I walk through the woods and the crisp air makes my cheeks tingle. The sun has gone down and I don't bother to try to sleep.

Crazy to think of how simple it all was a few days ago, Yarrow says.

"Nothing has been simple for nine months...or ever," I mumble aloud. I listen to the soothing sound of leaves crunching beneath my feet.

Well, you know what you have to do, right?

"If I knew what to do, I'd do it. And if I knew what to do, I wouldn't be walking while everyone else is sleeping," I tell her.

You have to stop him.

I laugh. "Really? I thought I was going to let him kill off everyone for the rest of my life! I mean I just thought why not?"

I can feel Yarrow roll her eyes at my sarcastic remark. I mean you have to take Aaron out of power. He's too mechanical to make decisions for humans.

"I agree but I don't know how to do that," I tell her as I clench my jaw firmly. Yarrow sighs and I take it she thinks it's obvious.

You can't destroy the Ecopan, obviously. But we can't keep it running. You need to take away his ability to make decisions. Take away his power.

"I can't give myself to the Ecopan. I would, but now that I'm back, now that I put Lachlan through that, I can't do it again. I'm here and it would be cruel to leave now. They've been through so much I won't put them through more," I tell her.

I know. So, put him under your direct control. Wipe him clean. Rowan, you have to wipe his programming!

I gasp when I realize she's right. It's the only option at this point isn't it? Aaron can't kill innocent people, and he can't hurt me anymore. But there's also a down side, something that holds me back. I'd have to go back to Eden. I'd have to go back to the center. I can feel Yarrow's silence, she's waiting for me to make a decision. I look around and see a peach tree. I pluck a peach then bite into it, revealing the large seed in the middle.

"Let's go back to Eden."

***

I knock on his door tentatively. I hate to bother him, given the circumstances, but I can't do this without him. He answers the door surprisingly fast and I know he wasn't sleeping.

"Rowan, what are you doing up?" Carnelian asks.

"I could ask the same of you," I say. Carnelian's face turns grim. "I need your help."

I take a deep breath then tell him everything. I tell him what really happened in the garden, how Lachlan saved me, how Aaron has been torturing me, I tell him the scans weren't wrong and now, what we need to do to stop it. When I finish Carnelian stares straight ahead blank faced.

"How many people know?" He asks.

"Only you," I say. Carnelian nods slowly, then starts to consider this longer.

"I can't do it," He says finally.

"What?" I ask. "Please, Carnelian. After everything that's happened, everything thing you know I'm going through, you could save me. You could save everyone, yet you choose to stand to the side. Carnelian-"

"I want to help you, Rowan. But I can't, I don't know how to do that. We need Flame," He says. I start to think about this.

"Flame has lenses. You know what happened last time, I can't risk that."

"No, but she can teach me," He says raising his eyebrows.

"What happens if we take her with us and she kills us in our sleep, hmm?" I ask.

"Maybe we don't have to take her with us, we could tell her everything, she could teach me. Maybe you'll even learn a thing or two."

"No," I scoff with disdain. "Carnelian, it's been two days and I'm already breaking. I can't go on like this. How long will it take her to teach you? Two months, three? Millions could die in that time. If it weren't the Ecopan's job to keep us alive, I think he would have already killed us."

"But, why?" He asks. "He killed thousands at that other city, he's supposed to keep us alive, isn't he? And I understand he thinks he's doing it for the greater good, but he's wrong. He could wait. He doesn't need you now, he's gone a thousand years by himself."

"And look what that got him." I say dryly. "I think he knows he can't do it on his own. I don't think his methods are working and he knows it. If I'm right, there are other uprisings, other wars, other revolutions. He can't do it on his own, he doesn't know how. Just like he didn't know what to do when we rebelled, he failed at stopping me and Lachlan."

"You're probably right, but that doesn't change the fact that I can't do it, I don't know how. We'd need Flame to reprogram it."

"That's exactly the thing! We don't need to reprogram it, I don't want to. You just need to wipe the already existing program. That way the Ecopan can't effect us, but won't be destroyed so the first children will live."

Carnelian nods. "That's actually pretty genius."

"Will you come with me?" I ask at last. For a second I see his jaw clench and I know he's thinking about Mira. I'm thinking about her too.

"When do we leave?" He replies.

"Tonight. Now," I say. Carnelian looks at me, then takes a deep breath, bracing himself.

"Okay, I'll pack a bag. You go get your stuff, meet me back here when you're done. But there's one more thing."

"What?" I ask.

"We need protection. Neither of us are great at fighting and who knows, Aaron might have those scary fighting robots attack us," He says.

"They're security bots, and you're right. I wouldn't put it past Aaron at all. Who should we bring?" After several minutes of debate we both agree on a good candidate. Rook.

"But he has lenses," I point out.

"We can keep a disruptor with us at all times," He says.

"With that logic we could bring Flame," I tell him.

"Yeah, well I hadn't thought of that before," He admits. "Still, it's unnecessary to bring her. Do you want to risk bringing Rook?"

I pace back and forth.

"There's no guarantee that he'll even agree to go," I say. "Let's go ask him and get his opinion."

Five minutes later Carnelian and I have woken a nice lady in her fifties named Lily, and asked her if we could speak with Rook.

"Yes, of course dear. He's on the second floor, but why are you looking for him at such an hour?" She asks.

"It's a long story," I apologize. She nods and we walk up the stairs and see Rook in bed with Fern. Carnelian waits in the door way as I creep next to Rook. I gently shake him awake. He wakes up startled to see me over him.

"I need your help," I whisper.

"What the-"

"I'll explain everything, I promise. Follow me. You don't want to wake Fern, do you?" I ask. Rook notices Carnelian in the door way and knows somethings wrong.

"Rowan, what's going on?"

"Follow me!" I hiss. We walk into the living quarters where I tell him everything. It takes a lot of convincing, but by the end he has excepted that I'm telling the truth.

"So you need me for protection?" He asks.

"Yes, and any other help you can give," I say.

"I have lenses."

"I know, but we could use the disruptors to keep the Ecopan out of your brain," I say, Rook shakes his head.

"I want to help you, Rowan, I really do but it's too dangerous. If I kill you, even if it's not my own will, Lachlan will never forgive me. You should take him instead. He's everything I am, without lenses," He suggests. I start to think this over. I would take Lachlan, but something just feels off about it. I don't want to burden him with this, I can't.

"No, I can't take Lachlan. He can't handle it," I say shaking my head.

"Rowan, I can't go. I can't go because Fox is pregnant." I gasp.

"Oh, Rook! That's-that's actually wonderful. Are you happy?" I ask.

"I'm over the moon. She missed her last period and is a few days late on this one. We're not completely sure yet, but we're pretty sure she's pregnant. And if she isn't," I see a twitch of a smile on his lips. "We want to keep trying to have a baby."

"Oh, Rook! I am so happy for you!" I throw my arms around him and hug him tightly.

"I see you've told them the good news." A soft, silky voice comes from the door way. Fern is standing in the doorway with a small smile on her face. Even after just waking up, she really is gorgeous. The look of awe on Rook's face when he looks at her sends a pang into me.

"I'm sorry," Rook apologizes. "It's just that-"

"I know," She tells him gently squeezing his shoulders. "I heard everything...and you should go. How long will it take?"

"Probably only a few days," I say. She nods then looks at Rook.

"Go," She whispers to him.

"We leave tonight, now," I tell them.

"Then I should start packing your bag." And without another word she turns to leave the room.

"Let me help you," He offers.

"Don't," She says. "Go say goodbye to your little brother." Without another word she turns around and leaves the room. Carnelian, who is already packed, goes to the tree line where we will meet. Rook goes to say goodbye to Lachlan, without telling him what we're doing, and I go to pack and say goodbye to Ash.

I silently go into my mothers tree house and pack a backpack. I walk into the top story that Ash is staying in, and see Angel in his arms. My eyes fill with tears. Too much love, too much happiness that I am missing out on due to my own stupidity. But would I really do anything differently if I could go back in time?

"I love you brother," I whisper, blow him a kiss, then walk out the door. For a second, I consider waking my mom, but she would know somethings up. I start to walk, but not towards Carnelian. At first I'm not sure where I'm going, or why, but as I get nearer to my destination I realize who I'm looking for. I sneak into a tree house and walk to the second floor. I cover her mouth with my hand and shake her awake. She wakes up in a panic but I pin her down.

"Lark," I whisper, removing my hand from her mouth.

"Rowan?" She asks, and before she can say anything else, I lean forward and kiss her softly.

"Go back to bed, I love you." And without another word I leave her wide eyed and breathless. As I walk to meet Carnelian the thoughts in my head are so loud. I love her. I love him. With Lark I feel this innocence, this light, that gives me hope. I can't live without it. But with Lachlan I feel this stability, this comfort, yet this passion that quite honestly frightens me, but not in a bad way. I can't live without it.

As I walk I almost go to Lachlan. I want to feel the comfort of his arms, his husky breath, his gentle touch one last time before I leave. But I don't. I don't go to him. Instead, I keep walking until I find Carnelian sitting at the bottom of an apple tree. A few minutes later Rook joins us.

"Are we all ready?" Carnelian asks. Rook nods but my eyes flicker to Lachlan's direction, and I know they see it. "Rowan?"

"Yeah, I'm ready," I say curtly. I throw my backpack on and start to walk.