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Gwendolyn’s POV

Hong Kong did not welcome us; it swallowed us.

We fled into the crushing density of the Kowloon side, where the skyscrapers leaned over the narrow alleys like giants sharing a secret. The air was a thick soup of diesel fumes, frying oil, and the electric ozone of ten million air conditioners. Here, the Chen-Sinclair facial recognition grid struggled to pierce through the layers of laundry lines, neon signage, and the sheer volume of human movement.

“Keep your head down, Gwen.