Sugar Cloud ended and Ocean was holding Constance's hand. It was a small moment but it made Ocean realise a lot of things. It made her realise how terrible she was to Constance. Not just Constance. To the whole choir. She has been awful to them in the past hour they have been in the afterlife. But also beyond the afterlife, how she never took the time to get to know any of them. It is not fair, it never will. She hopes that one day the choir will be able to forgive her. That she will make up for her past mistakes. The small moment where Ocean and Constance lean their foreheads to each other can be the start of that.
Karnak interrupts the moment with his mechanic voice.“Final vote,’’ Constance and Ocean let go of each other. “Ocean Rosenberg.” Ocean looks at Karnak, visibly scared. This isn't going how she thought it would go. “Huh?” She mumbles, not understanding what is going on. “The final vote goes to you. You have to choose who lives and who dies.” Ocean looks around, towards the other choir members. Almost none of them meet her gaze but still are as shocked as she is. “What? Why me? This wasn't what we agreed on. We were voting unanimously on this.” In a way this was a lot for Ocean. As much as she wanted to be brought back, this wasn't how it was supposed to go. “I have decided to give the final vote to the person with the highest grade point average.” Fuck Oceans straight As performance in school. “That isn't very fair. Why do I have to make the final vote? Why can't we honour that we all had to vote?” Karnak is slowly losing his patients. All these questions that Ocean is asking, “We don't have much time left.” Ocean waits for Karnak to say the reason. The rest of the choir seems to be doing the same thing. None of them make a sound. “My death happens in 5 minutes.”
“And what after that?” Ocean manages to ask. “I am not completely sure.” Karnak answers honestly. Ocean is quiet for a while, looking at the other choir members again. They all know that their life, their future, depends on Ocean. “And if I just vote for myself what's the moral? If I choose myself, the moral of the story is that humans suck.”
“That would be a valid interpretation, yes.” Ocean stays quiet, this isn't how she wanted to win, this isn't how she wanted to win at all. Suddenly there are reflections of light on the wall in front of her. Confused, she turns around and is met with a bright light, coming from the other side of the warehouse. “What is that?” she asks, gesturing to the bright light. “The otherside. You merely walk in. It's easy, just don't look back”
Ocean stares at the bright light opposite to her. The rest of the choir don't say a word, knowing that they won't have a future. Ocean wanted to be brought back. Yet she is here doubting it. She isn't sure if she is able to do it. It would be so selfish if she did. It would prove the point that she, indeed, only thought about herself. That she didn't get to know the rest of the choir. She glances at one of them, her heart aches like it has never done before. But she knows who to vote for. She knows who deserves to get a second chance in life, even if it hurts.
“I don't mean to rush you, but time is ticking.” Karnak interrupts the silence. “Look if you could just kindly step off for three seconds!” Ocean shouts back at him. She is the loser of this game. She isn't going to make it and get a second chance. She is slowly trying to process that in fact, even if she wanted to win it the most, it isn't her right to win it. “The one who wanted to win it the most, shall redeem the loser, in order to complete the whole.” She quotes the prophecy. “You knew all along I could never do it.” Karnak knows what she is talking about, yet still asks a simple question as if he doesn't. “What?” Ocean replies immediately. “Choose myself.”
The light disappears as quickly as it appeared. Ocean glances towards Jane. It made her sad in a way that she wouldn't be able to get to know her. It's crazy to say that you start to feel something towards a person when you have known them for a bit over an hour. But even if she spooks out Ocean a bit, there is something there. She knows that there could be something there if she only had the chance to know her. She made her question things in that hour. Things that Ocean hasn't thought of that quickly. This is the right thing to do, but at what cost?
Ocean monologues a bit, talking about how she never attempted to know the choir. That she doesn't deserve to come back. How even if they only had seventeen years of life, it doesn't mean that they died needlessly. “... I would gladly take my seventeen years over nothing. Who do I vote for? The girl who can't remember any of it. Her.” Ocean gestures to Jane, who tilleds her head a bit. “We had a life. She didn't.” Ocean pauses for a while. “That's my vote.”
Ocean heart aches, oh if they only had a bit more time. She could've gotten to know her better, gotten to know anyone from the choir better. But she deserves a second chance at life. She deserves to get a life she remembered and made the most out of it. Even if it stung a little watching her living her life, knowing that Ocean doesn't have it. Knowing that Ocean can not be a part of it.