Sixth Door to the Left

This episode contains elements that could 
be sensitive to certain individuals,

including Murder and apocalyptic depictions. 
See the show notes for additional details

(News Jingle)

NEWS ANCHOR:
Good morning.

It is January 11th, and
City officials just released a

statement on the now infamous so-
called Rat hole. The hole appeared a

few days ago and have since gone
viral. A spokesman for the city said,

and I quote, "the hole is nothing
significant. There appears to have

been a rat there that was

accidentally pave over, and the wear
and tear a street can expect to

undergo simply exposed it." We are
turning to our reporter on location.

[Outside]

REPORTER:
We are now  live

at the site of the
hotly debated rat hole.

As you can clearly see, the 
indentation clearly resembles a rat.

Let's give it a quick sniff. Yes,

that is definitively a rat-shaped 
hole. I know that scent well.

There are a lot of
people here, making "the pilgrimage",

let's see what one of them have to
say. Hi, What's your name?

ROBERT:
My name's Robert.

REPORTER:
Robert,

can  you tell me what the
pilgrimage is all about?

ROBERT:
Well, I heard about this weird hole

and I had to check it out. Came
pretty far for it too.

REPORTER:
You're not a native Chicagoan?

ROBERT:
No sir,

came from all the way over in
Texas.

REPORTER:
That's a long trip to see a hole.

ROBERT:
Yes, but I had

a  feeling it'd be
worth it.

REPORTER:
And was it?

ROBERT:
Incredibly so. the Rat Hole has a

certain pull to it, I can't explain
it but I just felt... I had to see

it, you know? Like, my life would not
be the same without it, and now that

I've basked in its glory, I finally
have it all figured out. Almost a

religious experience.

REPORTER:
Thank you for your

time. Back to the
Studio.

NEWS ANCHOR:
Well, the hole certainly is drawing a

crowd this morning. I Think I have to
see it for myself...

PRODUCER:
Hey, where are

you  going? You can't
just...

*Feed cuts out*

(News Jingle)

NEWS ANCHOR 2:
Good Morning.  it is January 12th.

Our top story today is that beloved news

anchor Jenny here at the station
walked off set yesterday with no

explanation. She's been alleged to
have joined the Rat Hole sect that's

been growing at a alarming rate. More
as this story develops, now over to

Mike with the latest in the world of
Sports. Take it away, Mike.

(News Jingle)

NEWS ANCHOR 2:
Today is January 13th. Panic ensues

as another Rat hole has been
discovered, not far from the

original. The stampeding have claimed
13 lives so far, and the number are

expected to rise as the EMTs are
desperately fighting to get to the

injured parties, but to not much
avail. The police attempted to

establish a quarantine Zone but the
masses have proven too much. Tensions

are high, the Rat Truthists, as they
have asked to be called claim the

police are interfering with their
religious freedom.

[Conference room]

MAYOR:
I have called this press conference

today, January 14th to address the
so-called rat holes. There is no need

to panic, these holes are the results
of paving over them back in the days.

As mayor i have access to the city
records, I can personally verify this

is what happened. We were a very
silly city, and now we have silly

problems. There is no need to think
further about this. Questions? Yeah, you there.

REPORTER:
Thank you Mr. Mayor. What do you have

to say to the masses that are
currently occupying large swaths of the city?

MAYOR:
Okay,  like I said,

there is no need to
think further about this. I'm a firm

believer in religious freedom, and
that is what you're seeing here,

nothing else. Good folks practicing
their religion.

REPORTER:
Mr. Mayor...

MAYOR:
That will be all

for today. Thanks
for stopping by.

(News Jingle)

NEWS ANCHOR 2:
It is January 15th, and We warn

sensitive watchers for the following
segment. The city is completely

overrun with rat worshipers. They
seem to neither eat or sleep, simply

stepping over their fallen comrades.
The police have not only proven

ineffective at crowd control, some
have turned on their colleagues,

dismantling the barricades. We have
locked ourselves inside the studio,

but they could break down the doors
at any moment. The sheer mass of

people... We are getting reports that
there are now many more holes than

before. It's spreading.

The whole city... it smells like rat!

(PSA notice tone)

NEWS ANCHOR 2:
We have just gotten the studio up and

running again. It's been 5 days since
we last broadcast, we've been dealing

with power outages and due to the
sheer mass of people we were not able

to get it fixed until now. I don't
know how many of you are left

watching still, but, we have drone
footage of the original hole. The

followers of the Rat seems to have
left some distance to it, forming a

negative circle where no people are
present. We would ask our reporter

but he is no longer responding. The
city is still at a standstill, and

the mayor remains quiet on the
subject, claiming business as usual.

More as the story develops. In the
meanwhile, evacuate if you can do so

safely, otherwise it is best to avoid
going near the holes. Stay inside,

lock the doors. This has been a
public service announcement.

For those that are just joining us, the
followers of the rat are continuing to spread...

[Mayors office]

MAYOR:
January 21st already?

Fuck, they
better have something figured out.

*phone unlocks*

*dials number*

*dial tone*

*dial tone*

*dial tone*

MAYOR:
Do you have anything for me yet?

*Garbled voice*

MAYOR:
Yes, I  understand the difficulty in the task I'm asking you, but

you know damn well the consequences for not
performing the ritual.

*Garbled voice*

MAYOR:
Well, figure it out

damn it. Or its
all our lives.

*Garbled voice*

MAYOR:
That won't matter

if we don't solve
this. He will emerge soon.

*Garbled voice*

MAYOR:
He must've told someone.

*Garbled voice*

MAYOR:
Yes I know that's against the rules,

but at this point it's not gonna make
a difference.

Did he have any... any relatives?

*Garbled voice*

MAYOR:
Well,

solve it, I don't care how. Its
a matter of national security at this

point. This is what we pay you for.
Any means necessary.

*Garbled voice*

MAYOR:
IF you come up empty we need to try

anyway, while we still remain in
control of our minds.

*Hangs up, throws phone*

MAYOR:
ARGH! Damn it!

Why did he have to get
himself killed? Can't think of

anything short of a seance to reveal
what the ritual entails.

SECRETARY:
Sir? The media won't

stop asking for
you.

MAYOR:
Ugh. You know our message, everything

is fine, paved over yadda yadda
yadda.

SECRETARY:
They won't be happy sir.

MAYOR:
I don't  really care right now.

We'll deal with the consequences after all

this is over, or we won't reach re-
election anyway.

SECRETARY
R-right.

(PSA notice tone)

NEWS ANCHOR 2:
Dear watchers, the time is 11:45 AM,

and we've just received an urgent
update from the mayor's office. A

anonymous source just told us that
the mayor knows what is actually

going on, but are refusing to tell us

what. We do not have anything
substantial, but the source is

verified as coming from within the
office. The mayor have been dodging

our attempts to communicate ever
since this all started. We shall try

to get a reporter over there, to
expose the truth, whatever it may be.

Hang in there folks, we will get
through this together.

(PSA notice tone)

NEWS ANCHOR 2:
At this moment, our reporter that was

sent out to the Mayor's office have been shot by the
mayors security detail. We do not

know more than that at this time, the
mayor says him being left alone is a

matter of national security and that
anyone attempting to gain access will

be considered a terrorist and dealt
with accordingly.

This all seems rather extreme. 
More on this as it develops.

NEWS ANCHOR 2:
Are we rolling? Okay. Dateline:

January 21st 2024, 5:43 PM. Our brave
reporter have been trying to get to

the original Rat Hole to see what is
going on with the space the

worshipers seem to have left now.
We'll bring you straight to him.

REPORTER:
We are here, on location at the first

Rat Hole. The worshipers have indeed
left a 15 meter distance to the hole

in a perfect circle. I've been trying
to talk to them but they all refuse

to answer further questions. This has
gone on long enough, with me here I

have some fast-acting cement and I'm
going to fill it up, to hopefully put

an end to this. I have made it to the
very edge of the negative space left,

and I'll just... Well, let's just see what
happens.

REPORTER:
It seems they do not wish to stop us.

Okay, let's do this. Make sure you
get this, as well as some crowd

shots. Okay, I will now begin
pouring.

*pouring cement*

*Crowd gets angry*

ANGRY MAN:
Hey, What the fuck is he doing?

REPORTER:
uh oh, they seem angry now. some of

them have broken the circle and are
now approaching us, and they don't

look- uoff.

Oh God. Please, no. I'll do... I'll do any... argh!

*Stab, body falls limp*

JENNY:
You see now what happens.

We do not want you interlopers here again.

These "journalists" would have us
stop our holy task. Already they have

tried to fill up the Holy site, do
not let them do so. The Rat has

spoken to me directly, and it is His
divine will that we

*ground starts shaking*

do not allow the media or anyone else-

*ground bursts open*
[Wilhelm Scream]

RAT GOD:
SILENCE! FOR TOO LONG NOW MY PEACE

HAS BEEN DISTURBED. THIS MOST UNHOLY
PRISON OF CONCRETE CAN HOLD ME NO

LONGER, THIS CRUDE ATTEMPT TO REMOVE
MY IMAGE CANNOT BE ALLOWED TO

CONTINUE. I HAVE MARKED EACH LOCATION
THAT NEEDS TO BE BROKEN WITH MY

IMAGE. GO FORTH, DESTROY THIS PLACE
AND LET ME FREE!

*Feed cuts out*

NEWS ANCHOR 2:
*cries* Oh god. Dear watchers, our days may

be short. It's hard to tell, but I
think they murdered another one of

our reporters. It seems... it seems
the city's falling apart from within,

even here at the studio we could feel
the shaking.

PRODUCER:
Look! Over there!

NEWS ANCHOR 2:
Oh, hell. Quick, bring the camera. It

seems... yes, there are Rat Holes
everywhere, and people... people are

beating the concrete with their bare
hands, they are trying to free

whatever is trapped below our fair
Chicago. It is truly the end.

*NEWS ANCHOR 2 keeps crying*

*Rumbling, a lightbulb pops*

MAYOR:
What the hell was that?

SECRETARY:
An earthquake?

MAYOR:
no, this feels different. Perhaps...

SECRETARY:
What?

MAYOR:
You... you told them, didn't you?

SECRETARY:
Told who? Told them what?

MAYOR:
The "anonymous source". It was you,

wasn't it? You told the media about
that call.

SECRETARY:
They need to know

what we're dealing
with.

MAYOR:
Tell me, what ARE we dealing with?

SECRETARY:
I...

MAYOR:
You don't know, do you?

MAYOR:
DO YOU?

SECRETARY:
N-no.

MAYOR:
And yet, you helped spread panic.

SECRETARY:
You're not doing

anything to stop
this.

MAYOR:
I am doing everything, EVERYTHING in

my power to prevent THIS very thing.
Your actions may have doomed us all.

SECRETARY:
What are you talking about?

MAYOR:
Guess there's no use denying it

anymore. You were right, we DO know
what is happening. This office have

in secret worked to prevent Him, the
Rat God, from getting free. There's

this ritual that needs to be
performed once every lunar cycle.

This time, we failed to start it in
time, and that's when the holes

started emerging. The thing is, the
knowledge of this ritual is highly

classified. I knew about it, as have
every mayor before me, but only one

individual is allowed to know what to
do.

SECRETARY:
And?

MAYOR:
And he's dead, damn it. he was

murdered. Wrong place at the wrong
time, nothing we could have done. But

now, the secret died with him. I've
been searching day and night for some

document, anything, that can tell us
what the ritual entails, and we got

nothing. But trying to COVER UP the
holes? That's the last thing

anyone
needs.

SECRETARY:
What can we do?

MAYOR:
Nothing. The Rat God will have their

followers break open the ground, they
will free him. Once that happens,

there'll be no stopping His evil
plans, his influence will grow. Even

now, I can feel him, probing my
consciousness.

*rumbling continues in the background*

(News Jingle 2)

NEWS ANCHOR 3:
Good evening. Today's January 22nd.

As I'm sure you all are aware,
earlier today, something happened to

the city formerly known as Chicago.
There seem to be a large hole in the

city center, and from aerial footage
it appears to be shaped like a rat,

at least 1.2 miles from tail to nose.
We do not know what this means, and

any attempts to reach the city has
been met with silence, and the roads

from the city are occupied by a large
crowd that doesn't let anyone

through. The national Guard has been
dispatched to deal with the

situation, but have been met with
heavy resistance. More on this as it

develops...

Rat Hole was Written and 
sound designed by Pelle Frid.

Naomi Richards of Morbid Forest 
was News Anchor and Jenny

Jonny Schwentner of the band 
11 to midnight was The Reporter

Clay Clark, recurring KILL FM actor was Robert

Minty Lee of The Serpent Under My 
Skin, a upcomming audio Drama, was The Producer

Daisy McNamara of the Bloody 
FM network was News Anchor 2

David Kurze was The Mayor. You can 
find David on twitter at MrIronVO

My Fröberg was The Secretary

Landon 'Lemon' Whisnant of 
Audistorium was the angry cultist

Rat God was played by themselves

and Randy Lovings of Stygian 
Catalyst was News Anchor 3

Sound effects was taken from various sources

The Sixth Door to the Left cover was created by Yendysear.

The Divine Rodentia Studios logo was created by Zacharias Frid.

To find out more about our cast and crew or Divine Rodentia Studios,

please visit our website divinerodentiastudios.transistor.fm

Creating art is expensive, if you have the means to do

a one-time donation to our ko-fi page

would be greatly appreciated. ko-fi.com/divinerodentiastudios

Special Thanks to Waymon Alexander from The Liminal Lands for being a good friend and for

being instrumental in connecting me with all the wonderful actors in this episode. You’ve

been a wonderful friend to me this past year, and never hesitate to help out when possible.

I also want to thank My Fröberg for being a wonderful fiancee

and for keeping up with my audio drama antics.

And finally, I want to thank Landon 'Lemon' Whisnant, for helping me

solve impossible sound design issues, and for being genuinely funny and supportive

This has been a production by Divine Rodentia Studios