A very enjoyable read! The character writing in the main part of the story - ie, everything leading up to a surprise introduction of a certain character - perfectly fit the tone of this sci-fi murder mystery where we get light comedy woven in with the tense atmosphere. However, the part after the aforementioned surprise introduction definitely felt weaker to me. That stellar character writing more or less goes away, as does the premise of the murder mystery by throwing in (spoiler) to pretty much replace it. It's not bad, but weakens the primary stretch of the game for me.
Small thing about the writing - nothing about story: I played it with audio description on as I like to see how accessibility options are implemented, if they are present. I was sort of expecting audio captions, mostly as that's how I do it, and was confused where they were until I realized you had implemented it so unobtrusively into the prose I just assumed it would be written like that either way. So I'd say you did well with this accessibility option!
Presentation-wise, I loved all of it though. You really used the jam sprites well, constantly changing expressions and distances to fit what was happening within the narrative - the animations and scene framing like putting characters behind tables made the game feel more dynamic and visually interesting.
What really stood out was the music you've made. One, it was just really good. Two, it pushed the emotions and atmosphere in the way you wrote the story, so the great music was utilized effectively too. The different variations of the tracks are subtle, and such subtly pushes the player to a variation of emotions. And the layering of music and ocean in a late scene? Chills. What I'm saying is, I'd certainly vote for Your Eyes to win Best Sound Design!
Been listening to 'Aurora' on loop while writing this :)