“Ayo’s Reckoning”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzjjJse9qsj
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.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrD7ndSFBWw
Ayo entered alone.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkBd5D6hVue
The silence was volcanic.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc9tBvWmwZJ
“You know why I called you,” Jabari said, voice flat.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQq6NLXL2NJ
Ayo offered a faint shrug. “Because the girls found the card?”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYMMShGpgzP
Jabari snapped a dossier onto the desk — a copy of Naomi’s Tribunal summary, ink still drying.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl3QA2pkbR1
“Because you sabotaged a crate we sent in good faith. Because you exposed all of us.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw1GnlvuNwN
Ayo stepped closer.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrJqAhSxIT1
“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.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzw9kBVCy2U
Jabari frowned. “What does that even mean?”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUx28IjDQbJ
Ayo picked up a coil of magnetic wire from the desk, let it dangle.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6FTVtn44Tc
“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?”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEPxzQmJO4S
Jabari’s voice grew sharp.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz5IqCOCQBu
“You broke formation. You put everyone at risk.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡitPHxe70dW
“No,” Ayo said calmly. “I reminded everyone that you’re not clean either.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3EPYXSbBCk
He stepped toward Jabari.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeVrcPkIII0
“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.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡntmsPsDJr7
Jabari didn’t speak for several moments.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBmT8kxKNuS
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.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgY9xuhKfZH
Ayo nodded. No fight. No protest.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4L9zT68PbS
“As long as you understand... silencing me just proves my point.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNnpS8cgQ8N
He turned.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeef9Ptftgr
Before walking out, he paused.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtHUOJuLx5M
“Check the old boiler room under the lab tower.” You’ll find what Mercy left us. Or what we left buried first.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8XSgbwf46V
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:28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6sJlmF9gmG
“Control isn’t memory. It’s delay.” Below it, he circles one phrase: Boiler Room – Legacy Remnants.
**********28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk82yWoacCw
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.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTRoYSoOmWS
Ayo arrives to find Kwame and Otieno waiting.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTAKZstO3Cz
Kwame’s expression is razor-sharp. Otieno leans against the pipe wall, arms folded, quieter but far more dangerous.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlemtlEvhJj
“You went off-script,” Kwame said.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnCB0Kjgu4M
“There’s no script,” Ayo replied. “That’s why we exist.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0Voung9yjo
Otieno’s voice was cold: “There’s also no chaos clause. You don’t act alone.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ58tY40Rvrn
Ayo stepped forward.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTec3xh36dP
“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.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOXzPNTaIwh
Kwame’s lip curled.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmNnIRPbYBV
“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.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAci10j1Fut
Ayo met his eyes — not defiant, but clear.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQH1uRX6Qel
“Then I’m not among you anymore.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXNkno2zexR
He turned to Otieno.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfnPZEH3zol
“I thought you understood. You used to say walls exist to be rewired, not just crossed.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs6ARmtwdBB
Otieno’s jaw tightened — but he said nothing.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5TETjDNYNg
“So go ahead,” Ayo said. “Protect your myths. But I won’t be a shadow in someone else’s war.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDrlyeAF6KJ
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.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEgJtd3EJG0
The thread burned silently, curling into smoke.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡswBZpWmoGc
“I'm done pretending we were ever united.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjGYrGmiZyk
He walked out.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrhlZGYhzxM
The blue thread continued to smoke.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxlpVzPlPc4
Kwame didn’t stop him.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLJV9gGrzm7
Otieno did not speak.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwuLq4NM23K
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.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG7CDcGdrl9
Musa entered without knocking.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUpr8asCC79
He held no files. No coded messages. Just his voice.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE5pC82HjSn
“Don’t exile him.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAIgATc2YZr
Jabari didn’t turn. “He almost detonated the alliance.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5Xku17oJf6
“Because he saw the game Mercy was really playing,” Musa said.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5JQiRB2qHL
“Not the ledgers. Not the ciphers. The distraction. The division.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0qOUTzwkwp
Jabari finally turned. “He burned our seal. Broke ranks. Lied with his hands.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqzu4rggDc3
Musa didn’t flinch.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTqlFtA7ylg
“But he never lied with his heart.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpzwcQtdur0
A long silence.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ10kz1qGftJ
“He’s not Mercy,” Musa said. “And if we treat him like he is… we become her next chapter.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUvUDDCM74f
Jabari exhaled slowly; hands clasped behind his back.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUzKw2Qz9wT
“He’s out. No operations. No keys. No tunnels.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfQxyPfED7L
Musa nodded.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡijJBAW7xEg
“But?”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUWMLKMV5QY
Jabari met his eyes.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8b7rUATfLi
“He lives. Under watch and probation. If he so much as breathes another signature, he’s done.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlYq9ymKZGa
Musa nodded once.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3xY8IeQwr8
“Fair.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZGdlCAa3ZK
As he turned to leave, Jabari added, quieter:28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwKBnw1rtll
“He gave you something, didn’t he?”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhubvuvyzR1
Musa paused.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5kken2sp9O
“Only this.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC0QIrRNHgQ
He handed over a slip of paper — a boiler schematic with one corner circled.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ54w0RRQMp4
“Where the heat doesn’t rise.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnWCaZQJAfL
Jabari places the note into his pocket looking out at the storm again.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUtma93xW3y
“Then that’s where we look next.”
*****28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc9VL50hgIJ
The hallway behind the science block was nearly empty.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0rloiKpsH4
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.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCFTwbaHghR
The others avoided him.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkoq2s0JVnd
But Juma didn’t.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVLEh4ZdENk
He approached in silence, his boots wet from the storm.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhM7WWcLDTX
Ayo didn’t look up.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ00ThP1Ojd9
Juma paused, then — slowly — he knelt.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUdaRenIPww
“You were reckless,” Juma said. “But you weren’t wrong.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJcJgWDR6cM
Ayo blinked. “You hate me.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlb8Dzi7kyG
“I did,” Juma replied. “But I hate lies more.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRU3lEpWJN3
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.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2mYr3EIL3H
He placed it beside Ayo.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUD9K79TTUi
“Blood isn’t thicker than truth,” Juma said. “And truth deserves a second voice.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeKjvNnBTqX
Ayo picks up the thread slowly. No words — just a nod.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLrkSgF5FUK
From the rooftops, unseen, Musa watches — saying nothing.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1ujXTRtzRg
The storm passes over the lake, but its echo remains in the air.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsBm4CSzrRe
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.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFmK0PlgWeX
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.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd6BxYjP0gV
“Mercy recorded everything,” he says. “Not to preserve truth. But to rewrite it. This is her first confession.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVi5V8i88rZ
He plugs it into the projector system.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCGKbzx3P1V
The screen flickers.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgxFaV42DHE
Mercy appears — younger, sharper, in a classroom-turned-studio. Her voice is calm.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMxdM5l0tAl
“I didn’t want to lie. But the wall made it easy. They asked me to archive. I edited.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡltymakrJcO
They asked me to expel. I accused.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIRHP3ZpAQK
The girl from Form 3 never returned. And I never corrected it.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKrXLtpDxon
The ledger isn’t a record.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDaqkKMqycf
It’s a grave.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡplg1a5XW9g
And if anyone finds this, I only ask one thing—28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ57Yv3Ev6Bs
Don’t preserve me. Replace me.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcDI2iq8drY
Silence.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn7lR5bHumi
Otieno is stone-faced. Musa breathes out slowly. One Order head lowers his eyes.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9q49qbTSlf
Juma steps forward. “That was the truth behind the ledger?”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5is9JIyw7R
Jabari nods. “The one we nearly died to protect. We archived a lie.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKjVdFsRyiC
He turns to the room.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlhXjJKPOwy
“You don’t get to carry Mercy’s fire and call it light.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK1DCLBLmtA
Jabari draws a circle in chalk on the floor.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMndnnUhu4P
“Step in if you still serve the old Order. Step out if you choose to build what comes next.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWRtByfLjPw
The pause is long. Weighty.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFPJqVmlIgC
Three members step in. Five steps out.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1qXPBa5Vu8
Otieno steps to the edge, then deliberately wipes part of the chalk away.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0si9oWzIrl
“There shouldn’t be a circle anymore. Only a path.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuomiDxqHrJ
Jabari watches the recording fade to static. He unplugs the drive, places it in a red envelope, and hands it to Musa.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbgQPYhSy3z
“Send it across the wall. No encryption.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGteOdbqcm5
Musa’s eyes widen. “You want Naomi to see it?”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9IlRpX7n3L
Jabari’s voice is firm.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsAxv5Bfdfm
“No. I want everyone to.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU7I6aUpQZZ
28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1uG7ilMLD8
