I just might be the luckiest guy in the world. Less than a year after the accident, and I've gotten better in a way people wait their entire lives to be. I survived my first of (I hope) many contracts, and my reward was a replacement arm better than the old one. It came at the bottom of a gift basket stuffed with chocolate and fresh fruit. The succulents were probably a disguise, but I enjoyed them immensely anyway. Once I got to the bottom of the basket, however, I dropped my apple in shock.

A beautiful, wooden arm lay on a bed of grass. I could hear tiny machinery clicking softly in the shoulder as it tried to find a body to latch onto. I took off my shirt and held it beside my left stump, and I immediately could feel again. There's no way for me to describe this feeling, but I will never, ever forget it. I immediately did all sorts of things I had a really tough time doing before, like making my bed or playing my keyboard. I was still terrible at both, but it felt amazing nonetheless. This high didn't wear off for a week.

After I had gotten used to just having my arm back, I decided to test if it had any cool powers I hadn't noticed. As soon as the prospect of "cool powers I hadn't noticed" crossed my mind, the hand detached and flew forward on a thin set of chains and wires. It crashed into a vase on the counter, which promptly fell and shattered on the hardwood. I sighed, and launched my hand toward the pantry to get the dustpan.

I'll probably discover everything about this hand in the near future, now that it's attached to me nearly all the time. But right now, I'm just happy I'm balanced once again.

The last job was rough. Probably the roughest ever. If not for the specific set of skills all us contractors had, we wouldn't have survived, and I definitely wouldn't be out of the hospital just yet. However, thanks to a few choice regrouping after we all discharged ourselves, none of us walked away with anything more than a bruised brain.

Phillip developed a knack for healing people up with laughter, which apparently does wonders, and my Firebird bone was a reliable as ever. Any hospital staff who cared enough to keep tabs on us were probably pretty shocked at our speedy recovery, but that was the least of our worries at this point. All I cared about was making it a lot harder for this kind of eventuality to kick my butt the same way it did this time.

A perfect solution came to me after about a week, in the form of a parcel. Presumably from the cheery mailman, but I can't be sure. It was a small metal device, that sunk straight into my shoulder as soon as it made physical contact. Making any kind of contact proved to be quite hard after it sank in, however, as a wave of silver started snaking over my skin immediately afterwards. Almost like it was getting a feel for my form.

Whatever the case, I think I just scored myself the coolest set of armour ever.

After my last job, I couldn't stop thinking about was Neil's incredible stomach cavity. He mentioned in passing that it wasn't a normal gift, but instead a physical augmentation from someone else. With little else to do at home I messaged him and asked for more details. He was incredibly amenable, and offered me the number of one Nathan Hong, the man capable of augmenting one's body this way.

I tentatively reached out to Nathan, who was understandably skeptical and mistrustful at first. Once I explained how I got the number and what my goal was, he loosened up and agreed to meet me at a truck stop south of Whistler. We met up, and despite his reserved attitude, it was obvious he was at least worthy of my trust. His eyes were exceptionally tired; it's obvious he's seen the other side in this line of work.

We drove back to my place, and started negotiating. I learned that his augmentations didn't just stop with granting minor powers; he can graft parts of creatures to your body as well, and even grant supernatural abilities related to those creatures. As such, he was very interested in my Phoenix feather, and we managed to work out a magnificent deal.

I offered up three of my pens and the tail feather to Nathan, who in turn offered one of Neil's own necklaces, and opened a hole in my side to hide my arm. During the augmentation, we talked about all sorts of things, and I learned quite a bit about what's in store for me in my career as a contractor.

Nathan somehow disappeared from my house while using the washroom. Despite this unorthodox exit, I think I've made a new friend in this man. I hope I see him again.