Other ways to save Aurel?

[InverseFalcon]

The logs entry for the timed countdown on Aurel, after freeing all the bots, suggested there were other ways to save him, but I couldn't find any in the little time available and had to pay the 500.

There was nobody I could send email to that was relevant (the only option for Snail was to pay and ask about Pavo, which wasn't relevant), there were no applicable addresses, what are we supposed to do here? Is there some condition I'm not aware of that I hadn't fulfilled that would have unlocked that option? Is it only allowed if you save his bot instead of all the others? Rather frustrated, hoping to get some understanding of what I did wrong or didn't do beforehand which would have allowed some other option.

[InverseFalcon]

Managed to find a playthrough video where an alternative presented itself. Seems like the option to contact snail doesn't unlock unless you respond with "you'll come to regret this"? I had interpreted that as a kind of bad-end option that would result in his death (as in "you'll regret killing him", instead of "you'll regret threatening to kill him"), not as a "well this means war" option that opens up additional choices. I would have preferred having the option to ask Snail for help available from the point that the countdown starts, not conditioned on your response.