Having been invited to Seattle for a cultural showing of his Taiko Drum expertise.  He invites his fellow contractors to his showing, Marine and Soren, at the Moore's Theater.  Soren attended the show.

The show was a huge success!  The Thunder Rollers, quickly became the talk of the town and gained a following with the local Seattle population.  Jax Maxwell then goes on to collaborate with some local musicians to make more music and experiment with Taiko Drums in new genres.  Everything from Rock & Roll to Blue Grass.  Jax not only shows off his musical skill, but he also learns about the local musical culture as well.

Jax then gets curious about the local Native American culture and contacts then to get their take on the state of the world and learn things from them.  This allows Jax to pick up some occult tips and tricks.

Jax's is starting to regret listening to that tape...

In the past, Soren's contracts had always been for others. His first contract was the save the life of his Daughter. His second, to secure he financial future. His third, to restore the health of his Mother. But now, after years of waiting for word from "the other side", Soren is finally ready to pursue his original pledge. His family is safe, defended, and secure. Now it is time for him to become the servant, the tool, and the weapon that is best suited to whatever his Lord (non-gendered title) needs from him. 

Soren had always been interested in the gifts that his Daughter and Mother had gained. In fact, he had even begun to suspect that his Mother was secretly a contractor as well. But this was his first time experiencing one of these boons for himself. In the wake of the Bobasaur incident, Soren ability to fight with blades improved. 

While this might have been imperceptible to someone who had never seen him fight before, or was not themselves a master of the martial arts. For Soren the effect felt immediate, and powerful. His movements when he trained, once so thoughtful, so much the result of strain and concentration, now came to him as if he had been practicing for decades. Advanced blocks, attacks, and sweeps that he had previously struggled with, or hoped to one day work towards, now flowed easily. He moved with greater efficiency, so that his movement took less effort, and yet, with that increased efficiency, that lower effort often resulted in even greater levels of speed and power. 

Soren, being an agent, was equal parts efficient field operative and skilled office worker. He was used to writing complex reports that concisely laid out the details of missions. But as he thought about his most recent mission, there were several unknown variables. He had been partnered with a man who appeared to be a half-naked fool, barely able to differentiate between reality and fantasy and struggling with Sarcasm as if he were a child. And yet, it was this very same man who first figured out where their initial target was located, and who then lured the manager of that facility into a false sense of security so that Soren could take him out. Oh, he had whined and complained, and been quick to flee when things got tough, but he had also, undoubtedly, been valuable. 

Then there was Maurine. She had seemed a normal business woman. An artist type who'd been working long enough to be over and fed up with just about everything. And yet, she had managed the little drummer boy, secured a sample of the drink, and deceived their targets. She had also stepped up and shown bravery when it came to draining that horrid tub, and the uncovering the source of evil within it. 

Soren made a point of accepting the little drummer boys invitation when he invited him to a concert. And when it was over, and he traveled back home, he also made a point of researching these two new people, who may or may not be passing in and out of Soren's life in the near future.