The Chosen (plus Borrowed Lives) — 2026-02-08 (Patreon)

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Chapter 77: NOW TO BROOKLYN by Mara Voss

Hired on Friday, briefed on Saturday, and sent to Brooklyn on Sunday… Ryder Family Protective Services Inc. wastes no time.

Evan and I are in the lobby of the hotel waiting for someone to pick us up and take us to O’Hare. We’re traveling with another girl—Olivia Medina—to set up the great decoy process.

There’s supposed to be some sort of send-off in a week—that’s when Evan and I become Devon and Shay. That’s when I ride off into the sunset with some guy I met two days ago.

But the sixteen hours yesterday make me think it’ll be okay.

Our briefing was thorough. They went over everything they could about habits, traits, morals, and values.

“To be honest,” one of them told us, “Shay is awkward in unexpected social situations. She can work a room at the country club like a boss, but then stutter her way through someone asking for directions to the bathroom.”

“So,” another of them told us, “Devon will do most of the talking to strangers if it would appear spontaneous. Not like ordering from a waiter. Like…”

I understood. “…like random encounters about unplanned things.”

“Any surprises?” I asked Evan after we got back to the hotel.

“Yeah… how much you actually look like Shay.”

“Well, you look like Devon, too. That was why we got invited in.”

Evan nodded. “How did they find us?”

I shook my head. “Actually, I’m afraid to think about that. I wouldn’t say I’m plastered all over the internet.”

Evan nodded, then said, “Well, I’m glad about the high moral standards. No offense, but rooming with you would have been a strain.”

“No offense?”

“I’m just saying… We barely met. Devon’s values and mine align, pretty much. Separate rooms… You know.”

“Right.”

My values and Shay’s line up, too, so we’re all good on that point.

We talked a lot about the briefing, then Evan escorted me to my room.

“I’d say,” Evan added as he backed away, “it’s not necessary to kiss you goodnight yet. But you know that’s going to be a thing…”

“Yeah, I know…” I smiled. “I’ll survive.”

Yeah, this job is going to be… interesting.

Chapter 78: NEXT UP by Paul Charm

Happy Sunday, all. The old Pay It Forward gang split up after church—everyone scattering to their own corners of Brooklyn like sensible adults pretending we don’t all live in one orbit. Rebecca and I fancied Italian.

Quiet table, bit of normal life. Only to look across the room and spot Noah, Emma, Hannah, and Merritt doing exactly the same thing. We waved, they waved, and we all politely stayed at separate tables like we weren’t part of the same slightly chaotic universe.

The Crossroads Apartments are absolutely buzzing at the moment. The plan is that Shay Ryder is moving in, which has everyone talking logistics, safety, and who’s nicking whose spot around the table in the common room. Rebecca and I passed our background checks, which I should hope surprised precisely no one.

Well, whenever I post, it’s usually to complain about The Society and to give you news about upcoming events. This is no exception.

I will say, I’m oddly grateful this time. We’ve had more notice than usual. Normally it’s “pack a bag, wheels up next Friday, details to follow—maybe.” I do grumble, yes. The sudden assignments, the patchy briefings, the sense that someone, somewhere, knows the whole picture and we’re all working off the back page.

This one’s less sudden, but no less incomplete. Mission scheduled for the end of the month, with wheels up Friday the 27th. That’s all we have, so far. The fine print? Still apparently being written in invisible ink.

I’d make a proper fuss about it, but they’re running the show—and paying rather well. And, to be fair, they do pull off good projects in the end. Perhaps the end really does justify the means… even if I reserve the right to mutter about it.

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