Luz...! Luz!!

Huh...? What...happened?

Luz! Thank the stars you're awake. One of the bots just knocked you over. Are you okay?

Uhh...maybe? I think I hit my head?

Yikes. Do you remember who I am? What we do, where we are?

Umm...yes, you're Valeria. We're both star-makers at the Rainbow Galaxy station.  

Good, you know that much. Do you remember what happened right before this?

That's still fuzzy...mind catching me up?

Everything's a mess thanks to Wolf — you know, the founder of Unibots? 

Unibots...the company that invented the star-making bots?

Right, the bots that do everything for us now. Well thanks to that, our universe's stars are in danger.

(Stars...they're important to the people of Artierra, our home planet. We make wishes on stars. They give us hope.

(In turn, people's wishes create stardust, which forms new stars. A bunch of similar wishes can even make a galaxy.)

(Each galaxy has a space station full of star-makers like Valeria and me. We fuel existing stars and make new ones.)

(With special technology, star-makers can shape the stars to look like anything — usually, to reflect the people's wishes.)

(More unique stars means more wishes and more stardust. The cycle continues.)

(...But star-making is difficult. That's why everyone got so excited when Unibots took over the whole process.)

(Every station uses Unibots now, and no one knows the older ways of star-making. It's just easier this way.)

(But...I don't really like the way a bot-made star looks. They're too...perfect. Same-y.)

...Oh! I remember now. Wolf, the one who started all this, he—

Ahem! This is Wolf, the universe's BIGGEST star, broadcasting live to you all again!

Is everyone enjoying the new Unibots update I rolled out? Soon you'll all be free of your silly wishes and passions!

Now that all the bots are making stars shaped like my beautiful face, you'll have no choice but to admire me!

Okay, gotta go. Looking forward to all the stardust you'll make for me, my adoring fans! Byeee!

Ugh, did you hear that? He waited until his bots were everywhere, until everyone depended on them.

Then today, he put his plan in motion — he took control over all the bots, ordered them to serve his own selfish desire.

If all the stars look like Wolf, people's real wishes might fade...that's awful. But what can we even do about it?

Most of the other star-makers are either panicking or waiting for orders...but I have an idea. We follow this.

...The station’s bot manual? That’s been locked up in the main office for ages. How’d you even get that?

...Not important. According to this, there's a way to reset the bots. Wipe them of all their code.

Hm...I guess doing nothing is better than making stars shaped like Wolf. But then what?

We restore our station back to normal. Using the old star-making technology.

...Wait, what? I don't know how to do that. Do you?

Nah. But we have to start from somewhere, right? Things can’t get worse than this, anyway.

I...I don't know.

Come on, Luz. Haven’t you been bored lately? All we do every day is press a button, then watch the bots do their thing.

And helloooo...we're supposed to be making stars for Rainbow Galaxy! 

No way people are gonna feel inspired to make colorful art if all the stars look like Wolf.

...Okay, you have a point.

I guess I'll help you out...for now. 

I knew you'd make the right choice. C'mon, let's head over to where all that old technology is.

Huh...I've wondered what all these unused buttons and switches are for. Can we really restore the station with these?

Yep, we just gotta figure out how they work. But first, let's turn into our star forms so we can handle all the stardust.

Oh, right. It's been a while since I've had to do this...
"Star Transformer, make me a star!"

*poof*

That's better. Now, let me explain the basics.

Each of these areas is a computing system: basically, a bunch of different pieces that work together to achieve a goal.

That goal is to press the big yellow button, which will gather the stardust we need for each star.

The problem is figuring out how to reach the goal in each system. It's like solving a puzzle...you like puzzles, right Luz?

...I might. So I can think of the buttons and switches as "puzzle pieces"?

Yeah, along with anything else we can use. 

Hm...can we use that yellow computer thingy too? 

I'm...not sure what does, honestly. Maybe we can use it to talk to other star-makers?

Or maybe it tracks the amount of stardust here?

Maybe it can tell bots what to do...?

Ooh! Maybe it plays videos!

Well, only one way to know for sure. Let's try these puzzles out.

I've solved a few puzzles, but I'm stuck on this one. Any tips, Valeria?

I got you. First, let's make sure we understand the puzzle. We can start by listing out all the pieces we see here.

Okay...to start, there's the big yellow button. Pressing that is our goal.

I also see two bridges. We'll need to turn those on if we want to reach the goal.

Yeah. Looking at the wires, I see each bridge is connected to a cube tray. 

Cube tray B has a cube weighing it down. That must be why the bridge it's connected to is on.

Makes sense. There's also a bot over there...

That type of bot is called a Grabber. It's different from the Mover bot we saw in the other puzzle.

While Movers can only move around the area, Grabbers can also pick up and drop things.

I see. Finally, there's the yellow computer we were wondering about earlier. Turns out it's called a terminal.

You were right about it, Valeria. The terminal lets us code the bots in a puzzle — give them instructions they can understand.

Right. Why don't we try it out?

Woah...what does all this mean?

Let's see...on the left, there's the commands we can give the Grabber bot.

On the right is where our code will go. Right now it's empty, so the bot won't do anything.

We can add code by clicking one of the commands on the left. Try it, Luz.

Okay...maybe I'll add "pick up at" so the bot can go pick up the cube?

Hm? I added it, but what's this now?

You told the bot to pick something up, but it needs to know where that thing is. Should it pick up at cube tray A or B?

The cube is at cube pad B right now...so I'll choose B.

Cool. Now that you added a command, you can run the code by clicking "Run" in the bottom right.

Huh? I don't think we're done with the code yet, though...

Who says our code has to be right on the first try? Not me, and I'm the only other person here.

We'll have an easier time solving puzzles if we run our code often just to see what happens. It helps to try things out.

If you say so. Here goes...

Looks good so far. Now that we know that, let's click "Reset" and choose what the Grabber should do next.

Hm...I'm guessing we should have the bot drop the cube at cube tray A. That'll turn on the bridge in front of us.

Then we can cross it. Sounds good to me.

Okay. I'll add "drop at A" then click Run.

Sweet, the bridge is on. Let's go, Luz.

Wait a second...now the bridge to the goal is off! What do we do...?

Hmm. Remember, the bots can't do the whole star-making process on their own anymore. We need to help them.

That means for all these puzzles, there's two parts to a solution: the bot code, and our own actions.

So the question is: do we need to change something about the code? Or do we need to take action ourselves?

Hold up, I think I got it.

I was so caught up in the code, I forgot that we're a piece of the puzzle, too. Thanks for reminding me, Valeria.

Oh...! Uh, yeah, no problem! So, what'd you figure out?

Well, we definitely needed the bot to move the cube to
cube tray A. There was no way for us to cross otherwise.

But now that we made it here...we can just move the cube ourselves! 

I'll move it back to cube tray B so that the bridge to the goal turns on.

That was it! Nice one, Luz. 

I thought maybe we needed to add more code for the bot. But that wasn't even possible. Look here...

This bot has a line limit of 2. That means we can't add more than 2 lines of code here.

Huh...so we have to work around a line limit for every puzzle? Kinda annoying.

We do, yes. But I think it's good info. If we know the line limit, that narrows down our options.

True...if previous star-makers used these systems, then all puzzles must be solvable with the line limit.

Exactly. Anyways, let's get going. Why don't you press that goal button, Luz?

Right. Hup!

Great, now this system is fueling the Green Star again! Only a few more to go before our station is back to normal.

I'm guessing most puzzles will have bots. Let's keep in mind that we'll need to help them out with our own actions.

Right...we're important, too. Even if I haven't felt that way in a long time.

You are important, Luz. We all are. 

That's why I'm not gonna let Wolf trample over all of us, over everyone's wishes. Are you with me?

(Am I? I mean, can I really do this? Valeria's always been on top of things, but me...)

(Snap out of it, Luz. Even if these puzzles are hard, this is better than watching bots make stars of Wolf's face.)

...Yeah. I'm with you, Valeria.

I'm glad. No time to waste then — let's solve these puzzles.

Did...did we just make a brand new star?!

We did...! We're pretty awesome, huh?

I guess so?? I didn't think we'd really do it, honestly...

(Not only did we restore all of Rainbow Galaxy's usual stars, we created a new star: one of an actual rainbow!)

(Our star isn't perfect-looking, but...)

We really made it ourselves.

We're star-makers, aren't we? Though this might be the first time I've felt like one.

Same. We both joined the Rainbow Galaxy because we like art, but...we haven't done much of it.

I feel you. But maybe now we can start again, yeah?

Yeah. I hope our star can inspire someone back in Artierra...even just one person. That would make me happy.

(To whoever that person is...don't give up on your dreams.)

I hope we can make another star soon. I already have ideas...

Hey! You two, over there! You're the ones who fixed up the station, right?

That's us.

My stars, how'd you do it? Looking at the reports from the other stations, we must be the only one working right now!

Just a bit of coding, plus a bit of doing things ourselves.

Actually...why don't we teach you and everyone else how to do this method of star-making?

You know, just in case Wolf tries something else. Are you okay with that, Luz?

Huh? Oh, um...sure, why not?

Great! Then after we explain it to everyone here, we'll travel to the other stations to help them out.

Right....wait, what?

That's a great idea! I'll go gather the other star-makers. You two come by when you're ready to show us.

Hey, Valeria?! I didn't agree to all that!

...Well, do you wanna stay here then?

...Hmm.

Or do you wanna go on an adventure with me? Help the other stations out, see what they're like.

Maybe we can even meet Wolf and tell him what we think of his "update."

That sounds...difficult. Also kind of scary.

Yeah. And...?

And...it also sounds kind of fun.

Okay. If you're going anyway, I'll join you.

That's what I like to hear. C'mon, let's go show the other star-makers what we know.

(Valeria and I did our best to explain things to everyone. Some looked unsure, some looked excited.)

(But everyone felt relieved to have control over the bots again. I think they'll be okay.)

(After that, they lent us one of the station's spaceships for our journey. Everyone wished us well.)

Okay! I've got the closest galaxy set as our destination. Are you ready for take off, Luz?

Ready as I'll ever be.

Let's do this, then. I've always wanted to drive one of these things...!

...Wait. You do know how to drive it, right?

...Sure.

Oh no...

Hang on tight, Luz. In 3, 2, 1...

Blast off!!

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