Ah jeez, yeah that'd be a bug. Thanks for the report!
I think it should be an easy fix. If so, I can get a patch out here within the week. If not, though, I'll probably just leave it as it.
honestly the only mystery to me now is if losing to their conversation may change how the rest of the level would go
That was the original intent, to be honest. The whole base level was supposed to be fairly difficult, but I ran out of time for the Game Jam and I just never got around to coming back to it