The Chosen — 2026-02-04 (Patreon)

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All characters in this story are fictional characters, their images generated with AI for AGI Stories. They do not represent any real person, nor is their appearance based on any real human.

Chapter 66: STAND DOWN by Olivia Medina

I’m here at an FBI training facility outside Phoenix wrapping up a two-week advanced tactical conditioning program. After a year doing routine field agent work, my SSA wrote a rec for me to train for a tactical position. I’d had my fill of the mundane—long hours of surveillance and interviewing unhappy or uncooperative store clerks. I filled out the transfer application, waited, and ended up here.

Once I finished this training—which should have been Friday—I was supposed to report back to D.C. and start cycling into a tactical position. I got a message about an hour ago saying to stand down pending further information. I take that to mean I get more time on the obstacle course.

But I have no idea why.

The agent in charge of PT said he had no idea. “Above my pay grade… But you clocked exceptional times on the speed and endurance course. Your strength puts you at the top of the chart for your weight class… I logged all that into your training file.”

The rangemaster said essentially the same thing about my marksmanship. I shot perfect scores with a sidearm and carbine. Scored 93% with long barrels at long range. That also went into my file.

So the stand down comes as a big surprise to me.

But there’s a guy here around 35 or 40, and he had a thought. “I’d bet it’s something to do with the budget. Something’s clogged up somewhere between funding and paychecks. Cheaper to give you another week of training than to give you a raise. You’re a good agent. They won’t forget you.”

I hope he’s right.

Chapter 67: MUSEUM VISIT by Hannah Madison

Last night, when I got home from work, Noah and Kent were in the common area playing backgammon. I used to play that a lot with my mom and dad, so I stopped to watch.

They greeted me, then Kent said, “I’m getting destroyed. Wanna take over?”

I did and Kent went and got me a bottled water. “Hey… Hannah… I saw an ad on YouTube… There’s a traveling exhibit for coal mining. I don’t know why, but I thought of you…”

“There’s a lot of coal mining in the Appalachians east of Knoxville,” Noah said. “I went through that area a few times. Interesting stuff, I think.”

“You two should go check it out then,” Kent said. “I’ll find the ad or something.”

So here I am about 20 hours later, marveling at the engineering that went on in the early 20th century. Men with carbide lamps burning white hot on their foreheads, wielding pickaxes and shovels to load the trams that emptied the “black diamond” anthracite coal into waiting train cars.

“Did you ever go in one?” I asked Noah.

“No, but I had some uncles that did. And some guy born in 1944 that my uncle knew did it like these pictures. His hands were like a vice!”

Noah and I took in the whole exhibit. Now, I know that coal mining evolved into strip mining and there was ecological devastation that resulted from it. But for a large part of the 20th century, coal fueled the power plants, trains, and ships that expanded nations.

Even now, around 17% of electricity in the U.S. comes from coal. Natural gas is top—at around 40%. That means that almost half of the electricity—even that in electric cars—still comes from fossil fuels.

So that’s how my afternoon has gone. After this, Noah and I are going to grab a burger or something on the way home, then another day at work comes tomorrow.

See you next time.

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