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"It's rather complicated..." Ulysses pored through the pages of his notebook. "Toshiko poisoned the food..but Ingrid served it to Jean, and I'm assuming she was none the wiser of Toshiko's plans. But Tozu has given us the opportunity to execute either one of them..."
"But there's no way we can execute a kid! C-Come on, that's too much!"
"Would you prefer the alternative of murdering an innocent person, Kai?" Ulysses asked. "According to Ingrid's words, Toshiko was the person who put the cyanide in the pie-"
"That's if we assume the best of her. For all we know, Ingrid could be framing Toshiko." Wenona pointed out.
Ingrid was out of words - she'd hastily defended herself when it became apparent that Jean had been poisoned from the pie she had baked him. Confidently, she'd insisted that her and Toshiko were the only ones in the kitchen - so when Ingrid had slipped away to the bathroom, somebody else must have come in and snuck past Toshiko. Only, nobody actually entered the kitchen when they were baking the pie...and Toshiko had tried to say Ingrid was the one who poisoned the food...and they had discovered the cyanide hidden on Toshiko's person...
When Toshiko had started weeping, something had shattered in Ingrid's spirit. It splintered into jagged pieces, as she confessed to her crime. Her cooperation with Tozu...her plan to escape. How she had lost all hope. Yet, even after this whole mess, there was another tragedy - the knife in her back twisted further, another obligation dropped on her shoulders, only this one much more horrid. A choice - far too difficult for them to make. Brutally murder a child, or punish the one who should have stopped her from stooping this low.
Desmond still doesn't believe Ingrid, bitter over the loss of the only close friend he had left. "How did Ingrid miss something this serious? She watched over Toshiko 24/7 - how is it that now when Toshiko's murdered someone, she doesn't know what happened?"
Mark glared daggers at him. "Is it that hard to believe...? After all, you missed Eloise murdering Jett right under your nose."
Before Desmond could shoot back a response, Tozu cleared his throat, causing them to fall silent.
"While this debate is entertaining...I am growing bored of your discussion. As such, the voting period will begin in five minutes-"
"Five minutes?! B-But who do we vote for?"
"Maybe we're missing something...did someone sneak by Toshiko? Hide the cyanide in her room? Or what if it's Ingrid and she's lying to us?"
"Damon, what do you think?"
That last statement drew everyone's attention to Damon. He stared down at the floor. Troubled by the choice presented in front of him. He'd been the one to defend Ingrid and single out Toshiko as the poisoner - but he had also been the one who wholly rejected her idea of escape, and he had also been the one who had grown to loathe her continued optimism. Waiting for her to fall. Waiting her to be proven wrong - and look how wrong she had been proven, the very person she would lay her life down to protect stabbing her in the back. Framing her for murder.
Everything now hinges on what Damon thinks, and what Damon believes. Not the endless hours Ingrid's spent proving herself trustworthy - no, all that's been undone in the brief time Ingrid left the kitchen unattended, letting her guard down for one moment. Her life lies in the hands of a man who has everything to gain by keeping the child alive and demonising Ingrid - convincing himself that nobody could ever have such good intentions. That he was right, and he's always been right - cooperation is meaningless, survival is a fantasy, and the only thing waiting for them is death. As he raised his head, Ingrid saw the defeated look in his eyes, and knows her role is to play along. Make it easy for them. Give herself up, make herself out to be the enemy, take responsibility for Toshiko's wrongdoings. Suffer her punishment at Tozu's hands, die with her head held high.
But the thought of allowing herself be choked to death under the weight of obligation was unbearable. Especially if it's for a teen who's old enough to know what she did wrong.
"...Ingrid." Damon finally said. "Is it really true that you had no knowledge of Toshiko's wrongdoings?"
And it's enough to plant the seed of doubt in their minds. Even if she changed their minds now, even if she somehow miraculously avoided execution...Ingrid knew that it wouldn't matter.
They'll never see her the same again.