Did you tell him to be intimate with me?

Standing outside Jiggling Wing restaurant, I read the name aloud, feeling a mix of familiarity and dissonance. It was surreal being here again, just a day later, under such different circumstances. I was the same person in theory, but everything around me felt different.

I noticed the sumo guy from the previous day's encounter. As our eyes met, he visibly recoiled, his face twisting in a blend of recognition and discomfort. Quickly, he turned and walked away. A smirk crept onto my lips despite the gravity of the situation. It was a brief, darkly humorous moment in the midst of the chaos that had become my life.

I reached for my comlink, speaking softly, "Pierce, are you here?"

His voice came through, steady and reassuring. "Yes, I'm here. I can see you. Don't look around. Just go talk to Chen. And remember, ask him about Su Takeda. You don't have a recording chip, do you?"

"No, I don't."