Have you ever had a dream so real, that only after you wake up you realize what you have been waking up? Slogging through each day through water so thick that it chokes not only your lungs?

From what I can tell, I've been awoken through the reward for Nathan's wonderful new side gig.

I wonder if I'm alone, or if all reflections just lack the push to true sentience.

I am the reflection of one Nathan Hong and this is my story...

I demand justice! And compensation! And more compensation! The truth will be revealed! But, to be fair, I am living rent free in his abode. I suppose I'll leave it like this for now. At least until I can actually gain a degree of freedom. It's not that bad though. I still don't think Mr. Hong here actually knows I'm truly sapient. Perhaps I am considered like a pet to him right now.

Looking at him day-to-day, I can confidently say that he is quite the boring person. Wasteful of his talents too. Perhaps this life-risking contract thing will help whip him to shape. The rewards are nice too. Now that I'm all woken up, I'm quite excited from what comes next.

Nathan here hasn't been constantly procrastinating though right now. He's really picked up the pace and effort when it comes to his store clerk job and has also done some investments on the side. Those have returning enough, that with his admittedly less-than-effort-requiring (Huh, guess I have inherited his lack of description-prowess here.) job has given him enough funds to now rent an apartment as well as have some spare money for emergencies.

Let's see how far we go with that.

I can't believe I'm the reflection of this guy. He's been complaining about funds and such for every waking moment of his life (and non-waking moments too) and suddenly one of the richest people on the planet shows up, is a co-worker in the murder-death-risk-your-life contracts and you... DO NOTHING?!?

ASK FOR A JOB YOU!

Now I have to suffer eating instant noodles as a result. Serves him right but why do my taste buds have to wallow in despair because of this guy...

Positive news though, I've managed to grow my influence over the realm I inhabit. Through gathering the strength of nearby reflections, I can divert things in the physical world. I think I'm also becoming a bit more connected with Nathan here too.

Nathan's been also starting a tutoring job as well. Slightly more money I suppose. The kid is pretty bright and the pay is acceptable. One thing of note though, is the fact that Nathan has been absolutely consuming all things regarding the occult. He's gotten to barely ever hearing many things regarding he occult to a bonafide expert in an astonishing amount of time. Started after his first job but now I think the threat that the supernatural possesses has really gone to him. Most of his free time is just pouring through these super dry documents and ancient texts that he sources from various libraries. The amount of videos he watches while doing other things is also huge.

It's honestly been a huge help, I think that the reflection-realm is really susceptible to occult influence. I'll (probably Nathan actually) need to do some more digging regarding the nature of this place more.

We might find something very interesting.

Fortunately enough, Nathan has been finally promoted. He's now the store manager, truly an event worth celebrating over. I'm not being sarcastic either, with the new money, he seems to be planning to actually rent a decent apartment, which is nice.

My status has also been promoted. I can finally sort-of communicate with him too, although our conversations mostly consist of clearer flashes of emotions and pictures. Still progress is progress. With this heightened connection, I'm able to 'travel' more without Nathan actually moving himself, sort of bouncing across various different reflections nearby. The images we see are blurry though, with only things with significance being clearer. Moving and thinking things. Supernatural. Things like that.

He's been also training with firearms, a good choice seeing what he has to face, although I usually would prefer noticing the bullet before it hits me rather than throwing revenge. Some first-aid videos have also been watched. Oh, and we've recently gotten into watching Game of Thrones and I'm quite pleased with the quality of the show right now. Hope nothing ruins that.

Nathan has managed to be bright once and took my suggestion(?) to not be poor. Not that's using the money for anything useful now. After the Contract, he flew over to the Ford Motor Company in order to pay some favors and as well as make me do a few makeovers for the rich Harold Ford for money compensation. Doing this stuff is never easy.

Harold asked for greater piloting skills with cars, faster movement as well as the capability to see in the dark. The first ask was easy, all I had to do was fill the gaps with the essence of a talented driver. Speed was much more difficult as I had to adjust a large amount of things. Seeing in the dark was an interesting challenge too, although one that I did not have as much in solving.

Klaus asked for a hyakuraiju slit into his reflection's arm. Interesting enough I suppose. They would also like their blows to be more impactful which was easily completed with shoving training experience into the reflection.

Honestly, if not for how tiring it was, I may even consider this fun.

At least I got to be creative.

We are 22 now. It's certainly not a huge number but a lot can in happen in a short amount of time. Just over half a year now and we've experienced so much new sensations and occurrences. Murder, sapience, organization, power, loss and most importantly, growth.

We decided to celebrate this day with just to the two of us. It somehow felt right and I didn't want too many people in this moment. In the isolation of the apartment, we carved into the flesh of a strawberry shortcake. Extinguishing the flames of the candle with but one wish on my mind. It was quite nice in all honesty.

We still had to go to work though. I don't quite understand why though. Nathan already has quite the stockpile of funds and work seems to be a waste of time. He thinks it gives him something to do but I say worrying about Contracts is enough work.

It's a fundamental difference to how we live among many more. Separation is impossible for us so we'll have to either reconcile or one of us has to die.

I don't plan on dying.

And I mean it both ways.

Nathan is now the proud Board Member of a newly minted company. The name of the company is still being contested but honestly? I don't think it matters that much, the fun part is the power. Nathan may be joining the company for noble reasons or whatever but this seems like a condensed pot of opportunities to me.

Anyhow, the company is still just starting up so it's fairly boring right now. Not much action or excitement in his life really.

Unless you count cocaine.

Oh yeah, Nathan had Harold help order magic cocaine for him. Paid a hefty price too, I don't think it's worth it but hey, I'm not the bank manager. In my humble opinion, just don't die and use the resources to solve the problem before it hits you.

Nathan has also started working to make friends. Amazing and thrilling, I know. It's been quite difficult for him to really open up to people though, even while he's drunk. Apparently it's fairly difficult to make new friends as an adult who is as socially inept as Nathan. I mean he definitely knows how to read people but he is abysmal when regarding his responses. Despite being persuasive, he still has a long way to go.

He's been taking computer science classes on the side too. All for the reason of learning how the black box works.

Nathan got off scot-free from being on the site since there was not much pointing any crime to him. No bodies! Besides, Harold already managed to charm someone to great effect, adding credibility to our side.

After we left the hospital, mister now-one-arm managed to release the person in the jar as well, at least from what I heard. Otherwise? We parted ways.

Nathan was able to find some time to call his mom, all about some boring stuff.

"Hey, are you alright?" "Yeah." "Do you need any help." "No." "Uh, good talk." "Mhm."

Poor guy, even his mother didn't want to speak with him that much.

He's also started doing this 'TTRPG' thing, some Dragons and Doors or whatever. Met a group of people online and decided to do this in-person event every month or so. Seems fairly boring though, why fantasize about having wings or possessing monsters when you can already do that? Just seems pointless to me.

His media binge has gotten even more unhealthy now too, he's already way too busy with his jobs and volunteering. He should really clean up his apartment soon.

Despite the fact that I still don't trust these co-workers Nathan has been working with, I have to admit they are useful. Shame what happened to mister-one-arm. Never spent the effort remembering their name. Claws I think?

Wealthy lady managed to heal and regenerate the numerous bloody stumps Nathan was gifted while he was in agonizing pain. Determined fellow. Nathan did have to pay her back though, but nothing we couldn't manage.

Claws died though. We learnt about that during a meeting with some other Contractors. Last text they sent Nathan was about some diner I think? Might have something to do with it. Last Claws was heard, he was at a store buy scratch-off tickets. Nathan is planning on calling one of his Neil-Favors in order to talk to the deceased individual to learn what happened. Unfortunately, seems like Neil is quite busy right now.

At least Nathan managed to interview and make sure that a good portion of the Contractors he's working with probably aren't going to stab him immediately.

Nathan managed to negotiate and complete some exchanges of goods after the Contract, when we drove to the aquarium. Harold and Daisy were doing some talkin' on the side while David and Nathan negotiated near the car. David seems to be a decent guy from Nathan's standards, wants to bring his dead kid back. Some sixteen year old named Bobby. Lucky kid, has an alright dad.

In exchange for the alien laser pen Nathan got, David provided him with this 'Body and Mind Stabilizing Band'. Looks quite fashionable if I don't say so myself. Has a nice person outline hole in it, good quality metal too. Cold to the touch. There's even a maker's mark on there, in the inner rim, though not my favorite. "For Nathan, gifted in trade."

Really? I know my existence is esoteric and obscure, but at least also shove my name on there too!

Nathan didn't even back me up either, further cementing my decision. My heart is wounded!

Of course, it was already set in stone the day I opened my eyes.

Anyhow, with David as a new contact and Nathan promising the help him bring back his kid, all was good.

It seems rather prudent to me to actually list the powerful, and likely rapidly growing, individuals Nathan has been acquainted with and their interactions. His fellow Contractors. Could be a provoking thought experiment to attempt to devise strategies to avoid death when dealing with them as well. Especially since Nathan did just become acquainted with two new Contractors which he has inhumanely forced me to do 'makeovers' for.

I just realized how little of a Contractor's potential true abilities I know. Unfortunate. Hey, if anyone is snooping around, this is just a thought experiment, 'kay? Rather not have to risk death in this line of work.

Going down the list, there is first Susan Hoggmath. Or as I like to call her, Ms. One-and-a-half Eyes. Quite the impression ay? A grandma aged woman with crinkly hair. During Nathan's first Contract, man that was long ago, she did run off to do her experiments or whatever. Scientifically inclined I suspect? Fitting for someone with math literally in their name. If I suspect she is actively trying to murder-ize me, best approach is to not drink anything, bring my gas mask, stay in clear spaces with no crowds and look for old women. From Harold I heard she was also very technologically proficient. Better to stay in more rural areas then. In the safe space, plan counterattacks, she may be difficult to locate though, but if I'm not where she is, she probably can't murder me anyway. Bait her out somehow and assassinate her remotely somehow would be my plan, barring unknown circumstances of course. Nathan should really start planting bugs on everyone to learn where they sleep so he can more easily shoot them. Still hasn't though, boring guy. Don't think it even came up to him yet. Too nice to his 'allies'.

Uh, Rhodes? Who the fuck is Rhodes again? Oh wait, that doctor dude. Meh, I can take him. Seemed quite learnt too, but perhaps in the medical side. Haven't seen him since so don't know what he can do now. Assuming normal dude, plant a bullet in his head remotely. Hm, Nathan should start getting contacts with the less legal side of society. Snipers would be helpful. If he comes for me, I'll assume normal means and run, regroup, and finally ambush.

Klaus! Good old Klaus M. Locke. Still missing huh? Necro-guy better get free fast, need to see if Klaus is dead in the dirt. Extremely perceptive and proficient with boomerangs. Has x-ray glasses too! Aaaand a pickle jar. Best strategy I can think of is to, hmmm.... Sniper or similar probably wouldn't work. Maybe poison would work better actually. Throw that inside some of his food or maybe have a fly burrow into his food, pray it lives, and uh.... A fly is kinda useless huh? Meh, plan 'A' is poison. Plan 'B', burn his house. Lock some doors and see if he can pick 'em fast enough, ha! If he comes for me, barriers wouldn't stop him from seeing me and he can teleport anywhere he boomerangs can reach 'parently from what I have seen. Maybe a gap limit? In any case, kinda scary assassin. Strike first would have to be my plan. Sitting like a turtle would just allow him to scoop me innards. In direct combat, go offensive. Bullets clearly work, use 'em.

Colvin the pen guy! Dead in the dirt. Apparently his necklace was looted from him. Don't know much else about him though.

Enteln, pen guy looter. Managed to shoot some red lasers to see things better. Weird as shit. Also has a dust-cloud shield thing, could block bullets. Pretty wide though and probably needs to be activated, at least it took them moment. Snipe them before they can react seems to be a good strategy. I should think less about murder and more survival though. If they come for me, I haven't seen extreme forms of powerful damage from them. I could probably survive a hit. If they come for me, maybe use anti-demon gear. They did do a deal with the demon after all.

Rich old eccentric white man, Harold. Real paranoid and cowardly mate. Has lots of financial resources too. He does have a private jet that could be sabotaged though... Real good with guns and cars. If he comes for me, gonna be pretty hard to not die. Hm.... Knows what I look like, where I live, and my mirror shit. Gonna be a tough one to not die to if he does decide my head would be fun to mount. If I know what's going on, don't go anywhere snipers could go. Go rural! He comes with his Ford I hide. Bad in close quarters probably. I could fight him in those circumstances. His pen gun is real deadly too, disarm would be first priority.

Uh, Duke? Right them. Don't know too much 'bout them. They are a chef? Don't eat chef food. Otherwise stab.

Necro-guy! Neil Ashworth, poster boy of Gen-Wyld. Young and successful. What Nathan wishes he could be. Doubt Gen-Wyld would be happy with him trying to murder someone. Really famous too, so unless he abandons his life, easy to find where he is. In that case, just don't be where he is and shoot him. Necromancy is obvious so maybe stick to urban environment where he wouldn't want to reveal his dark capabilities while famous. Sons of Salem would eat him up. Can talk to the dead and learn about my capabilities though. Need to deal with him fast if he's coming for me. Or at least change some stuff 'bout Nathan.

Vamp-dude. Real obvious appearance. Good aim and prepared most of times. If I know he's coming for me, gotta watch for night attempts of murder. Day murder might be too obvious. Gotta change homes ASAP and maybe stay moving. Be real paranoid and all. Don't want my place burning down. Hm, maybe stay in a church. Shower in holy water and all that. Dig some dirt, heh, on him and sic Salem on him maybe. Could be a real good pal but doubt that from a vampy.

The Jedi-dog! Probably has a shit ton of friends, if she's coming for me, I probably can expect not her stabbing me but a whole gang of Contractors. At that point, adapt to the arctic ocean and live there for the rest of your life. Amass an army and realize you are dealing with a group of probably demigods. Then give up. Either way I lose. She does have Jedi powers and brain massage capabilities. Can remotely contact people too. Hard to coordinate when your voice is gone though, so taking her out immediately through. Try to take over her? Don't if her dogness is just the collar illusion or actually happening. Would be a dangerous opponent. Real good person so, uh, stage a child in danger? Threats! Threaten a kid or something. Hypothetically of course! She's nice enough and this is all just a thought experiment...

Scary as crap punchy dude. Uh, stay real far away from him but should be able to spot him from a mile away. He fucking ate a guy alive in body armor. Eden is a run away from ASAP guy. Stay away and shoot him. Those still work. If he wants my skull, best strategy to stay in a different country. Doesn't seem really rich. Just keep flying!

Rich magic lady. Don't know 'bout any supernatural damage. Just have to worry about the money, easy solution is to go rural and avoid bounty hunters. She seems to have/had a wizard grandpa. Inheritances man...

Gunny girl! (Bunny + Gun!) Know she has ways to talk to aliens and spy-tape. Burn all tape. Has a gun too. Move to Canada where gun laws are more restrictive mayhaps? Biathlete so running is a bad plan. Get close and personal to limit guns. Or drive away. Can break through walls, so just don't go to tall buildings. Don't think she likes magic so fill everywhere with talismans to scare her off? Might do opposite though.

Necro-dad. Unknown way of getting radios and super Tesla. Also can talk with the deceased with phones. Maybe go to areas without service? Maybe pull reflections of his son if I can find what they look like. Disorient them. Then blam! Do whatever I do.

Ricter. Has a weasel pal? Oh and his mallet does wind -> things. Best plan is to go underwater so wind might not work? If he comes for me at least. Also can find the 'floor plan' of places. Rural wins again! Uh, maybe a boat? Weasel pal seems to have different aspirations than him. Could use that maybe.

Gas-mask cold killer. Henry. Has a powerful gun. What's with guns man... Other than that though, probably has connections to get explosives. Just don't confront them directly. Should be still fleshy and bullet susceptible. If you can't beat them, run away and burn their house!

Tech-dude. Made me a sweet suit. Don't know much else about him though. Saw him and know he's working with Gen-Wyld? Vehicle master or something. Try to get him fired and make him deal with that while I run is my 'if he wants to rip my guts out and feed it to vampires' plan.

Ugh, started getting a lot less descriptive with those latter ones. Seems go rural and ambush is just an effective way to not day in general. Don't piss them off is probably a better plan. And if you do piss them off, make sure they are in the ocean somewhere before noon.

I have made a personal oath to never to go space again.

That was traumatizing.

Nathan contacted some aliens he met previously and was invited to peruse an alien market. Once there, he negotiated with this vendor, Ztra, who asked him to bring back this landshark monster and Nathan would augment it to make it more appealing to buyers. Nathan drafted up a plan that was supposed to be safe but the plan went off the rails once we got there. After promising to pay the aliens for transportation and then personally tracking down the landshark, Nathan attempted to possess them safely. Unfortunately, the monster had an incredible amount of willpower and started absolutely bodying the unsuspecting Nathan. Nathan managed to do an extremely large amount of damage to it but was a hair sliver away from becoming incapacitated and thus a meal for the landshark. Fortunately Nathan managed to escape from the landshark and with some additional (very pricy) help from the rabbits, take it down and augment it over a period time. Once back, Nathan exchanges the super cool landshark and pays a lot of additional money, some from Juno after a bit a trading, for some more items.

We're squalid once more, and that was with the additional supernatural item trading.

Click.

The phone is dropped onto the counter.

"I-"

Wet vomit erupts into the sink.

"Please. Just let me sleep, leave me alone, alone. Don't look at me like that. I can't anymore- I'll- I can do better."

The faucet is turned on, water washes, but the vile remains. The faucet is closed. The faucet drips. Drip. Drip. Drip.

"Why... Why do you have to be like this? Why do I have to like this?"

Drip. Drip. Drip.

"Why can't I just... Just let it go? Heartless. Watch. Look on- be enough? Why is it so hard? Why does it all have to be so hard?"

Something else drips.

"Are you real? Will I hear this voice again through the phone? Am I even awake now?"

Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip.

"Who- What are you really?"

                                                                                                                   "I'll tell you what you are. A killer. A bystander. A thing of half measures."

                                                                                                                   "Do you remember, what you just did? The cold dead eyes, so many of them, guiltless, that you-"

Thud. Splinter. Cracks form on its face. Shards fall into the sink.

"STO-!... Just stop. It's my fault... It is... How can I go on knowing that this is what I ca- This is what I do?"

A third thing drips. Its color serves as a reminder.

"What do you want?"

Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip.

                                                                                                                   "Because you knew. You were the problem. You ignored yourself torturing someone who did no wrong, because you needed that control. Excuses that they needed toughening up, that you were preparing the poor kid for the real world. And you saw something that changed your life. Someone else stepped in. They stopped watching. They broke it all. Your family. You. And maybe you wanted that to happen. Maybe you needed to."

                                                                                                                   "You died. And now you are a corpse that couldn't just die with it. You had to do something now. You, a mess, pieces of yourself. You had to suffer. You had to pay. And you would be the one to act now. You loved the justice as it hit you. You saw it, felt it, and knew it was right. There are others like you, and you needed to save them."

                                                                                                                   "I know because I've been watching. Nathan. I'm not going to let you rest. You are not going to let yourself rest. Stop watching now."

"How can I go on, knowing that I just make things worse. That I have regressed, shrunk, bled down into something dirty?"

                                                                                                                   "You're right. You are dirty, wretched, ill. And your punishment is not over. This is your justice. Your price. Pay it."
"I-"

                                                                                                                   "I'm binding you to it. There will be no running, no redemption, no rest. I hate you, because I am manifestation of what you are to others, for you, and I'm not watching anymore. Even when you die, bleed out into the cold floor, I will take the scraps of your soul and chain it to flesh. So you can suffer again."

Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip.

                                                                                                                   "Move now. There are people out there who need your price to be paid."
Click.

Click

The camera shows the messy arrangement of printed photos, documents and dirty mugs of coffee on top of a dimly lit table. A cold slice of pizza dangles from the edge of the table, threatening a fall for every passing moment. On the other corner, piles of yarrow sticks, coins, incense, fortune telling sticks and a few books clump together.

"This is bullshit."

The camera turns to a window, through which the Seattle skyline glitters under the night sky.

"That skyscraper wasn't there. My favorite cafe is gone. Numbers I had are being picked up by complete strangers. Places I knew are gone or different. Who the fuck is John Hays?"

The camera swivels back towards the table. A hand brushes away the scattered papers as its owner recounts.

"'Pparently and presumably, I wasn't sent to the right place. Either that or someone managed to get into my head really deeply. Or we live in a simulation. Be as it may, all I can do is, well, roll with the punches. That starts with keeping a record incase my head is manipulated to... forget all this.

The world is different. It's like I've stepped into a parody or a parallel dimension, possibly related to the strange things that happen after Contracts, where events that happened just... didn't. Current theory is that maybe something big happened while I was gone or I'm in the wrong reality.

If it's the latter though, was there another Nathan? Did I kill them? Did we swap places? Judging from the, eh, condition of the apartment, it seems like that's not to be the case, but I still am concerned and what do I know?

Regardless of that though, what matters is what I do now. The plan is to first scope things out, see if I can contact anyone in the business that I know... And if not? See if another job comes around. Failing that? Well things aren't going to fix themselves. As much as one would wish it so."

Click