The lights flashed on, and Persephone, once lying on the bed, shot up and began asking what happened and if she had done something wrong.

“No, no, you didn’t do anything wrong; in fact, you helped me out a lot. I had quite a lot of things going on inside my head that I needed to get out of, so thank you for that. But I need to ask you about someone.”

“Who?”

“Have you ever seen someone with short black spikey hair around here?”

Persephone’s mind drew a blank: “Are they a customer or a doll?”

Even though that was a question that I needed answered, “I don’t know; that’s why I’m asking you.” I gave more details on the person I was looking for: “Medium height. He has a tattoo of a dragon on his hand.”

Persephone's mind clicked and suggested that she did see someone with a dragon tattoo, although the person that she was referring to was a Tyger Claw.

I was starting to lose my patience; it was clear from her body language that she knew who I was talking about. “Surely you must have seen someone that matches the description? Look, I'll even sweeten the pot and give you a five-star review.”

Persephone gave in and said, “Fine. I did see someone who matches your description, but they did go into booth V2. If you want more details about your man, you’d best head over there.”

I thanked Persephone, left the booth, and headed for booth V2. The booth’s door opened, and inside was a strange sight: a man handcuffed to the bed. I looked at the man, confused if he handcuffed himself or if someone else handcuffed him to the bed.

“What the hell's going on here? Why are you handcuffed to the bed?”

The doll was confused by my questions. “Wait a second... I’m sorry, but who are you? My usual client at this time had a thing for handcuffs, and judging by your reaction, I take it you're not my client.” The doll said,

“Clouds aren’t joking when they say that they will fulfill your deepest desires,” I said sarcastically before asking the doll about the man I was looking for.

“I’m looking for someone—someone who I believe to be a client of yours. A medium-height man with short black spikey hair has a dragon tattoo on his hand, more specifically the skin in between his thumb and index finger.”

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The doll’s eyes light up. “Shin? Why are you looking for him?”

It was a long story, one that I wasn't going to tell. I decided to just shorten the story and say that his family was worried about him and wanted to know where he went at night. The doll was understanding and very disturbingly revealed that he was the client who has a fetish for handcuffs before continuing to say that Shin wanted the doll to quit his job at Clouds and come live with him.

“And do you want to leave Clouds?” I asked, wanting to make sure that the doll wasn't being forced to leave against his will.

“Yes! I hate working here. The constant paranoia of being replaced frightens me, and some of the things that clients want to do with me are outright creepy. There was one time when a client wanted to”

“I don’t want to know!” I said, stopping him mid-speech.

The doll continued, “Fair enough, but I would love to leave Clouds with Shin, as I love him. I was hoping that he was coming to get me out of here today, but seeing as though you have shown up means he isn't coming for me.”

The door opened. I turned around and noticed that the man who opened the door was the man I was looking for. I tried my best to explain the situation, saying that I wasn’t a customer, but in fact, while looking for him, Shin wanted to know why I was looking for him and who told me about his secret relationship.

“To skip over the details is your choom. Ryuji asked me to look for you; he was worried that you had gotten involved with the Tyger Claws.”

Shin let out a massive sigh of relief, thinking that I was there to kill him. Shin asked if I should keep quiet about everything that just transpired. I agreed as I could tell that this was my queue to leave, but annoyingly, Shin asked for one last favor.

“Could you please help me get Dale out of here? It shouldn't be hard; I’ll even pay you.”

I thought about it for a second and untimely decided to help, seeing as though I was this far in the rabbit hole. Shin smiled before revealing his plan: “What I need you to do is cause a distraction so I can get Dale out of here.”

I asked if Shin had any suggestions on what type of distraction I should cause.

Shin suggests that I act like a drunken client, as not only will everyone focus on me but also security will have to intervene and remove me from the building.

After much hesitation and internal debate, I reluctantly agreed to go along with the plan. I began to walk with a noticeable struggle, my movements unsteady and labored. My words became slurred and incoherent.

Gradually, I amplified my performance, faking a sudden loss of consciousness, but ensuring that it was loud and eye-catching enough to attract attention. As expected, security rushed towards me, their grip firm as they took hold of my arms and began to drag me towards the reception area before throwing me into the lockers.

I got up, remembered to grab my guns from the locker, and left Clouds.

Outside I saw Shin and the doll waiting for me.

“That was great, I love acting like a fucking idiot.”

Shin didn’t realize that I was being sarcastic, he handed over a good amount of eddies but I insisted that he kept the money as he'll need it more than me as I wouldn't be surprised if Tyger Claws came after him now.