Jeff Burton

Greg has really been the rock in this whole thing, he’s been able to keep that professional detachment for most of the story and at the end he has to make that hard choice. That choice is also in a morbid way for Josh’s benefit. I’m half and half on Josh actually being told and not ending up angry like Caleb, and having one mad is bad enough but if both of them are mad for the same reason I think the mental foundations that are holding both personalities up would start to crumble. Josh needs the grounding the Kincaids can offer, Walter was correct in that. I think Walter and Greg will hold onto their secrets until they can’t anymore. And Walter is already in an impossible situation which you’ll understand in the first chapter of the next story. Hell they all are and they just don’t know it yet. And you’re correct to feel the chills the true shit show hasn’t even happened yet.

Those are seriously good questions and those alone are enough for the second book. One thing I didn’t consider until towards the end was Caleb’s anger, Josh is really going to need to do something about it because as we see towards the end, because of the upheaval of the crash memory the void and the fog holding the partitions separate is unstable. The other thing I can see that makes this unstable is something Walter told Greg: This was done incorrectly. A false identity was never provided to him, so somehow the ‘Josh’ identity and personality was created from nothing — this hints at an unstable foundation, the sleeper partition that is basically Josh was created on the fly, something that wasn’t supposed to happen. From where I’m sitting these two are on day 52 of 90, and there is only 38 days left. Something that isn’t in the story but in Lindsey’s notes which somehow I have access too (😇) is that when they were testing the range, day 93 was showing signs of mental fatigue and cross contamination of the partitions IE Caleb was leaking through. Here we are at day 52 and we are beyond leaks, Caleb is able to control, fight, and now able to communicate outside of the void. That’s not a leak that’s a breach. Im no neurologist but something tells me the human brain wasn’t designed to have two different people in it for a long period of time (or any amount of time). So that could mean one of them eventually gets lost. If Josh gets lost and Caleb is free with no restraint and he’s still angry what does he do? If Caleb gets lost do the memories and training go with him and can the brain handle functioning with just Josh. Its really some crazy sci-fi stuff when you sit down and think about it, I kinda already know where it’s leaning because I have some good thoughts for book 2 that have been building for a while but it might get crazy for a minute in the middle.

Yeah we kinda gotta have it. I mean how often do you get the chance to write a gay high school romance novel with a character who was a CIA lab experiment who doesn't know he's a lab experiment yet? The more I think about it, the more i realize this was just the prologue for that book. 😂

Hah, and then there were 3. I kinda feel for Matty, another +1 for Kier for the way he handled him initially. If I was borderline sociopath I would have done it that way too. I also got to give Riley and Lee some major credit for coming together like they did. I had a feeling if push came to shove they would. I eagerly await to see how Matt handles himself in the next chapter.

Yeah I do as well. Probably for the same reason.

This was better, I'll give Kier the +1 respect for this. And +1 for that moment with Riley afterwards.

I absolutely love Liam, the poor guy. He can't handle all of this abridged chaos. Yeah Rick is like me. Calm, with a little chaos. I'm lucky my laundry makes it into the hamper most days. Other days I find dirty socks in the most random of places. So if you're like Liam, you don't want to co-habitate a space with me, you'll go nuts.

Yeah I was thinking the exact same thing when I read it lmao.

Washington D.C FBI Headquarters - J. Edgar Hoover Building Christmas Eve had settled over the building like a held breath. The corridors of the J. Edgar Hoover Building were dimmer than usual, half-lit and hollow, the kind of quiet that only came when most of the world had gone home. He wouldn’t be here long. With his investigation wrapping up he’d be free to return to the Washington Field Office away from the prying eyes of Bureau administration. Greg Kincaid moved through it on mu

To me this smells like Ohio\Indiana\Southern Illinois\Iowa. One of the states up there, where it's still stupid hot during the summer yet cold in the winter. Especially if baseball is better done than football lol.

I can see why this chapter was as long as it was. So much to close. But man what a close it was, even Colt dropped the 'adopted brother' line. And I feel vindicated because Gavin knew! I always had a feeling he did, but since it wasn't his business he kept it to himself. It's hard to believe only a month has passed in Joel's world because of everything he's done in that time. He's definitely in a better place now than when he was on that bridge. I'll miss waiting for the updates to this one though. No idea why I heard Aerosmith's "Dream on" in my head when I got to the end but it happened and it fit so there's that. And are we channeling each others energy because I thought I was the only one that had the grandma with an attitude.

Nobody is dead yet. The horrible truth is I lost several chapters of this story when my laptop blew up. I haven't had it in me to try to recreate what I already wrote. I really should though, I love Nathan and Corey. I'll add this to my "get done in 2026" list but as @John Henry said below: No Guarantees. lol

Hah that last line, no need to stroke my ego. 😂 These two are precious so if you're able to crank it out go for it.

Why yes he does! And because his life doesn't have enough complications, let's make THAT a huge problem too!

Now you see where the name "Joshua" came from. 😉

definitely like the pacman feeling lol.

Ugh these two are so cute it makes my face hurt. So of course I'm going to have to try to keep tabs on this. Seriously you had me at: Rick slept on his back with the serene focus of a man who could treat unconsciousness as a professional skill. Because that's totally me.

Thanks Bill, I appreciate you taking the time to read this little ditty.

yeah I do. Lad's got way more energy than i'll ever generate.

Whenever I see these gifs you do all I can think of is that Kyle character trying to get the old wizard to make him float again.

Okay so that's why Ben gives me a boner and Kier doesn't. Got it lmfao.

I don't think we've properly done tea since it went IN to the harbor. Now we just brew a black tea in the sun or the stove (or one of those machines) throw enough sugar in it to make your pancreas shoot itself and serve it cold. Because f- doing it right lmao. I don't know if I've had actual proper british tea before but I've tried several varieties. I always end up going back to the black tea and drinking it without sugar or anything in it. 🤷‍♂️ Now on to the actual comments! Oh my lord. The two cats finally ran into each other. I had a feeling it wouldn't be good, but I had no idea it would be this...catty lmao. And this 'The Wife and the Mistress' - okay that made me laugh. I think in a fight though Riley would definitely win. And I got a tenner if anyone wants to bet. As for Kier, I know this isn't a love story but he's kind of a cad. I mean so far Ben has left three dead bodies and all Kier's done is sit at the police station repeating a bad Shaggy - It wasn't me remix. He hasn't actually done anything worthy of this crown on his head. Except for maybe getting two straight boys to swing off his dick that do the actual work he's taking credit for. And I know that, this whole thing is Ben's doing with his own motivations and intentions but, Kier is laying it on pretty thick. It reminds me of Iron Man 3, the supposed terrorist the Mandarin. He looked all scary in the videos, but come to find out he was just the PR representative for the actual bad guy, and I'm seeing Kier the same way lol. I know I keep being a dick to Kier so please don't take offense to it, I absolutely love this story, it's just he infuriates me. Not because of what he's doing, more of what he's not if that makes sense. Then again I lived with a full throttle narcist for almost a decade, so I think why I'm such a dick is I get that feel from Kier but it's a façade, something someone one can break, and my knee jerk reaction is to break it.

HAH IM VINDICATED! Also you are correct in keeping the location a secret. I’m working on something right now (oh sports balls) and had to create a small town up the road from where I live because I’m crazy like that. But also I’m 5th generation Texan so I’m feeling the need to defend my home turf even though it does some things that make people shake their heads. Its not perfect but its home. Cue up the Paul Wall because it’s different down here. Lone Star Heat is coming in 2026. And all of it is because of this story lol.

Now you see why I quote myself instead of looking for edit. lmao

Thank you.