I welcome you to our Until Then: Afterimages Chapter 1 walkthrough. It’s a DLC that serves as a continuation of the main story and provides a better look at characters that were previously neglected; they’re finally getting the screen time they deserve. You can check out its Steam page if you want to learn more about it.
This walkthrough will cover the first chapter of the DLC, as it’s longer than the main game chapters.
Table of contents
Homecoming
The chapter opens up with, apparently, a new character returning to the Philippines after a long trip abroad. They get inside the taxi and tell the driver to drop them at Liamson; the same place where the main game took place with Mark, Catherine, Nicole, and others.
And the ride begins. The weather is cloudy, everyone’s wearing a mask, and all shops are closed. After a few moments, they reach their destination, a massive apartment building. There, a girl named Celest welcomes them and tells the protagonist that they’ll be staying in Alec’s room since she’s away for training; they will be here for the next three weeks.
Settling In
As Celest cooks something for herself and us, head right to the room. There’s a laptop before the door that you can interact with; it’s Celest’s; she works during the day.
Now, once inside the room, the protagonist will complement her posters, explaining that she’s an alt-girl. Interact with the bed to see her toys, and when you’re done, check the table on the right to begin unpacking.
Suddenly, the protagonist remembers to let their friend, Alissa Rimando, know that they have landed and have settled in Celest’s place. Knowing how the world is evolving, they begin scrolling a TikTok-esque social media. You can like, scroll, and view comments on every post; you can comment too.
Note: Liking everything on the social media may lead to unique interactions with others.
After commenting on the thrift video, the screen fades to dinner with Celest. And here, the protagonist is revealed to be Sofia, Cathy’s love interest and Louise’s best friend, who cheered her on during a chess game in school.
Celest asks her about North Carolina since Sofia has spent years there. She says that she loved walking around the city with her grandma, but unfortunately, time doesn’t wait for anyone. If you’re unfamiliar, Sofia’s grandma was admitted to a hospital in the main game due to heart problems.
Sofia saw it coming from miles away, and she was ready. Celest sympathizes with her and compliments her work on ClickClock. Celest asks Sofia whether she gets commission offers from it; she does, but it’s slow now.
The conversation then shifts to Alissa, Sofia’s significant other, who has been together for two or three years. She’s half Filipino, but returning to her roots is a big decision. After they eat dinner, Sofia goes on a video call with her, who shares an uncanny resemblance with Nicole.
They talk about their lives and how surreal it feels to return to the Philippines. Alissa tells Sofia to reconnect with Louisde again. When she bids farewell, end the call to continue the story. You’re free to control Sofia again. Interact with the laptop and dinner table if you’d like, then talk to Celest and return to the room.
As she sits on the bed, she receives a message from the law firm named Mendoza & Co. Law, calling her to a meeting with Atty at 3 PM tomorrow. And here, the first day ends.
Exploration
The next day, Sofia leaves the apartment while on a video call with Alissa. Walk down the street to the right, and Sofia sees her favorite restaurant being closed; it did not survive the COVID lockdown. Continue moving forward until you see the neighborhood’s community pantry.
Since the lockdown, not everyone has been able to secure groceries properly. So, the pantry owner asks Sofia to take anything she likes. She doesn’t take anything and thanks him for the generosity. Since there is some time to kill, she wonders what else is here. However, everything is closed.
Due to the time difference, Alissa goes to sleep. Move forward until you find a stall with clothes. Interact with the owner, and Sofia will notice a golden butterfly hairpin, which resembles the one Cathy wore at prom back in the day.
Sofia will hear someone saying, “Over here” from afar. Move right, and gradually the environment will black out. Keep walking, and you’ll return to the prom night of the first loop, where Cathy tries to ask Sofia for a dance, but becomes flustered and fails. They complement each other’s outfits, and suddenly, she snaps back to reality.
Sofia is holding the yellow butterfly hairpin, and a few moments later, she arrives at Mendoza & Co. Law office. As she waits for the attorney, a picture of Cathy flashes into her mind. The attendant will tell Sofia that her attorney is ready, and she heads inside the room.
The attorney, who has a bruised eye, greets Sofia and tells her that it’s a danger of the business. She’s here for her grandma’s inheritance, and as they talk about the conditions, the screen suddenly cuts.
Jet Lag
Time passes, and Sofia is now back home, struggling to sleep. Thoughts in her head are loud, and she messages Alissa just to hear her voice. Since Alissa’s asleep, Sofia decides to look for condos as she asked. Since they have a pet, Marnie, in North Carolina, she can’t accept the first condo, as it prohibits pets.
The second condo looks lavish, but it’s exorbitantly overpriced. Still, Sofia can’t make up her mind; click on the back button above. She wonders when everything got so expensive, and suddenly, she receives a reply from Brittany, a stylist who wanted to commission Sofia for her work. Unfortunately, she declines because her project took another direction.
She sighs deeply and hopes to get a job in the near future. Now, Sofia opens Nookface while lying on the bed. You can only scroll through three videos, and eventually, Alissa calls her. They catch up, and Sofia explains that she’s brainstorming new ideas for her work as her portfolio isn’t strong enough.
Alissa tells her that Marnie is doing fine after the vet appointment and asks Sofia to get some rest, as she has planned to spend the next day with Celest. When the call ends, Sofia looks at the golden butterfly hairpin; her smile fades away, and she sleeps.
Bake Day
The next day begins, and Sofia and Celest are at a bakery. They ask about their reservation, and with that, a mini-game starts.
You will find four tasks to do in this section. First, we need to make the Caramel Filling. To do that, open the third cabinet (all cabinets will be mentioned from the left) and take out heavy cream. Place it near the bowl on the slab above.
Sugar is the second ingredient, which can be found in the fourth cabinet. Put it near the bowl, and get butter from the third cabinet again. Combine these items, and put the bowl on the stove on the left kitchen slab.
Tip: You can simultaneously do other tasks.
Wait for it to cook, then place it on the tray near Celest; she will put it in a bag. This will complete your first task. Place the filling slab on the left slab to make some space.
Chocolate frosting is the second task. First, get sugar from the fourth cabinet, then pick up the cocoa powder from the seventh. Put them into a bowl, and pick up butter from the third cabinet. Once combined, take the bowl to the mixer (bottom right) and let it process.
Then, put the mixture into the fridge above and wait for it to cool. This becomes the chocolate filling. Place the bag on the slab, and now it’s time to bake some cupcakes.
For that, take milk from the third cabinet, oil, egg, and sugar from the fourth cabinet, and cocoa powder and flour from the seventh. Place all the ingredients in the bowl, and mix them in the mixer. When it’s done mixing, put the batter in the cupcake tray; press space when the meter reaches green.
Put the tray into the oven, and let it bake. Finally, place them on the tray near Celest, and let her do the rest. With that, the cupcakes are ready! Place them on the slab, and decorate them with both the caramel and chocolate filling. To finalize it, give the cupcakes to Celest, and with that, the first baking session is complete.
Now, Celest will give Sofia a challenge: To make Strawberry Dream Cupcakes in under three minutes. The tasks are shown above and follow a similar pattern, but now we have to bake vanilla cupcakes and make strawberry filling.
So, we have to do this quickly. Take milk from the third cabinet, sugar, egg, and oil from the fourth, and flour and vanilla extract from the seventh. Place all of them in the bowl and mix them. Immediately begin working on the second task: Strawberry Jam Filling.
Take the strawberries from the fourth cabinet and chop them on the board to the right of Celest. Press space repeatedly to fill up the bar, and put the chopped strawberries in the bowl along with sugar and milk. Don’t forget to remove the vanilla cupcake mixture from the mixer. Since we’re doing multitasking, it’s time to put the vanilla cupcake mixture into the oven.
As it’s baking, pick up the strawberry jam filling mixture and mix it. While it’s in the process, take the cupcakes out of the oven and place them on Celest’s tray. She will process them, and you have enough time to remove the jam mixture and place it on the stove.
Let the mixture boil; take the cupcakes from Celest and put them on the slab. As soon as the jam is ready, give it to Celest so she can put it into a bag. With that done, it’s time for the final task: Strawberry Frosting.
Take butter from the third cabinet, sugar from the fourth, and strawberry extract from the seventh, and put all of them inside a bowl. Mix it, then put it inside the fridge. Lastly, assemble everything and then give the cupcakes to Celest for the final touch. With that, the challenge will be completed.
After Sofia and Celest celebrate, Alissa ends the call as she’s tired. Near the counter, Sofia and Celest have an honest conversation about how life has been moving too fast, and despite the distance between everyone during the pandemic, things don’t seem to change at all. There’s too much on Sofia’s mind, and to comfort her, Celest takes her to a cafe.
There, she reveals that she once had the chance to bake in high school with Cathy, whom she calls an important person in her life; Celest immediately understands the assignment.
She tells Celest about Cathy’s accident, confirming that Afterimages continues the first loop storyline, years after her passing. She feels sorry about bringing it up, but Sofia has made her peace with it. Celest leaves, and Sofia wonders whether Cathy would have loved baking cupcakes.
We’re then welcomed with a flashback of Cathy and Sofia in their school’s bakery. She reminisces about her time in the school, and wonders how things would’ve been if Cathy were still alive. She understood that something was wrong in her household, so she decided to get close.
Whether Cathy remained quiet or wanted to talk, Sofia didn’t want to leave her side. She wanted to follow her wherever she went, knowing that being with Cathy made her feel alive. But life doesn’t wait. It doesn’t, for anyone.
When the flashback ends, she notices Alissa’s missed calls, and the segment ends.
Insomnia
At home, Sofia calls Alissa, who’s sculpting a frog from wood; she’s an expert at it. After receiving a compliment, she asks whether the lawyers are helping her with grandma’s inheritance. Sofia is still waiting for a response, and since she’s tired, Alissa asks her to sleep.
The call ends, and she goes to the kitchen to find something to eat. Go left, interact with the fridge, and then Sofia will sit at the table to use ClickClock. Scroll and comment on a post you like, then in a minute, she will shift to NookFace, a parody of Facebook.
Scroll it, and you will find numerous people from the main game, including Ridel, who was the film enthusiast in Mark and Cathy’s group. However, just below it, Sofia discovers graduation pictures from nine years ago, and the fourth one is of Cathy and her family.
Click on it, and a flashback of young Sofia and Cathy in school begins. They talk about stealing cornflakes from the school cafeteria because the school is stingy about it. The conversation then shifts to Cathy’s home, as she explains how loud her family is; foreshadowing.
Louise arrives and asks Sofia about her grandma. When she leaves, Sofia bids farewell to Cathy and follows her. The flashback ends, and Sofia is checking Louise’s profile on NookFace. She drops a message to let her know she’s returned to the Philippines, then asks whether she’s free to meet. With this, the Insomnia segment ends.
Reconnection
The next day, Sofia visits a cafe to meet Louise, but she’s early. She asks the bartender for a table and sits down; she messages Louise. She’s arriving at the cafe in five minutes. So, Sofia orders one Americano and one Iced Oat Milk Latte.
The waiter recommends an Ensaïmada, a Filipino pastry covered in cheese and butter. However, she tells him to wait until her friend arrives. As the waiter leaves, Louise arrives, and both of them catch up after a years-long break.
Their conversation shifts to their work life. While Louise is working on a research paper with her sisters, Sofia is a freelance designer. She shows Louise her designs, and Louise likes them.
Now, Sofia tells her about Alissa, her girlfriend from the States. Louise congratulates her, and suddenly, the camera shows them through the glass.
We can’t hear their conversation, but Louise leaves hastily. Since she forgets her gift, Sofia runs toward her to give it.
Introspection
After reconnecting with Louise, Sofia goes for a walk near the ocean. She messages Alissa about how her meetup went. When she closes her phone, start walking right. As you take the initial steps, the screen divides into two, showing the young Sofia at the school prom, with police sirens ringing around it.
The present and young Sofia walk forward simultaneously. Move right and interact with Louise, who seems extremely broken-minded. When Sofia asks her what happened to Cathy, she doesn’t answer and says “they” took her away.
Everyone on the footpath is troubled, and they talk about how one guy saw “it” happen, referencing Cathy’s unfortunate accident. Suddenly, Sofia sees Mark and runs towards him, but the second screen fades to black and fast-forwards to the graveyard during Cathy’s funeral.
Keep walking forward, and when you see a bench on the present screen, sit on it. Sofia will talk to Louise in the graveyard. She apologizes, but Sofia says it isn’t her fault.
She reveals that her grandma has woken up in the hospital, and Louise congratulates her. However, considering how Cathy confessed to her at the prom, this doesn’t help her at all. After Sofia, in the present, gets up from the bench, walk left. The second screen then shows Sofia in the hospital, meeting her grandma after Cathy’s death.
As she sees her grandma, both past and present Sofia cry, explaining that she wished for Cathy to meet her grandma. And moments later, she returns to Celest’s apartment.
Celest asks where she was. Sofia says she went outside for a walk to clear her head. However, this conversation turns into an argument, and she tells Celest that she’s not a kid anymore.
Sofia returns to her room, crying on the bed, and lies down to see Alissa’s messages. She calls her and explains how everything in her life is wrong. Nothing feels the same even after all these years.
Time has flown by so fast that it’s hard to digest. Alissa understands she’s overwhelmed by her past and Cathy’s passing, but no matter what, she fails to share all the problems in her head. The call ends, and tears continue to roll down Sofia’s cheeks.
Conversation & Creation
A day later, Sofia returns home and sees Celest working early in the morning. Since Celest knows how to read Tarot Cards, she asks for her guidance. So, she takes out the cards and sits in the kitchen with Sofia.
She asks what type of card reading Sofia would like, and she replies with “a little bit of everything.” Now, Celest does a three-card spread of past, present, and future. When you see the golden cards, click on them to break them into three stacks.
Select one of the stacks, then take out three cards from it. I personally chose the left stack, with the third, sixth, and ninth cards. The first card is an Ace of Cups, representing new feelings and abundance. The second card is the Five of Cups, which lets Celest know that Sofia is grieving someone’s loss. She explains her situation perfectly, which scares Sofia a bit.
The last card is Judgement. According to Celest, it’s calling Sofia to reflect on her past actions in the present and ultimately face the consequences. After the Tarot Card reading session, she returns to her room.
With a shirt in her hand, a mini-game will begin. Cut the shirt using the scissors; follow the line perfectly. As Sofia cuts it, she remembers Celest’s words about change. It’s hard, but aligning with things can help you in the long run.
Now, on the sewing machine, grab the cloth and put it on the blue circle. When the machine grabs it, drag it upwards. She continues reflecting on her conversation with Celest as you sew the shirt.
For the final part, grab the butterfly decorations and attach them to the suit.
With that done, Sofia will check it from angles, and Celest’s words continue to ring in her ears. Venturing into the unknown is hard, but it can be fruitful if done correctly. She apologized to her for lashing out last night, and decides to let her become the model for her new project. However, Celest declines, saying that Sofia does a much better job.
Playing Forward
The next day, Sofia returns to the previous walking spot in her new dress. She calls Alissa to apologize for not sharing her problems and acting rudely last night. Alissa tells her that there’s no problem in having personal feelings and says it’s okay.
She shows Sofia the completed From sculpture, and after showing affection to each other, their call ends. Fast-forwarding a few days, she returns to the law firm, signs some documents, and finally inherits her grandma’s fortune. At the apartment, Celest bakes a cake and writes “Welcome Home” with the strawberry jam filling.
Louise, on the other hand, waits for someone at the Liamson Train Station and opens Sofia’s gift. Inside, she finds a chess piece that reminds her of the school chess championship she won; Sofia was cheering for her back then.
Sofia, now near the Ocean, gazes at the sunset and takes her mask off. She remembers Cathy’s grave, and then the screen fades, ending the first chapter.
And with that, our Until Then: Afterimages Chapter 1 walkthrough comes to an end.
If you’re looking for more walkthroughs, please check the links below:
- Into Indie Games Homepage
- Crushed in Time Walkthrough Hub
- Puni the Florist Walkthrough – All Story Mode Requests
- Arcane Merchant – Complete Walkthrough And Guide
- Mina The Hollower 100% Walkthrough Hub
Either listening to music 24/7 or having an existential crisis; no in between.
