Writer Paul Robert Coyle's original idea for this episode involved O'Brien waking up one morning to find Molly and Keiko gone and nobody on the entire station remembers him ever being there. He then finds out there is a Chief Miles O'Brien in Starfleet,but, he is serving on the USS Enterprise-D, and the episode entails him trying to sort out the mystery.
The flashback structure was added by the in-house staff after Coyle had submitted his draft, as a way to expand the story.
One of the ships listed in the Arrival Roster is the C-57-D on a Lunar Expedition, captained by JJ Adams. This is the ship from Forbidden Planet (1956).
The runabout Mekong is introduced as a replacement for the Ganges, which was destroyed in the previous episode Armageddon Game (1994).
Referenced Rules of Acquisition: (tentatively) #194 ("It's always good to know about new customers before they walk in your door")