#interactivestories

Devlog 2026-06-12

Happy Friday!

Life goes on, and we have now managed to keep a helpless new human potato alive for just over 3 weeks. The little potato mostly sleeps, cries, poops, sleeps, and cries. They sometimes do all of them at once. The older potato loves the little potato very much, and it's endearing to see her faff over her potato sibling.

The Toxic Yuri jam is on track and doing well. I have high hopes for this one.

I also spent the week on boring infrastructure tasks for Infinite Stars. We've made some changes to how our data is stored, managed, and accessed. It's much more secure now, and we have significantly reduced our risk of losing any work. It sounds silly and trivial, but as the project has grown over the years, there have been many touchpoints from many different contributors, some minor, some major. We've always been diligent about file ownership (those of you in IT might know the pain of having a critical company doc in the cloud belonging to an individual's private account, which they then decide to delete, unknowingly vaporising any docs they created). It hasn't happened to Infinite Stars, but it was always a possibility. In short, it's now much easier to onboard or offboard (is that even a word?) contributors, and we now have much better control over our internal working files. This also paves the way for having more publicly accessible assets for mod creators, fan writers, and artists. (Now, all of you aspiring fan artists can have a visual reference of what the Taitha crew uniform boots look like. I know, right?)

Another bonus is that I now have visibility on a ton of half-finished scenes created over the years for the game that were orphaned and forgotten. Not all of them are good, but there are a few gems in there.

Other than that, we're still looking for intern writers for Infinite Stars and other smaller projects. If you're keen or know of someone who is, send them my way. (Being an Infinite Stars fan isn't a requirement, but it really helps if you love the characters you're writing.)

Oh, our Tumblr is also more active. So if you have an ask (anonymous or not), send it our way. We're considering hosting an Infinite Stars Tumblr AMA fiesta. If you ever wondered about questions like whose feet on the crew are the smelliest, or who has the weirdest face when they cry, this is your opportunity to find out. Special shoutout to Kingly for kicking the Tumblr until something happened. (Also, if you draw or have drawn Infinite Stars fanart, please post it to Tumblr (tagging us) and also to r/otomegames on Reddit. There might be special rewards if we see your post in the wild!)

(This is a character development post copied from https://www.patreon.com/posts/40908265 - We’re trying to build our Tumblr following so any retweets and follows will warm our hearts!)

The inviting smell of synthetic coffee and the hubbub of voices had evaporated a while ago and the only other customers, a young couple, were leaving. The chair in front of Lochem was still empty. Time was up.

He had to make a decision. It was clear now that Angelique never intended to meet him here. She knew him too well. She knew that this was a decision he had to make for himself. If she had done as he had asked and met with him today, he wouldn’t have had the strength to give the alternative a second thought.

If I go, I won’t have to deal with this kind of shit anymore. No more fights about nothing. No more compromises and concessions. There will be more than enough challenges to keep my mind and body occupied...

But it wasn’t all that bad though? We had plenty of good times. There is still something there worth saving. Worth fighting for. If I go– If I go all of that dies here.

But if I don’t go what does that say about me? Am I selfish enough to stay and fight for one person while I must fight for everyone? If I don’t go, I won’t be able to live with myself. No matter how much I love her, if I stay others might lose their loved ones.

But Angelique won’t be the only thing I leave behind. I probably won’t ever see mom and dad again. I won’t be there to protect Mayvheen when she is old enough for boys to start noticing her. I won’t be there to earth gaze with her or tell her bedside stories. No more hugs. I won't– There won't even be time to say goodbye. No! I can't do that to her.

He couldn’t leave May. She was too young to understand. He had to stay, even if it’s just for her. He had valid reasons not to go. With what had happened, everyone would understand. No one would blame him or think less of him. He had made up his mind.

A weight lifted from his heart. He stood up, slinging his go-bag onto his shoulder. It felt so much lighter than it did this morning.

The young waitress had been waiting for him at the counter. He knew she had been anxious for him to leave so she could close up, but she had been too kind to rush him.

“How much do I owe?” He asked, smiling at her.

“Nothing. It’s on me.”

“No please, you were so kind waiting on me the whole afternoon.”

“You are a protectorate soldier, it's the least I could do.”

“How did you–?”

“You bag. I saw the emblem.”

“Oh.”

“I Uhm. I heard the first transports are shipping out for Mars tonight. Is that where you are going?”

“No.”

“Oh. I just  assumed–”

“It’s OK. Thank you for the coffee. I’m actually going home.”

The young woman smiled at him awkwardly as he started walking out of the cafe.

“Erm, sir?”

“Yes?”

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“If it wasn’t for people like you, none of us would have a home to go to. I just wanted you to know.”

He stood in the doorway looking back at her. She seemed sincere, but his silence was clearly making her uncomfortable.

“What I mean– I meant– We’re all doing our part, but it seems insignificant when compared to what people like you are doing.”

Lochem nodded at the young woman who immediately seemed relieved. He stared at her for a moment longer and then left, closing the door softly behind him.

---

Mayvheen kneeled on the soft cushion on the floor, staring at Earth through the large lunar windows. She was already dressed for bedtime. She squeezed the ferret teddy against her chest and glanced over to the empty cushion next to her.

No one had explained anything to her. She was still just a child, but she understood. She had seen the holo broadcasts and overheard the anxious whispers between mom and dad. She was too young to read, but she saw the screen adverts of dashing, young, uniformed men and women standing with inviting arms and bright smiles. She had heard mom crying into her pillow late at night. She had noticed the recent change in her brother, a reluctant silence in his eyes when they had been together. She understood.

“Mayvheen, it’s time for bed!”

Mayvheen got up. She didn’t feel like asking for five more minutes tonight. She walked towards the door and flicked the switch while looking back at the two empty cushions basking in the soft light of Earth's glow.