The Chosen (plus Borrowed Lives) — 2026-02-06 (Patreon)

FREE for everyone!

Some posts and sections of some posts are reserved for Supporters.

AGI Stories content almost always appears on Patreon first, in advance of all other platforms. You get it first!

Help AGI-Stories grow… If you’re enjoying the stories, please tell others. Word of mouth referrals and your endorsements are the best way for things here to grow!

Message from AGI-Stories…

Support AGI with:• one-time contribution through TipTopJar.• one-time contribution through Throne.• Patreon Membership.

The Storylines are the heart of AGI-Stories, and they are found in the Collections section of the site

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 70: YOU’RE HIRED by Mara Voss

A few minutes ago, I sat across from Ronald Regent, the CEO and Director of Operations for Ryder Family Protective Services. Beside me sat—Evan Calder—a guy I’d never met but with whom I’m about to set out on what surely will be a disaster. But the pay is good. Very good.

“You both understand you were picked in part based on your background, and because you look remarkably similar to the protectees.”

We both nodded.

“Miss Voss, your vita looks great. A year in protective services for Apex, working decoy vehicles. You have a Montana carry permit, I see.”

“Yes sir.”

“Mr. Calder, you have all the qualifications, as well. You provided protective logistics for Sentinel Protective, and you have an Ohio carry permit.”

“Correct.”

Mr. Regent nodded. “Well, as my assistant explained, the job is relatively simple and ongoing. Miss Voss, you are a decoy for David Ryder’s daughter, Shay. You and Mr. Calder get paid handsomely to live on the road. You’ll have the IDs of those you are protecting and access to their bank accounts. Money goes in as needed. You are supposed to be off the grid… all of this was explained.”

“I understand.” I said.

“Understood,” Evan added.

We signed the contracts and were told to go down one floor to HR for the rest of the paperwork. Evan and I walked to the elevator.

“Easy money,” I said. “We just ride around and pretend we aren’t the people we’re pretending to be.”

We had just gotten in the elevator, and Evan looked over. “Best job you’ve ever had, I’d bet.”

“Definitely.” But there was something in his tone. “Why did you say it like that?”

“They hired me to be your boyfriend.”

I could tell he wasn’t being serious, but I pretended to be shocked until he admitted it.

“I was joking. This is going to be strange.”

“True,” I said, “but at least her boyfriend is handsome.”

I had to up the ante on the banter.

Chapter 71: BIG SWITCH by Jacob Brown

Today is Shay’s last day at work. By now, you might be aware that the gang from Crossroads Apartments are in the middle of a big plan to help Shay Ryder not feel like a prisoner in her own life.

For the most part, it involves decoys running off pretending to be her and Devon. If there were any—as Eric calls them—threats, they wouldn't be looking in Brooklyn if Shay’s identity pops up in Omaha.

But I get to engineer the real cloak and dagger! How can Shay keep doing her work under the guise of being Izzy Duffy? By work, I mean making phone calls, taking care of email, and doing paperwork.

Here’s a complication. To reduce the number of people in on the decoy plan, it was decided to not make this known to Habitat Housing. If the wheels come off… I don’t know… Maybe Mr. Ryder buys the whole agency or something… I’m planning that the wheels don’t come off.

This isn’t high tech. The phone situation is easy. One number is set up with Simultaneous Ring service. Shay and Izzy both carry a phone. If Izzy is in the office, she takes the call on the desk phone. If she’s out, the receptionist transfers it to the number, and both phones ring.

The problem is if Shay makes a call and the other person calls back and it goes to Izzy. Here’s the plan.

Shay records and transcribes her calls into a text file. I made some goofy Gmail accounts for Izzy and Shay that have shared access to the transcription file. I set it up so it will have an AI summary, so Izzy can get up to speed quickly.

Emails? Easy. One account under Izzy’s name… Shay logs in and works the emails. Gmail does an AI Overview of the related correspondence.

The negative is that Shay gets to see Kent’s love-letters that he sends to Izzy’s work email. Just kidding. He doesn’t do that. But it hints at a real issue—Shay has access to all of Izzy’s work mail. They’ve agreed to work it out, and—as Addison said—just act like adults.

Izzy and Kent will split up any face-to-face work Shay would normally have done. So all good on that.

It took me longer to get here than it did to set all the tech up. Now, they just have to put it into practice.

Chapter 72: ASSIGNMENT BROOKLYN by Olivia Medina

When my SSA called and said, “Pack up. We’ll meet at O’Haire.” I had no idea what to expect. The ride in the black Tahoe seemed familiar, but it lacked some of the rawness of a Bureau transport.

“Agent Medina,” he said, “you’re going so deep undercover, you’ll cease to exist, if you take the job.”

He had my attention.

Now, I’m sitting in the office of Ryder Family Protective Services beside him, and across the table from Ronald Regent, CEO and Ops Director.

“You are being detailed to my firm,” he said. “Consider this a task-force arrangement. You’ll be embedded.”

On the table lay my alias package. Same name for the sake of convenience, but all new numbers.It even included my own up-and-running dropshipping business, fully online—that would be how they pay me.

My SSA said, “You stay on FBI payroll, stay in the system, keep racking up years, but you work for Mr. Regent and report to Eric Marsten, his team leader in Brooklyn. I’m still your upline, if you need to call. But being undercover this deep—you write your own ticket when this ends.”

My duty is complicated. I’m supposed to be Shay Ryder’s roommate and, hopefully, confidant and friend. She’s going off the grid. Decoys taking her place. I’m supposed to be eyes on the protectee with a panic button in the event some unidentified threat doesn’t fall for the decoys.

But, she doesn’t want to have guards. I’ll be one of two she sees. The other guy is just there for rapid response. The rest of the team are in ghost mode.

The pay that I’ll get is double my Bureau pay, which gets cut to a token amount just so I can rack up time served. And if I uncover any high-stakes intel, it goes straight to my SSA.

“The biggest challenge,” Mr. Regent said, “might be winning the trust of the protectee. I’d love it if she’d take you with her when she runs errands. That sort of thing. I don’t know where her head is going to end up with all this.”

I looked at the contract numbers then at Mr. Regent. “I’m good at making friends. Let’s do it.”

Be your best you!

Become a Patreon Member (Click Here)

Thank-You Message to Paying Supporters:

It is my belief that most of you who help with the costs are doing so because you want to support the production process and show your encouragement. I am honored and greatly moved.

I know that I share a LOT of content FREE TO ALL. I'd imagine that you understand why. The stories about giving back and helping seem like they shouldn't be exclusive. Certain plot moments need to be understood by anyone trying to to follow the stories.

With that in mind, I always consider you, the paid members, when deciding how to share content.

My hope is that reserving a few pictures and small sections of the post for you is a modest indication of gratitude!

Thank you very much for your help underwriting the cost of producing AGI Stories content. You can be sure that your paid membership is valued greatly! At the time of this post, not counting hardware, AGI Stories racks up expenses of just over $100 per month.

Again, thank you very, very much.

~AGI Original Stories & AI Images