Crossroads/Borrowed Lives—2026-06-21 (Patreon)

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Chapter 3.1.01: A NEW NORMAL by Hannah Madison

I woke up this morning in Memphis… By tonight, I’ll be back home in Brooklyn. But things are going to be different.

My roommate for the last few months, Emma, isn’t coming back. We are here in Memphis for her wedding to another of our friends—Noah Vale. Of course, he’s staying, too.

Paul Charm and Rebecca Flint also got married. They are jetting out of Memphis International Airport for a few days in London, Paris, and Athens before coming back.

The plan for today is relaxed. Everyone is having a relatively late breakfast in the hotel, sending Paul and Rebecca off to the airport, then passing a few leisurely hours before we board Blue Water Express’s 737 back to New York.

Merritt and I checked with Cindi and Michael, but they won’t be back in time for us to meet up. Merritt and I are just going to hang out at the hotel pool until it’s time to go to the airport.

That’s about everything for me for today. See you tomorrow, back in NYC!

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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.

Message from AGI-Stories…

I'm changing chapter nomenclature for Crossroads/Borrowed Lives:

S.M.Ch

where the S is season, the M is movement within the season, and the Ch is chapter.

This is probably more important to me for keeping up with things than it is to anyone else, but if you noticed and wondered what was going on… that it!

Chapter 3.1.02: WHY WE HAVE A JOB by Mara Voss

When Ronald Regent deployed us to Memphis, I sort of thought he’d taken an extra dose of overkill. I was wrong, of course.

Evan and I have been dressing as Shay and Devon and staying close to them wherever they go. The idea is that we can rush into an incident while Conner and Olivia pull black jackets over Shay and Devon and rush them toward the safety of the rest of the team.

Of course, there haven’t been any incidents.

But the press did catch up with Shay. There was an obscure web post claiming that Shay Ryder, daughter of mega-billionaire David Ryder, had apparently teleported from Venice, Florida, to Memphis, Tennessee. Venice was the last place from which Evan and I posted on social media—two days after we had left. As we do.

Early Saturday at the hotel, a reporter approached her, showed her credentials, and asked for a photo. Shay agreed only if Hannah Madison took it and the reporter appeared in it too. That happened…

Last night, while Evan and I had Huey’s—highly recommended, BTW—Shay, Devon, Olivia, and Conner were inside a place called McEwen’s having dinner.

That did not escape the paparazzi’s lenses!

I think, conceptually, I always understood what Evan and I were doing. We drag the eyes of “interested parties” along in the exhaust fumes of our travels. We try to stay a step ahead of the curious—or those with ill will.

Seeing Shay and Devon featured in the lead article on a web magazine made the risk tangible. It is far from zero.

So here we are at Lichterman Nature Center, dressed as Shay and Devon while trailing Conner and Olivia, who are themselves following the actual Shay and Devon, expecting another boring day to pass.

I, however, am disinclined to let things stay boring, so I think I need to shake things up a little.

Chapter 3.03: ACT NATURAL by Conner Wiltshire

Olivia’s and my assignment today at Lichterman Nature Center isn’t unlike a normal day in New York, but it comes with a twist. Maybe a couple of twists.

In Brooklyn, when the protectee goes out, she’s known as Mara Voss while the real Mara is somewhere else. Olivia and I walk with Shay and Devon as part of a group of four, while Eric and the rest of the team remain ahead of and behind us, unseen.

Side note: Cole Pryce has said he loves the new procedure because he gets to act like a spy.

Today’s assignment is different because we don’t want anyone to visually connect us to Shay and Devon. Therefore, we’re keeping our distance.

They know not to get too far ahead and to wait for an all-clear over the radio—Devon has an earpiece—before entering blind spots.

So that’s the gist of it. Careful. Intentional. Prepared. Moving on.

The second twist of the day came over the radio.

The decoys—the real Mara and Evan—are following us, dressed like Shay and Devon and wearing hats and AI-enabled sunglasses connected to their phones and our radio system.

Shay stopped to look at a flower or something, and Mara’s voice came quietly through the radio.

“Close team, you’re reading as security guards. Think ‘sore thumb.’”

A pause followed, then Eric answered. “Confirmed. You two look like guards.”

I kept walking beside Olivia, but no one said anything else, so I responded. “Copy ‘sore thumb.’ Please advise.”

Mara answered. “Hold hands and try to look like you know each other or something.”

Eric responded again. “Affirmative. Act like you know each other… or something.”

Olivia took my hand without breaking stride.

“Copy,” she said. “Will do.”

Then she glanced over at me and whispered. “We can fake this, right?”

Well, maybe I showed my hand a little. “Fake it or something…”

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