August spoiler Q&A (Patreon)

how did HG experience the aquarium memory? Did their consciousness remain in the "real world" or did they also end up too deep into the memory, like Sidestep seemed to? Did they manage to catch glimpses of Sidestep's own memories or were they too hazy for HG to understand? How did that whole event look like to Nocturne and Jake, considering how much it seemed to affect HG?

They also slipped into the memory, but if it was the same one, or how deep will remain a secret for now. Neither Nocturne nor Jake saw anything out of the ordinary, it all went very fast. 

How much had HG's mother been aware of HG's plan to get Marshal Hood killed? If she was aware, what did she think of the plan? Was she worried it might bring more trouble down on the line to HG or did she have confidence HG could handle it?

Hollow Ground's mother was not aware of that. If she had been, she would still have believed it was HG's call to make.

If Sidestep has the sui_tag and develops a close relationship with HG, would it maybe be possible to eventually ask HG to thread Sidestep similar to the way they threaded Nocturne to help her?

Yes. That might be an option.

Would Nocturne's powers work on someone like Lady Argent? 

Nope.

What do Nocturne's and HG's normal work days look like? What duties do they have? 

Like any self-employed business owner it's a flexible schedule with too long hours. Nocturne tends to deal with the paperwork, while HG prefers to deal with people. In a city and business like this there's never any clue what the day might bring.

If Sidestep refused to work with HG, is it possible for Sidestep to rethink and maybe end up working with HG in the future? Or vice versa if HG’s little trick didn’t work on Sidestep and they agreed to work with the kingpin, can they end up betraying HG?

Yes, it will be possible to change your mind.

Are there any songs you associate with Nocturne or Jake?

Not yet. 

If Sidestep forms a friendly relationship with HG, would it also mean possibility to get to know Jake and Nocturne? Would friendship be a possibility or would it be more of a allies?

Dunno. Haven't written it yet. When it comes to character interaction I can't plan it beforehand, I need to write it to see if it works.

Is there possibly a bug should you decide to accept Herald's coffee invitation while training him to destroy his confidence? The dialogue during the coffee date didn't really seem to reflect that I actually tried to weaken him during my last playthrough, rather the opposite in fact.

I'll take a look, it's possible I need to add more polish and focus on that.

Are there any ending variants that surprised you (even if only because there's so many variables involved!), or were especially fun to write/plan out? 

Not yet. I knew these endings when I started, but there's a lot of smaller things that has surprised and delighted me. Mortum's reactions has surprised me a lot, they are not behaving like I thought, which makes things... interesting.

There are a few moments (especially toward the end of Retribution) where Sidestep suspects the Rangers of setting a trap (notably not the case when Argent and Handyman actually *are* setting a trap early on). Since there are (I think) a few ways to end the game with suspicious Rangers but without getting officially unmasked, is that something that might actually materialize in the future?

That does indeed sound like something to worry about.

Sidestep said that the people at the Farm 'raided their mind' when they were taken back after Heartbreak. Was this done via another telepath or with some kind of technology? 

The same kind of technology that the Farm uses to imprint memories in ReGenes.

In the last QnA, it was mentioned that Argent's nanos are easier to control with carbs but need meat to stay healthy. When Mortum neutered Step's little colony of nanovores, were they able to also alter the dietary requirements or will Step's colony eventually need to be replaced?

Currently Step's colony still needs carbs, a glucose solution keeps them healthy, and they do get nutrition from things like wood, plastic and rubber. However, they no longer have the ability to reproduce. That takes meat. So yes, if they would suffer major damage/loss they would need to be replaced, or Dr. Mortum would need to figure out another way to breed them.

how would the story's telepaths—sidestep, locus, hollow ground, shroud, & heartbreak—be classified under ljungstrand's telepathy system?

Sidestep: T12345678

Locus: T2567

Hollow Ground: T34578

Shroud: T469

Heartbreak: T135678

Did Chen get threaded before or after becoming Marshal? If after, did he ever help Ortega with his HG crusade in the past?

Before, but it became more intense after. HG needed someone to keep Ortega distracted, and Steel was the one whose advice they trusted.

Could step still make argent's nanovores freeze in their tracks like during the nanosurge if need be or have they sort of evolved to be stronger than that being a cohesive unit with argent?

Maybe. It would be a harder fight, they've evolved a lot, and mixed with a human mind makes everything complicated. 

If it's not left to headcanons, what were Sidestep's missions at the farm like?

We'll get into that eventually, there will be choices to make.

There's a mention of the tattoos feeling textured to Step, did you know that tattoos can become raised as a reaction to stress?  

I did not! But it makes sense, mine occasionally itches.

Are the tattoos actually texturized or is it Step's imagination?

Sidestep's imagination.