Reading this review made me really happy, and I'm glad you enjoyed your time playing the game.
I wish I could have submitted it for the jam, but unfortunately, features like the explorable map, the custom text box, and the cutscenes significantly extended the development time, especially since it was my first attempt at creating features of that kind.
To give you an idea, the game's development began in mid-September 2024.
Thanks a lot for pointing out the soft-lock by the way. I managed to fix it and now it should be absent in the 1.01 BUILD.
((SPOILERS!!))
Speaking of your story analysis, I would like to correct one thing you said. The pathogen is not a sentient thing, it's simply a device Gloria uses to propagate her children.
I drew inspiration from the demonic disease in REC for this, but I also chose it as a device because a sexually transmitted disease felt fitting, given the antagonist's nature and how the patient zero gets possessed because of her.