Crossroads/Borrowed Lives—2026-03-16 (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 41: NEXT MOVES by Mara Voss

Evan and I have been talking a lot. We’ve actually decided the time-out on kissing and cuddling has been a good thing.

But as the days have passed, we’ve also decided we’re ready to go back to “acting like we’re dating.” We’ll rewind the affection just a little, but… yeah…

Meanwhile, the Ryders are considering distancing themselves further from Chicago, which the news claims is a higher-chance target in light of world events. They have another compound out west (undisclosed and all that) which is essentially a clone of this one.

What that means for Evan and me is a little complicated. Probably no more so than everything else we’ve been through, but here goes…

The lawyers are opening new bank accounts in our real names. Some of Donald Donaldson’s team is going to get the motorcycles from Georgia, load them into a rented box truck, and haul them to Nashville. Some of Ronald Regent’s team is swinging by in a (plot twist—not a black Tahoe) Ford Escape and driving us to Nashville.

We’ll go back to using our real IDs, while Shay and Devon who are also using our IDs will be urged not to do anything requiring them to have our IDs show up in New York.

So in a few days, Evan and I will be alone in the world heading for the Everglades. We won’t be pretending to be Shay and Devon.

Once things in the world calm down reasonably, Shay and Devon will—when we go back to using their IDs—suddenly show up somewhere in South Florida.

Honestly, the plan seems a little propped up, but in the end, Shay is safe, and that’s the whole point of the job.

To that, I’ll close with this observation. Evan and I have kept up with things in Brooklyn via the group text that shows up on Shay and Devon’s phones (which we’ll be turning off soon.)

We can tell that Shay (a.k.a. Mara Voss) is happy. Moreover, Mrs. Ryder herself told us that one day in the atrium (there were words of thanks and homemade cookies involved, but that’s another story).

Knowing our work has helped make Shay happy means a lot to us. It makes it feel like more than just a job.

Chapter 42: ABOUT TOMORROW by Hannah Madison

I was just about to get under the covers when Merritt texted.

“Call me real quick?”

I called and he answered.

“Hannah… sorry to call this late…”

“It’s not too late and, if we want to be picky, I called you.” We both laughed. “What’s up?”

“I think I have your iPad pencil. I think we swapped when we were packing up today.”

“Yeah, I noticed. I thought we’d work it out tomorrow. But, since we’re talking I’ll say that today was pretty amazing.”

“It really was.” I could imagine him nodding his agreement. “We were on the site, telling contractors what the plans were… Tom came over and acted like we were doing magic.”

I laughed a little. “We were just following the plan. Standard procedures… It felt good, though.”

Merritt paused a second, then went on. “Do you want me to bring the pencil over or just swap in the morning? Morning I suppose… I have to go out to Staten Island in the morning, so you’ll have Phase II to yourself until after lunch.”

“We can swap pencils over breakfast. Emma says it’s pancake day. I hope we can start verifying the support columns after lunch, so hurry back.”

“I will, for sure,” Merritt replied, then paused before adding, “Today felt like being full engineers. I know it was just guys ripping down the interior walls, but still…”

“It was great,” I replied. “We’ve got a long way to go, but if we can confirm the locations and mark up the load-bearing walls and support columns this week, we’ll be on track, right?”

“According to Will, we will be,” Merritt replied.

Then that end-of-conversation silence showed up, so I said, “Okay, see you over pancakes. I hope the rest of Crossroads Phase II goes as well as today.”

“Me too,” Merritt replied. “Good night.”

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 or internet connectivity fees) AGI Stories racks up expenses of just over $100 per month. Every supporter is helping!

Again, thank you very, very much.

~AGI Original Stories & AI Images