Isabella had to take a moment to think about what she was going to say before she actually said it. Had she ever lied for anyone? Of course, but those were for her grandchildren and never to cover up anything that could harm anyone. Had she ever lied for someone she just liked? Not particularly. She never thought about lying in her day to day life. Only for those she loved.
"I don't lie for my friends." This was mostly true. Isi didn't have my friends, not since she'd been shipped into the top secret facility. "Lies lead to more lies. Then it's hard to remember what the truth really is. The easiest thing to do is to tell the truth instead." She was mostly satisfied with that explanation, but she didn't think she was going to get through to Syreni about lying. She was more concerned with her friend not being upset than the fact that she got caught in a lie and was being punished. That was troubling and hard to work around.