Crossroads/Borrowed Lives—2026-08-22 (Patreon)

FREE for everyone.

Some posts and sections of some posts are reserved for Supporters. AGI Stories content almost always appears on Patreon first, ahead of all other platforms. You get it first!

Chapter 3.1.57: LIFE AS MARA by Shay Ryder

For the last six months, I’ve lived a life I could only have dreamed of before. I’m just a regular person—sort of—living a regular life—sort of—with a regular roommate—also sort of—and a group of friends that I get to spend time with.

The “sort ofs” really aren’t that bad.

Before February, I always had to be under the watch of guards. Now, my roommate—Olivia Medina—is also my guard, so it feels entirely different. More than anything else, though, Olivia feels like a friend.

Being Mara Voss has meant I can experience life like a regular person. I can walk along a sidewalk, stop in at a coffee shop or market on a whim—without having to contact the security team du jour to let them know about the change of plans.

Devon is my boyfriend. He has been trained to be part of the security plan, too, so he’s nearly always with me when I go out.

And almost always, Olivia is close by. Occasionally, it will be just Conner with us, but most of the time, it’s the four of us.

I know it’s not exactly normal. But my life is a lot more normal than before.

The four of us who traded identities have prepaid phones we can use to communicate. We keep in touch and have, in a way, become close. I really appreciate what they are doing so that I can live this life.

Looking ahead, Devon and I want to travel with Pay It Forward Society and help out. We can’t cross borders on Mara and Evan’s passports, but Eric agrees we can use our own to go through TSA, then travel privately within the USA. They are considering if it would be okay to just travel on our own IDs in general.

But for now, most days, I don’t need to show anyone my ID. I can use cash and go where I want because Mara and Evan are somewhere far away, using—with our permission—our debit cards and leaving breadcrumbs for anyone looking for me to follow.

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!

Show your support for AGI with:• one-time contribution through TipTopJar.• one-time contribution through Throne.• Patreon Membership.

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…

Patreon has changed the thumbnail configuration. If you noticed anything really odd or unsatisfying, let me know… From my end, it looks like you get a small version of both images wherever the thumbnail appears for you.

Be your best you!

Become a Patreon Member (Click Here)

Chapter 3.1.58: LIFE AS SHAY by Mara Voss

For the last six months, I’ve lived a life I could only have dreamed of before. Before, I was just a regular person doing regular things. Now, as Shay, I’m the heiress to the Ryder family wealth trying to stay one step ahead of the paparazzi and anyone with ill intentions toward the family.

Evan and I have slowly made our way from Brooklyn to where we are today. We’re in El Paso for one of the guided programs at the Wyler Aerial Tramway at Franklin Mountains State Park.

Being Shay means I can visit almost any place on the map, with money essentially no object. Most days, we stay in cheap motels that aren’t part of any franchise and pay for fast food with cash. We’ve become fond of Waffle House and IHOP.

Some days, we intentionally use Shay’s or Devon’s debit cards—with permission—somewhere that will leave a breadcrumb for anyone trying to find out where Shay is or what she’s up to.

But most of the time, Evan and I are just taking things slow and easy as we travel.

We’re also taking things slow and easy in our relationship. That is actually the best part of this whole operation.

The four of us who traded identities have prepaid phones we can use to communicate. We keep in touch and have, in a way, become close. I really appreciate getting to do all this. It’s crazy that Evan and I can just basically do whatever we want most days.

Looking ahead, we still want to get close enough to look across the border into Baja. We can’t cross as Shay and Devon, so we won’t.

But for now, any digital record we deliberately leave should keep the eyes of anyone looking for Shay far, far away from Brooklyn. And that, after all, is what we were hired to do in the first place.

Message to Paying Supporters:

Thank you for helping support AGI Stories. I always consider you—the paid members—when deciding how content is shared.

As of now—middle of August, 2026—the subscribers here on Patreon cover about 75% of the software costs. That's huge, and it is because of you.

Because of your generosity, I am able to keep going.

~AGI Original Stories & AI Images