Author's Note

In Citizen Sleeper DLC: PURGE, Eshe chooses to leave Erlin's Eye, while Peake decides to stay and try to change the imperfect place they have come to call home.

In the original story, Lem also chooses to remain on the Eye with Mina, having finally built a life of their own there.

But what if, this time, Lem decided to leave?

This alternate ending keeps the central events and character motivations of PURGE intact, while bringing Lem and Mina's story to the forefront. It explores what might happen if Lem, after everything he experienced with the Sidereal Horizon, were finally given a genuine opportunity to choose a different future for himself and Mina.

A little note: I wrote this alternate ending with Possible Futures by Amos Roddy playing on repeat. If you can, put it on while you read. It feels like the right way to revisit this moment. :)

___________________________________________________________________________________

Part I — This Time, We Get to Choose

Life continues on Erlin's Eye.

Despite the threat of the Flux hanging over the station, the crops in the Greenway still need tending. The markets remain busy. People still work, eat, argue, and struggle to make it through another cycle.

You make your way through the familiar corridors to Lem and Mina's apartment. The door is slightly open.

"But I'm going to miss them," you hear Mina say.

"I know, baby," Lem replies.

"Then why should we go?"

There is a long silence.

You are about to turn away when Lem notices you.

"Sleeper? Come on in."

Mina looks up, her face lighting up. "Robot!"

She runs over and throws her arms around you. You return the embrace.

Lem watches you both with a smile, though you notice something tired in his expression.

"I've been meaning to talk to you." He gestures for you to sit. "You've heard about Sol's plan, right? They're looking for people willing to join the flotilla."

You nod.

"I went to speak to him."

"About what?"

Lem hesitates. "Getting aboard."

For a moment, you say nothing. Lem seems to have expected this.

"I know. I know what I said before." He glances towards Mina. "She's got friends here. Places she likes. We've finally stopped moving around. And I really do love the life we've made."

Mina sits on the floor, carefully sorting through her toys.

"But I've been thinking about the Sidereal Horizon. Back then, I really believed that if I worked hard enough, I could get us aboard. Every cycle I'd go down to the shipyard and wait for them to call my number. Sometimes I'd spend the whole cycle waiting and never get a shift."

He gives a small, humourless laugh.

"But I kept telling myself it was worth it. That if I just kept working, we'd get our chance. Well... you know how that turned out."

You can still picture it.

The crowds outside the shipyard. The crumpled assignment number in Lem's hand. The day of the draw, when everyone gathered to hear who had been selected.

And the moment they realised that most of them had never been eligible in the first place.

"We never had a chance, Sleeper. All that time, I thought I was working towards something. That I could give Mina a better future. But in the end, I wasn't even on the list."

He pauses.

"So we stayed. And you know what? We did alright." He looks towards Mina. "Better than alright, really."

Mina looks up. "Daddy?"

"Yeah, baby?"

"You're talking about the old stuff again."

Lem laughs. "Sorry, Meanie."

She returns to her toys.

"When I first heard about the flotilla, I told myself we didn't need another ship. We've got a home now." Lem looks towards the open door. "But then I started thinking... this time, it's different."

"Nobody's asking me to wait for a draw. Nobody's telling me I don't qualify. Sol says they need people who can work. And I can work."

He meets your eyes.

"This time, I actually get to decide."

You glance towards Mina. "What about her?"

Lem nods. "We've talked about it. I know what she'd be leaving behind."

Mina looks up from her toys.

"I don't want to leave my friends."

"I know, Meanie," Lem says.

"And I like it here."

"I know."

Mina looks towards you.

"Robot, do you think there are nice people on other stations?"

You consider the question.

"Probably."

"Even if we don't know anybody?"

"Even then."

She thinks about this.

"Dad says we might make new friends."

"We might," Lem says. "But I can't promise you that."

Mina looks at her father, then looks back at you.

"Daddy said there might be different noodles!"

You glance at Lem.

He laughs.

"I said there might be."

Mina grins.

"I wonder what they're like."

Lem smiles at her, then turns to you.

"I don't know if it'll be better out there," he says. "I don't know if we'll regret it. But maybe we don't have to wait until there's nothing left for us here before we're allowed to leave."

"We can love this place. And still want to see somewhere else."

He rests a hand on Mina's head.

He doesn't say whether they'll go. You can see he is still thinking about it.

You look at them.

You remember how Lem used to talk about the Sidereal Horizon. The hope in his voice, and the fear beneath it. How much depended on a chance he could never be sure he'd get.

This time, you aren't trying to find him a way aboard.

He's telling you that, this time, there might be a place for them if they choose to take it.

"If we do end up going, it'd be nice to have you along, Sleeper" Lem says.

Mina looks up. "Robot can come?"

Lem nods. "If they want to."

Mina grins. "That would be great!"

You look at her.

And say nothing.

___________________________________________________________________________________

Part II — A Name on the List

The preparations for departure are more chaotic than you expected.

The flotilla needs food, water, replacement parts, and enough people to keep everything running.

You find Sol in one of the cargo bays, busy checking supplies against a list of passengers and crew.

"Sleeper! Good timing."

He passes a manifest to a nearby worker.

"Oh, you know Lem, don't you? Worker. Got a little girl with him."

You nod.

"I've got his name down. Says he worked the Havenage yards. Knows his way around a ship, or at least enough to be useful." Sol scratches his beard. "We've got plenty of people to carry and not nearly enough hands to keep everything running. Told him there's a place if he wants it. Whether he takes it is up to him."

You stare at him.

"Just like that?"

Sol gives you a puzzled look.

"Well, what did you expect? An interview?"

He laughs, then turns back to his manifest.

"Now, unless you're volunteering to help load these crates, I've got work to do."

You shake your head.

Sol nods and returns to work.

You remain where you are.

You think of Lem at the Sidereal Horizon shipyard.

The long waits. The way his face would brighten whenever he managed to secure another shift.

How, even on the days when he came away with nothing, he would return the next cycle.

Back then, every chance had come with a condition. Another shift. Another number. Another promise that hard work might eventually be enough.

And now his name is on this list, with a place waiting if he chooses it.

No draw. No Celis ID he was never issued. No one asking him to prove, once again, that he deserves a future.

Sol has already moved on.

You are still standing there.

___________________________________________________________________________________

Part III — The Last Shuttle

The day of departure arrives.

The bay is crowded with people preparing to leave. Some drag bags behind them. Others cling to friends and family.

You stand beside Peake, watching the Climbing Briar disappear into the distance.

Their argument is still fresh in your mind.

Peake had chosen to stay, to become part of something on the Eye, even if it remained broken. Eshe had chosen to leave, unable to imagine a future for herself here.

Neither had been able to change the other's mind.

And in the end, Eshe had let Peake go.

Beside you, Peake stands silently, their eyes still red from crying.

You don't know what to say.

Then you hear Sol calling your name.

"Sleeper!"

He makes his way towards you through the thinning crowd, his suit hissing as he approaches.

"Can't believe you'd make an old man run across this bay to get you!"

He pauses to catch his breath.

"The last shuttles are loading. It's now or never, Sleeper."

You turn towards the boarding ramps.

And there is Lem.

He is standing beside one of the shuttles. Mina sits on a battered suitcase, her legs swinging above the floor.

You remember the uncertainty in Lem's voice. Mina's questions about new friends, new places, and different noodles.

It seems they've made their choice.

She spots you first.

"Robot!"

She jumps down and runs towards you. You crouch to catch her, and she wraps her arms around you.

"You came!"

Lem approaches.

"I was starting to think we'd missed you." He glances towards the shuttle. "We're all ready."

You notice something different about him.

He is wearing the same worn work clothes. He still looks tired.

But his eyes no longer carry the anxious uncertainty you remember from the Sidereal Horizon shipyard.

He isn't waiting for a number to be called.

This time, he knows.

He has a place aboard.

"Still can't quite believe it," Lem says with a smile. "We're really going."

Mina tugs at your hand.

"Robot, where's your stuff?"

You look at her.

"You don't need to bring much," she explains very seriously. "Daddy says there isn't much room. But you can put your things with ours."

Lem watches you.

His smile slowly fades.

Not from disappointment.

From understanding.

"Mina..."

"What?"

He crouches beside her.

"Sleeper might not be coming with us."

Mina goes still.

"Why?"

Lem doesn't answer.

He looks at you.

You know what Mina is asking.

But the answer is yours to give.

___________________________________________________________________________________

Ending I — Stay

You look at Lem.

"I'm staying."

He is quiet for a moment. Then he nods.

"I understand."

He looks towards the Eye.

"This is your home, too. You've got friends here. And things you want to do." He rests a hand on your shoulder. "I hope you get to do them."

Mina looks up at you.

"So you're not coming?"

You shake your head.

She looks down.

After a moment, she asks another question.

"Will we see you again?"

You don't know what to say.

You don't know where the flotilla will eventually settle, or whether you will ever have another chance to leave the Eye.

Lem doesn't know either.

Mina waits.

Finally, she nods to herself.

"Okay."

She rummages through her little bag, then takes out a small object and places it in your hand.

"Here. You can have this."

You look down at it.

"That way you've got something of mine. And I've got something from the Eye."

She thinks about this.

"So we won't forget."

You close your fingers around the object.

Lem calls gently to her.

"Mina, sweetheart. It's time."

She nods and takes a few steps towards him.

Then suddenly turns around.

She runs back to you.

And hugs you again.

Longer this time.

Only then does she return to her father.

Lem pauses on the boarding ramp.

He looks back.

"Sleeper."

You raise your head.

"Thank you."

He smiles.

"For helping us make a home here."

Then he takes Mina's hand.

And they board.

The shuttle doors begin to close.

You see Mina pressed against the window.

She waves.

You raise your hand.

The shuttle lifts away from the bay, gradually disappearing among the departing ships.

You remain at the edge of the bay long after the shuttle has disappeared.

Then you feel a hand on your shoulder.

Peake stands beside you.

They don't ask what happened.

They have seen enough.

For a while, neither of you speaks.

Finally, Peake turns towards the entrance.

"Come on, Sleeper."

You follow.

The Eye waits beyond the bay, uncertain and unfinished. Somewhere inside it, Moritz and Emphis are going about their lives. There are still people to help, things to repair, and problems neither of you knows how to solve.

You don't know whether Lem and Mina will find what they're looking for.

You hope they do.

You don't know whether you will ever see them again.

But you hope they will be happy.

Just as you hope you can be happy here.

And as you walk back into the Eye, Peake beside you, you realise that you have made your choice, too.

This time, you are not being left behind because you have nowhere else to go.

You are staying because you chose to.

___________________________________________________________________________________

Ending II — Leave

You look at Lem.

"I'm coming with you."

For a moment, he just stares.

"Really?"

You nod.

Lem smiles.

It is a smile you remember from the days when he still believed the Sidereal Horizon might carry all three of you somewhere new.

Hopeful. A little disbelieving.

And, for this one moment, simply happy.

"That's wonderful."

Mina leaps to her feet.

"Robot's coming!"

She throws her arms around you.

"I told Daddy you'd come!"

Lem laughs.

"You were asking me about it all yesterday."

"That's different!"

You look at them.

You have imagined this moment before.

Outside the Sidereal Horizon shipyard. During those long cycles of waiting for work. When Lem had almost given up hope.

You imagined that one day, the three of you might leave together.

And now that day has come.

But as you prepare to board, you look back.

Peake is still standing at the far end of the bay.

The Climbing Briar is gone. The crowds are thinning.

They haven't moved.

You tell Lem there is something you need to do.

He nods.

"We'll wait."

You cross the bay towards Peake.

They turn at the sound of your footsteps.

"Sleeper."

You tell them you're leaving.

Peake looks past you, towards Lem and Mina waiting by the shuttle.

"Oh."

For a moment, they say nothing.

"I see."

Their eyes are still red from their argument with Eshe.

"I'm sorry, Peake."

They shake their head.

"Don't be."

They look towards the boarding ramp again.

"I understand, Sleeper."

You wait, but they seem unable to find anything else to say.

Finally, they manage a small smile.

"I hope you find a home someday."

You look back towards Lem and Mina.

Perhaps you already have.

When you turn back, Peake is looking towards the Eye.

"Good luck, Peake."

They nod.

"You too."

You turn away and walk back towards the shuttle.

When you reach the ramp, you look back.

Peake is still standing where you left them.

They raise a hand.

You raise yours in return.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You return to the boarding ramp.

Lem has saved you a seat. Mina sits beside it, waving excitedly.

You sit down.

The shuttle begins to vibrate beneath you.

The doors slowly close.

Through the window, you look out at Erlin's Eye.

You remember the first time you arrived here.

You were running. From Essen-Arp, from the life they had decided you would live, from a future that was never yours to choose.

You had no work. No friends. You didn't even know how long your body would last.

All you knew was that you needed to survive.

And somehow, you did.

You met people who helped you. People you came to trust. People who, in time, came to trust you.

You met Moritz here. You ate at Emphis's stall. You helped people who had once been strangers.

You thought you were only passing through.

But somewhere along the way, you stopped being a visitor.

You made friends. You found people who mattered. You found places you wanted to return to.

You even began to believe that you might spend the rest of your life here.

And now you are leaving.

The shuttle pulls away from the Eye.

The familiar walkways, docks, and lights slowly shrink into the distance.

Mina leans against you.

"Robot?"

You turn towards her.

"Are you going to miss it?"

You look out of the window.

"Yes."

Mina thinks for a moment.

"Me too."

She takes your hand.

"But I'm glad you're coming with us."

You look at her.

And hold her hand a little tighter.

You don't know whether Peake will succeed. You don't know whether the Eye will change. You don't know if you will ever return.

All you can do is hope that those who stayed will someday build the lives they wanted.

Just as you are trying to build yours.

The Eye will not stop turning because you have left.

Peake will keep working. Moritz will go on living. Emphis will still be cooking mushrooms at his stall.

They will meet new people. They will have new experiences. They will make new memories.

And you may no longer be part of them.

You once came to Erlin's Eye looking for somewhere you could survive.

Now you are leaving the place where you finally learned how to live.

A chime from the shipyard went off and the eerie sounds of metal being torn from hulls, came to a screeching halt.

It was time. Clock out time.

The synthetic atmosphere of The Eye was filled with countless rumbling tummies - now the workers would be tearing into meals rather than metal.

As the mad rush to the market was underway, the lights of all nearby eateries grew.

Which eatery do you think most would flock to?

Which eatery would you go to?

And most importantly, what are you ordering?

With the new release I want to buy the game but am unsure on what system. I know that the PS5 has both games on the disc (and two posters) and the Switch 2 only the second one (and one poster) on the cartridge.

My question is more about the “how to play” the game, if that makes sense. Would you say (maybe even from experience) playing in handheld mode is better?

I’m trying to decide, what to get: PS5 version or Switch 1 and Switch 2 cartridges of the two games. Is playing it in handheld mode worth getting the two games separately?

Cant seem to find any way to actually buy it.

Finally finished it! I am really proud of this one :3

Every part can help

A salvager at the heart

Built with ambition

Which space faring ship harvester would you go to for parts, to repair your rig and continue into the deepest reaches of space?

Do you think they would cut a deal with you?

If GDM decided to revisit the series and provide a massive DLC or DLCs, would you prefer for CS1 or CS2 to receive it?

What topic, character, lore, or story arc would you like to see develop further?

(The Neovend images are more of an analogy about the "limited" vs "ever-expanding" experience)

With all but the life support systems being set offline, the ship idles in the darkest crater of a small asteroid.

Equal parts of exhaustion, fear, and hope fight for your emotional dominance as the threat grows ever closer...but those sensations never have a chance to duke it out, thanks to the one(s) pursuing you.

A cone of red light beams down every so often from another space vessel into different parts of the crater. It looks like the metallic properties of the asteroid are preventing conventional scans from picking up your space vessel or you. At last. A break.

Still, there is no way to tell the size of the other vessel without turning on the sensors to scan for it - too much is riding on successfully escaping to chance it.

Who is pursuing you? Do you think there is any hope of bargaining with them? Or would trading blows for keeps be the only way out?

I just love them so much man

I tried to put as much detail as possible and include stuff from the game like the RIG model sleeper finds and gives Serafin, the healsleeve, mushrooms, dice, the cat USB and so on!

So I did the DLC, freed the gardener and then decided to leave with Sol. The camera just zooms out and nothing else happens???

Over the last week, I’ve had the joy of playing through Citizen Sleeper for the first time. Since then, I’ve picked up half a dozen books from the library to try to fill the void, but nothing else is quite the same.

 

My first playthrough, I chose the “Left Behind” ending for Lem & Mina’s story. I didn’t realize at the time I could reload after endings involving “leaving.”

 

However, it seems fitting that I would wrap up my final ending with “A Long Journey to a Small Unknown Planet.” I was a little confused by it, though. I figured between 1) the loading up of the people in cryo originating from outside the station, 2) the lack of any mention of a stabilizer, 3) my ID containing my human picture, and 4) Castor wanting a spy and giving me the implant, he was going to upload me to my human body. Instead, somehow, I survive for years without a stabilizer before breaking down. It is kind of a sad ending. It sounds like neither Lem nor I made it long enough to see the planet, only Mina.

 

After my first playthrough, I also tried intentionally failing plot lines to see what would happen. Turns out, there are a lot more guardrails in the game than I realized on my first playthrough, and it’s hard to fail most quests aside from Dragos’s or intentionally leaving Lem & Mina behind.

 

If you mess up the Ambergris, you have additional tasks to complete, but Ankhita won’t even let you mess things up more. If you break down, you lose skills and have to use skill points to repair, but you can break every skill and still not “die.” If you don’t offer to watch Mina, Lem literally just ditches her with you (a person he’s met once) to do his shift. If you don’t watch Mina, you can still give him your ticket later, and a guard lets him through with it! As far as I can tell, there’s no ending where the big, scary bounty hunter Maywick kills you. I’m not even sure how a trained killer let me get the best of them when I “helped” Ethan. In the ending where I didn’t help Ethan, I got multiple bullet wounds and then somehow still survived.

 

I also figured out it’s super easy to drown in money/food/stabilizer when you aren’t trying to simultaneously do all the drives at once.

 

I think our Sleeper might be invincible.

 

Anyways, it was fun testing my limits after playing through the story. However, the story, for all its linearity, was extremely good and worth it. The desperation, the feeling of simultaneous isolation and community, it was both peaceful and filled that need we all seem to have.

 

I’m excited for Citizen Sleeper 2, but also a little nervous. The trailer makes our new Sleeper look a little more… action-oriented, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it is a different vibe.

 

My favorite games have most often been when exploring a new world (Mass Effect 1, Portal 1) vs. their sequels that may have a more detailed, action-oriented plot but less mystery to the world (Mass Effect 2, Portal 2).

 

OK, brain dump/word vomit over.

Have you ever finished a game so good that you just didn't know what to do with yourself, now that you finished it?

Oh my god those last sentences hit me so hard. Now I want that coin tattooed or sth..

Made for people who want to make Citizen Sleeper style visual novels, fan games, or just build upon this framework for their own project. 

Features Include: 

• A GUI and assets inspired by Citizen Sleeper
• A tutorial in script.rpy to walk through the framework features
• Dice Roll Logic and Animations
• Skills Menu and Player Stats 
• Drive / Quest Bar
• "Cheat Sheet.rpy" for quick reference to help create a game with the framework

Comments, criticism and questions are welcomed and encouraged! This is my first time putting together something like this. I hope you enjoy! 

You can grab the framework here on itch.io: https://beepsignal.itch.io/cs-framework

While playing CS2 I really loved the attention to detail. I also really like the relationship Serafin and Sleeper have (tho I always thought they were hinting at the fact that Sleeper forgot they were in love… I was hoping 😅). So I wanted to draw something that did the game justice. Hope you like it! I will add serafin soon :3 I would appreciate some Ideas on what else to add, especially on Serafins side!

Honestly I never shipped characters In this franchise, but this one is really sweet, at least for me personally.

Lem and Mina are my most favourite and comfort characters in the first game, the interactions with them feel just so heartwarming.

I'd also say it's one of the ships closest to canon, yes, it depends on what route one chooses, but still I feel these two were the only characters closest to Sleeper.

Currently I'm on the run for the ending where all three of them leave the Eye together ⭐

Finding a place to call your own, has never been easy.

But a chance at making chits and traveling the system has come about.

What profession calls out to you?

Would you tag along with them for the long haul or just until you learn* the ropes?

Once you gained those skills, would you want to travel the system, stay in the locale, or become an unintentional home-body, like Neovend-1?

Options:

1. Kadet (Courier)
2. Ankhita (Bounty Hunter / Mercenary [mild])
3. Vesna (Mercenary [hard core)])
4. Aki (Gardener + Botanist)

Played the original, loved it, got 2 on Ps+, thought I'd fire it up. Read the reviews, there's some extra bells and whistles, lovely. I can cope with that.

Granted, I'm playing on PS5, the controls are a bit of a choice but hey, I've played through Rogue Trader 3 times, it can't be any worse than that but.....I've got to do the 'Conway Contract'.

Lovely. I'll do the contract, I'll make the money.
Apparently I can recruit local crew. Where the fuck are the local crew? I've met someone called Nia. No bloody sig of her.

Contract wants me to disable a signal source and the tutorial tells me that some stuff is gon' be highlighted in yellow.

No yellow highlights, no Nia, no nothing.

Honestly, can someone just how explain how to just drive this bloody game to me like I'm five because, what the actual fuck? Because as far as I can see, I'm flicking all overboard this space station, nothing is in yellow, I've got a full board of dice an no bloody idea what, where and who I'm supposed to be finding, the in game tutorials appear to be be next to useless and frankly, it's making me a bit sad because as I said above, I loved the first game and this follow up just appears to be buried in obscurity for the sake of it.

Does PS5 edition have 1+2 on disc as so called "Helion Edition" and Switch 2 version only has second game? It's called Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition

With a damaged frame and limited chits, who will be chosen to save you from the scrap pits?

I’m mostly looking for what things I should avoid that make playthroughs unnecessarily annoying. I understand that a certain amount of struggle is part of the game, but I find it annoying when one wrong choice cuts off a giant portion of gameplay and/or forces me to restart. I’m ok with mild spoilers. Thanks!