I step off the autoloops from Harmonia with uncertainty in my gut, a feeling I know all too well. But I have newfound confidence, a newfound decisiveness, that gives me the strength to walk to the beach where I know I will find Lachlan.

After the wedding, I told them they would have to wait until morning for me to become EcoPan. I have one last thing to take care of.

The sun is setting while I follow the noise of the ocean til my feet touch the soft sand. I see a tent in the distance, the kind that they used when everyone first escaped Eden. They didn't have enough homes for everyone so they made biodegradable tents that turned into dirt the moment they were burned.

I walk towards him and he sticks his head out when I'm a few feet away. He looks startled then shocked when he realizes who I am.

"You don't have to be afraid anymore," I say, sitting in the sand by his side. He scooches out of the tent and towards me. I can tell he's still constantly defensive from the war, still half expecting to be attacked at any moment.

"You're here? Alive?" He asks. Once again, I pop up when he least expects it. "How many times are we going to do this?"

"Hopefully never again," I say, looking away from his face and into the blue gaze of the ocean. "We were supposed to live here once, remember? Back when Mira was still alive and we had just broken you out of Harmonia? I sort of threw a wrench in the plan then too but..."

I stop talking, thinking that it isn't fair of me to bring up the life we could have had. The life I had thrown away then too. And I can't even regret it. But I see Lachlan grin and my anxiety fades away a little. He doesn't seem mad. But when does Lachlan ever actually get mad?

"It's charming, really," he says, cracking a smile. There's a pause and he becomes more serious. "What happens now? You become the EcoPan again?"

"Not exactly..." I bite my lip, wondering if I'm going too far with what I'm about to say. "The thing is...the EcoPan is most ideal when it has two people running it. If I become the EcoPan alone it will swallow me up. I will be lost to the machine. It will save humanity but could destroy who I truly am. But you already know this. So...what I'm saying is I want you to become the EcoPan with me." He looks completely stunned.

"Even if I would agree to that...I don't have lenses. How would it even be possible?"

"Of course your connection would be stronger with lenses but I hardly had a connection left to the EcoPan before I became a part of it. It could work."

"I-I don't think you understand what you're asking me," he says and I can sense him getting defensive. "You're asking me to halt my whole life to become a machine then die. I'll never be with my family again, or any of the second children. I love you Rowan, more than I can put into words, but this is too much. I can't give up everything for the EcoPan...I'm not like you."

"That's the tricky part. You wouldn't have to give up your family. And I'm not talking about speaking to them through their lenses, I mean we don't have to die after we've completed our duties as the EcoPan. Aaron was keeping a secret. And I thought it was best to keep from you guys but now I realize I can't live without my family. Aaron obviously didn't build Eden alone. And Eden always had leaders. There were important people that Aaron thought he might need to...preserve."

"Preserve?" Lachlan asks.

"There's a chamber beneath the fountain that can keep bodies alive the same way the chambers for the EcoPan can. Aaron never needed them, preferring to keep his plans for the EcoPan a secret. There's enough to keep the people we hold dearest alive until our duties are over. It will feel like a long nap for them." I take his hand and feel his hesitation. I know what I'm asking scares him. It scares me too.

"Why wouldn't you tell us sooner? We gave you up, Rowan. And all along we could have gone with you?"

"I didn't tell you because it wasn't what Aaron intended those chambers for. Nonetheless, I know this is a lot to take on. I know these past few months you guys have made friends with the people of Harmonia. I know I'm asking you guys to leave some of your best friends or even relationships behind. Not to mention I know you don't completely trust Aarons technology. And I don't blame you. It's scary. And when our duty is over how will the people react to us? We'll be with a bunch of strangers. The culture will probably change, the language, the foods. All of those changes we can handle...but leaving behind some of the people we love? It's not just Ash and Rook that we love...it's every second child. It's every person who's welcomed us home, it's everyone. How can we leave those who hold us most dear? So I know I might be part of a machine...but I do know I'm asking too much from you. I know you love all of them. Every second child and every citizen of Harmonia...But you can love so many others when you're the EcoPan. Every blade of grass, every bird in the tree...you will love them all." Lachlan squeezes my hand and he blinks away a tear.

"I don't know what to say," he tells me, and I feel guilt deep in my gut. I feel embarrassed for asking so much of him. If it were the other way around I would have run for the hills by now.

"Say yes," I beg.

"Am I enough to make you happy?" he asks. I see the doubt in his eyes. It's a lot to take on for our new relationship. But I've loved Lachlan since I met him. And I've already let all my doubts go.

"Always."

"And we'll be together?" he asks.

"Every second. Like we have never known. We will be one." I touch his face and he smiles gently. "You don't have to be afraid."

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