odoo, the only business software you'll ever need. It's an all-in-one, fully integrated platform that makes your work easier, from CRM, accounting, inventory, e-commerce, and more. And the best part, Odoo replaces multiple expensive platforms for a fraction of the cost. This is why over thousands of businesses have made the switch. So why not you?
Try Odoo for free at odoo.com. That's odoo.com.

**SPEAKER_2** (0:30)
This podcast is supported by Raymond James, a financial firm offering wealth management, banking, and capital market services that are inspired by people.
Before Raymond James' financial advisors build plans, they build relationships so they can craft individual strategies designed to achieve priorities and pursue what's possible. That's the power of personal. Disclosures at raymondjames.com. Raymond James and Associates Inc., member NYSE, SIPIC.

**Amy** (0:59)
Hey, everyone. Amy here. This week, we're handing the feed over to our friends at WBUR. They've got a new podcast out called The Midnight Rebellion.
It's a family-friendly, pick-your-own-path climate fiction podcast set a hundred years from now, in a world shaped by the choices we're making today.
At the end of every episode, you decide what happens next. It's fiction, but it's rooted in real science. Think of it as everything we explore on how we survive, brought to life as a cinematic audio adventure. Here's the first chapter. Hope you enjoy.

**Aluhim Naikilov** (1:37)
WBUR Podcast, Boston.

**Eric Ransom** (1:53)
If you are listening to this, congratulations. You have made it to the first chapter of The Midnight Rebellion. This is an interactive podcast. That means you will hear two choices at the end of each chapter. I will say something like, should our heroes play it safe or risk it all? Then you must choose. How? I will explain that when the time comes. For now, just know that your decisions determine the outcome of our story, good or bad, life or death. It's on you. Choose wisely.
This is The Midnight Rebellion, part one, City of Tides, chapter one, Almost Midnight.
The hour is nearing midnight, but Jewel Watts Green cannot sleep. She lies in bed, watching bomblets of rain explode against her window skylight, counting the seconds.

**Basma Ayyad** (3:13)
Three, four.

**Eric Ransom** (3:15)
Between the blindingly bright flashes of lightning.

**Basma Ayyad** (3:18)
Six, seven, eight.

**Eric Ransom** (3:20)
And the rolling booms of thunder.

**Erica Henningsen** (3:23)
Nine, ten.

**Eric Ransom** (3:27)
Jule's mom, Dr. Elizabeth Green, taught her this counting trick. The shorter the time between flashes and booms, the closer the heart of the storm. But it is not the nearing storm that keeps Jule up. It is the fact that when the clock ticks 12 a.m., it will be one year to the day when her mom, Dr. Green, entered her laboratory during a storm just like this. And never came home. Eleven.
As the thunder goes outside, a creek inside catches Jule's ears. She sits up. A pale shadow shifts in her doorway. Jule. Jule. The shadow enters her room. A flashlight flicks on.
And there is a grinning face. Jule's shoulders relax.

**Basma Ayyad** (4:19)
Heart. You scared me.

**Eric Ransom** (4:21)
It is her brother Heartree. Or Heart.

**Aluhim Naikilov** (4:24)
I scared you? Would you say I gave you a heart attack?
Please.

**SPEAKER_1** (4:30)
Never become a comedian.

**Aluhim Naikilov** (4:32)
No promises, sis. Now, wakey-wakey, it's time.

**Eric Ransom** (4:38)
She stares at Heart.
His irises shine bright like a blue flame. He has the same broad build as Jule, the same freckled nose, the same coarse hair. Their ears are different. His are slim and regal.
Hers are so big, some say they make her look like a sailboat, earning her the much loathed nickname.

**Aluhim Naikilov** (4:57)
Come on, sailor, or the winds be blowing. Hang on to your sails.

**Erica Henningsen** (5:02)
I really wish you wouldn't call me that. It doesn't even make sense.

**SPEAKER_1** (5:06)
I hate the ocean.

**Basma Ayyad** (5:07)
I hate being wet.

**Amy** (5:09)
And speaking of, it's boring.

**Aluhim Naikilov** (5:12)
I'm not going outside. But now's our chances.
Dad's asleep. We're not. It's basically destiny.

**Eric Ransom** (5:20)
Jule shakes her head.
How could two people born on the same day into the same family be so different? Twins, age 12 Jule, the law-abiding citizen, and Hart, the roguish leader with the ability to drag Jule along no matter how much she resists. She followed him out of the womb. Will she follow him now?

**Kimberly Adams** (5:41)
No.

**Basma Ayyad** (5:42)
Dad said the lab is off limits. Nobody's been in there since...

**Aluhim Naikilov** (5:46)