Tethered to the Token

We slipped past the cracked cellar door and stepped out onto the damp alley pavers. Click. A rhythmic subterranean rumble shivered up through the stone. We froze in synchronized stillness, pincers pressed flat against the rough grit to read the faint frequency. Drawn toward the deep shadow behind a fluted cast-iron downspout, our collective mass shifted in measured increments. Wedged in the mossy brick seam rested a tarnished brass transit token, cool and grooved with concentric lettering. Moving as one interconnected cluster, our claws encircled the metallic disk. We locked our jointed limbs across its beveled edge, curling our stingers inward to anchor ourselves against the damp brick.