“Ayo’s Reckoning”99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMN25CpoT3A
The east records room was dark — only a single desk lamp glowed over a pile of dried ledger tape and blueprint sketches. Jabari stood beside the table; hands clasped behind his back.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1SrMeQzaTN
Ayo entered alone.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsvDEftD4YZ
The silence was volcanic.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv6Bwp0xKB6
“You know why I called you,” Jabari said, voice flat.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ7Je3DuzBm
Ayo offered a faint shrug. “Because the girls found the card?”99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY8FeGLyMFS
Jabari snapped a dossier onto the desk — a copy of Naomi’s Tribunal summary, ink still drying.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ88vEbrVbko
“Because you sabotaged a crate we sent in good faith. Because you exposed all of us.”99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9RH5iEqAFv
Ayo stepped closer.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2mqq9XGl1y
“I didn’t poison anything. Not in the way you think. That card wasn’t to destroy Naomi. It was to prove Mercy’s poison… has no borders.”99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡASvVi5VqhU
Jabari frowned. “What does that even mean?”99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu6q5zWr3g8
Ayo picked up a coil of magnetic wire from the desk, let it dangle.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw1UijoPBMc
“You think this is about Mercy or Naomi or some crypt. But it’s not. It’s about how everyone keeps rewriting history just enough to feel like the hero. Mercy used truth as a weapon. Naomi used silence. And now we’re pretending you’re any different?”99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA55A7bTWhY
Jabari’s voice grew sharp.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGCOHwhb30d
“You broke formation. You put everyone at risk.”99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjalk83qJbF
“No,” Ayo said calmly. “I reminded everyone that you’re not clean either.”99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqkuW3K6KjG
He stepped toward Jabari.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ88cjjqFOab
“We buried names too, Jabari. You kept the order clean by editing memory. I just didn’t want her to beat us at our own trick. So, I sent a message.”99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9yTEhoE5BX
Jabari didn’t speak for several moments.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeAWSc0CgqF
Then, slowly: “You’re suspended from all wall operations. Your archive access is revoked. Musa will clear your codes from the relay. You move only with watchers present.”99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRT21tdH9te
Ayo nodded. No fight. No protest.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNzKC4rfSsH
“As long as you understand... silencing me just proves my point.”99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡENduI1dud8
He turned.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBkWQuJCMGq
Before walking out, he paused.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhv9CR4j07q
“Check the old boiler room under the lab tower.” You’ll find what Mercy left us. Or what we left buried first.”99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0DUkIwd8Gp
Jabari sits alone in the lamp light, staring at Ayo’s vacated shadow. He slowly sits, opens a fresh notebook, and writes at the top:99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡozGvxL5QFf
“Control isn’t memory. It’s delay.” Below it, he circles one phrase: Boiler Room – Legacy Remnants.
**********99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXDEyP1OUEO
The old broadcast tunnel behind the boys’ science wing — was once a secret passage used for pranks, now a Shadow Walker base of sorts. Blue chalk symbols line the walls. Three lanterns cast narrow light.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFRf2OpSAXZ
Ayo arrives to find Kwame and Otieno waiting.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMLmMDfPxjZ
Kwame’s expression is razor-sharp. Otieno leans against the pipe wall, arms folded, quieter but far more dangerous.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ03PW34YfjC
“You went off-script,” Kwame said.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK3va4e6l8Q
“There’s no script,” Ayo replied. “That’s why we exist.”99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVpHxNWJrxk
Otieno’s voice was cold: “There’s also no chaos clause. You don’t act alone.”99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtnb97nyMyy
Ayo stepped forward.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTzUpCyBpp6
“You two talk about ‘freedom’ and ‘secrecy’ like a code. But you forgot — secrecy without purpose is just silence. Mercy cracked the Order because they were predictable. Now you’re doing the same thing.”99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWumV6irR3G
Kwame’s lip curled.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCjuU5YRkHD
“You almost got us blacklisted by the girls. You sabotaged the alliance. You played your little card trick for what — a lesson? There are no traitors among us, Ayo. Not anymore.”99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtX722U4T4K
Ayo met his eyes — not defiant, but clear.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6taWcOuGno
“Then I’m not among you anymore.”99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm7OgMtH8yN
He turned to Otieno.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwmc8UuCUvu
“I thought you understood. You used to say walls exist to be rewired, not just crossed.”99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsYTa9gCbie
Otieno’s jaw tightened — but he said nothing.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF1EJ1e2Zgb
“So go ahead,” Ayo said. “Protect your myths. But I won’t be a shadow in someone else’s war.”99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP9eK0ncAgC
From his jacket, Ayo pulled his blue-thread badge — a signal band used to mark Shadow Walker channels. He dropped it in the lantern flame.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡadYVx0kLh4
The thread burned silently, curling into smoke.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDbtWKWeeaO
“I'm done pretending we were ever united.”99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVhx8L1HLFY
He walked out.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4KrUydYwiJ
The blue thread continued to smoke.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL1vK9opBsp
Kwame didn’t stop him.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9Uea7ixkgc
Otieno did not speak.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGCejbRi4k2
But something in both of them fractured.
The lamplight in Jabari’s quarters flickered as storm winds from the lake whistled through the shutter vents. Jabari stood at the window, silent, watching distant lightning reflect off the rusting chapel dome.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnngsW4QkxQ
Musa entered without knocking.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4guHw2jANb
He held no files. No coded messages. Just his voice.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlZBVERek65
“Don’t exile him.”99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQz09wwmOKQ
Jabari didn’t turn. “He almost detonated the alliance.”99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpMClEPjplK
“Because he saw the game Mercy was really playing,” Musa said.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbvc84Y0m3J
“Not the ledgers. Not the ciphers. The distraction. The division.”99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5gazpRS4z1
Jabari finally turned. “He burned our seal. Broke ranks. Lied with his hands.”99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgjQZs11can
Musa didn’t flinch.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0ppWLF5aFO
“But he never lied with his heart.”99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsTqJgIoWcq
A long silence.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyEjyhvuVON
“He’s not Mercy,” Musa said. “And if we treat him like he is… we become her next chapter.”99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9Uwv18Oyzj
Jabari exhaled slowly; hands clasped behind his back.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7prZ5bsixX
“He’s out. No operations. No keys. No tunnels.”99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdiz1uhTa88
Musa nodded.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4Wt0vVZmv6
“But?”99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYi9MiDHPUG
Jabari met his eyes.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡntelMtLUq0
“He lives. Under watch and probation. If he so much as breathes another signature, he’s done.”99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡauGr5a6gas
Musa nodded once.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv6SLy2HGUq
“Fair.”99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiBn03sYCPR
As he turned to leave, Jabari added, quieter:99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB33CubhFAt
“He gave you something, didn’t he?”99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2vWWfGBQs7
Musa paused.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ57zhFVppXA
“Only this.”99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6bktZKRlhY
He handed over a slip of paper — a boiler schematic with one corner circled.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrrdT6Txkue
“Where the heat doesn’t rise.”99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeI0VyNrn4H
Jabari places the note into his pocket looking out at the storm again.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeyajKOM0np
“Then that’s where we look next.”
*****99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTRN4iWcAYI
The hallway behind the science block was nearly empty.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ27K4jWtgdC
Ayo sat on the edge of the broken stone planter, stripped of codes, no longer marked by Shadow Walker ink. His signal thread was gone. His rank — erased.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0y5KRDV8SR
The others avoided him.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpaMUlpd041
But Juma didn’t.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7I178UxxOA
He approached in silence, his boots wet from the storm.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJandT5dGwb
Ayo didn’t look up.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCPuUbp06x2
Juma paused, then — slowly — he knelt.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhdE66Zw65I
“You were reckless,” Juma said. “But you weren’t wrong.”99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfIGq4alzFS
Ayo blinked. “You hate me.”99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaophQp8sUk
“I did,” Juma replied. “But I hate lies more.”99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6WTOU3RCAb
He reached into his pocket and held up an old thread of white string, the kind used to tie prefect scrolls. A sign of truth in original Order traditions — a forgotten symbol.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl0jaeoWylu
He placed it beside Ayo.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC5GxazCqoJ
“Blood isn’t thicker than truth,” Juma said. “And truth deserves a second voice.”99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3yHo40oCji
Ayo picks up the thread slowly. No words — just a nod.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFkyDpwMGT5
From the rooftops, unseen, Musa watches — saying nothing.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡllmVBJCPgD
The storm passes over the lake, but its echo remains in the air.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuIGfrIJBZt
The old boiler room — recently cleaned, repurposed by Jabari into a clandestine projection hall for high-clearance Order discussions. Just past midnight. The lights are dim. The walls still echo with soot history.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEvTzxd9J1h
Jabari stands alone at the center, surrounded by Musa, Juma, Otieno, and six remaining upper-tier Order heads. He holds up a flash drive, engraved with a winged sandal — the Order’s first cipher mark.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8d6t3LTwA6
“Mercy recorded everything,” he says. “Not to preserve truth. But to rewrite it. This is her first confession.”99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlZUZoG2luT
He plugs it into the projector system.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgqpXVbZ0ny
The screen flickers.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCs62m4JIkN
Mercy appears — younger, sharper, in a classroom-turned-studio. Her voice is calm.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVCRF7TT9Ox
“I didn’t want to lie. But the wall made it easy. They asked me to archive. I edited.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5TC7OUcbb5
They asked me to expel. I accused.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3XTOPaZ8jl
The girl from Form 3 never returned. And I never corrected it.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC0NAleBSvQ
The ledger isn’t a record.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdEQb102bMh
It’s a grave.”99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSMKP2z8bK3
And if anyone finds this, I only ask one thing—99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrnw4vw0En8
Don’t preserve me. Replace me.”99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡouxvJ34jZL
Silence.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEdT6ciO5IZ
Otieno is stone-faced. Musa breathes out slowly. One Order head lowers his eyes.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV4QiwmLMat
Juma steps forward. “That was the truth behind the ledger?”99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ56iqieiKeS
Jabari nods. “The one we nearly died to protect. We archived a lie.”99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLqv4R5Ahzu
He turns to the room.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh1zIUzLDvE
“You don’t get to carry Mercy’s fire and call it light.”99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrnJScyof2t
Jabari draws a circle in chalk on the floor.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoNgXE7geCP
“Step in if you still serve the old Order. Step out if you choose to build what comes next.”99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4faQyeFFu6
The pause is long. Weighty.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡolIo45FBOq
Three members step in. Five steps out.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuRWMlFBc4m
Otieno steps to the edge, then deliberately wipes part of the chalk away.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuVQ6spGS7G
“There shouldn’t be a circle anymore. Only a path.”99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5TLQ6gVx1M
Jabari watches the recording fade to static. He unplugs the drive, places it in a red envelope, and hands it to Musa.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnGAJa8k9yt
“Send it across the wall. No encryption.”99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUiAxcjrTVx
Musa’s eyes widen. “You want Naomi to see it?”99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0jbCMCU3Ub
Jabari’s voice is firm.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbmec0vkFdc
“No. I want everyone to.”99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRWTbyI8QTj
99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVy46OnMZ8V
