"There are easier ways to poison you than with onions--that seems like a waste of resources to me." As far as Herbert is concerned, that was a reassuring sentence.

He looks at the onion in his hand. He's not exactly confident about what he's supposed to do if they refuse the food, such as it is. Will he get in trouble if he doesn't make them eat now or will he just be sent down again with tubing and funnels? It's unclear, and he hates how unclear it is, when he'd felt twitchy and on edge but confident on his way down through the tunnels to here.

"Y-you would rather die than eat--" the onion gets shaken demonstratively, "an onion." He sounds withering, unimpressed, looking back up at Rita again.