“Ayo’s Reckoning”44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrnJ5tt8nNi
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.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc7Oh6bE4Rx
Ayo entered alone.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ598aWFKPAq
The silence was volcanic.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqoK5xr4HMo
“You know why I called you,” Jabari said, voice flat.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTtttEHAUWX
Ayo offered a faint shrug. “Because the girls found the card?”44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnkwVBEbPu5
Jabari snapped a dossier onto the desk — a copy of Naomi’s Tribunal summary, ink still drying.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwN9JnJ9PvQ
“Because you sabotaged a crate we sent in good faith. Because you exposed all of us.”44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqyvT8FDfkV
Ayo stepped closer.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnfAe9QoBCR
“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.”44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVx8zsZrdwC
Jabari frowned. “What does that even mean?”44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLaKlv7YY3B
Ayo picked up a coil of magnetic wire from the desk, let it dangle.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDjIn37kczk
“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?”44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgONqqu64o1
Jabari’s voice grew sharp.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1R2ymCcFJO
“You broke formation. You put everyone at risk.”44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1GgsIJaLdT
“No,” Ayo said calmly. “I reminded everyone that you’re not clean either.”44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8dDPRrRxDT
He stepped toward Jabari.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡytvO3eGldy
“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.”44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh22vd5Zy95
Jabari didn’t speak for several moments.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPfNhRa4KlF
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.”44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs01W8UADWp
Ayo nodded. No fight. No protest.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0FaIWvz4BW
“As long as you understand... silencing me just proves my point.”44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡalLP7gfnRM
He turned.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyY2qIU3AaO
Before walking out, he paused.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJVKnoixzCW
“Check the old boiler room under the lab tower.” You’ll find what Mercy left us. Or what we left buried first.”44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp7YAYXUQkg
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:44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfz5b6aCFVe
“Control isn’t memory. It’s delay.” Below it, he circles one phrase: Boiler Room – Legacy Remnants.
**********44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiZ6uud6fWj
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.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJCtErUGyAB
Ayo arrives to find Kwame and Otieno waiting.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb4vHtUb0hD
Kwame’s expression is razor-sharp. Otieno leans against the pipe wall, arms folded, quieter but far more dangerous.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdz6Thizkg5
“You went off-script,” Kwame said.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZD1QjcsBRl
“There’s no script,” Ayo replied. “That’s why we exist.”44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTlkpAP1Ux0
Otieno’s voice was cold: “There’s also no chaos clause. You don’t act alone.”44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr5xIasmN2P
Ayo stepped forward.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPlb1RDNiCD
“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.”44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTeRvDolX2i
Kwame’s lip curled.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5ee6QV61y6
“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.”44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPlqKE7pqXV
Ayo met his eyes — not defiant, but clear.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY9pmqrNGdY
“Then I’m not among you anymore.”44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcLbl99b8rq
He turned to Otieno.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡELm9E2h5zC
“I thought you understood. You used to say walls exist to be rewired, not just crossed.”44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI6K0KRYflQ
Otieno’s jaw tightened — but he said nothing.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcI0IPzIuvP
“So go ahead,” Ayo said. “Protect your myths. But I won’t be a shadow in someone else’s war.”44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXwhiby2lEy
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.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAbpyJBdtrd
The thread burned silently, curling into smoke.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF6vzxLe19r
“I'm done pretending we were ever united.”44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu4kT51NbJd
He walked out.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPQGykVAbmg
The blue thread continued to smoke.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUAFgW3FUau
Kwame didn’t stop him.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkh8rykQkLE
Otieno did not speak.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo0ut7FbFtM
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.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRWqFECNcUA
Musa entered without knocking.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnKIo8IYJ4f
He held no files. No coded messages. Just his voice.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxy4vyaPbKY
“Don’t exile him.”44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYJPLwDONEe
Jabari didn’t turn. “He almost detonated the alliance.”44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNDsNQUtbgP
“Because he saw the game Mercy was really playing,” Musa said.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcVmTVa8VwN
“Not the ledgers. Not the ciphers. The distraction. The division.”44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWq8UOFlwyN
Jabari finally turned. “He burned our seal. Broke ranks. Lied with his hands.”44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKCNbdUm6z6
Musa didn’t flinch.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7HmeZXQ28u
“But he never lied with his heart.”44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUGrEHlLZkT
A long silence.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzcLreqxYVl
“He’s not Mercy,” Musa said. “And if we treat him like he is… we become her next chapter.”44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAY22B84aVf
Jabari exhaled slowly; hands clasped behind his back.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡubqOm7QuZC
“He’s out. No operations. No keys. No tunnels.”44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoQCiImtFmr
Musa nodded.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF5sdPsOKM0
“But?”44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLH1p08bm1d
Jabari met his eyes.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY4Jes9hK1A
“He lives. Under watch and probation. If he so much as breathes another signature, he’s done.”44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwyC4PnXor3
Musa nodded once.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAL6qvmJgcm
“Fair.”44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCKV1fcyIZg
As he turned to leave, Jabari added, quieter:44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZEYZwCtC7z
“He gave you something, didn’t he?”44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlIiV5rCC6b
Musa paused.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLVdQQk0vEF
“Only this.”44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4cHfqT4YFh
He handed over a slip of paper — a boiler schematic with one corner circled.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm46HaAszYL
“Where the heat doesn’t rise.”44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPxkZxpfg5R
Jabari places the note into his pocket looking out at the storm again.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUigd8aAmFs
“Then that’s where we look next.”
*****44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡInXTMAl3Qv
The hallway behind the science block was nearly empty.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHGelyhE4z5
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.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4rdmxWPeuM
The others avoided him.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Z8xlbywah
But Juma didn’t.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWCk0Mugg5i
He approached in silence, his boots wet from the storm.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd2svROtdzI
Ayo didn’t look up.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ8MSV8AQ0h
Juma paused, then — slowly — he knelt.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXgRkF6XpcA
“You were reckless,” Juma said. “But you weren’t wrong.”44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtllmihKC8F
Ayo blinked. “You hate me.”44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAgxmnUnMy9
“I did,” Juma replied. “But I hate lies more.”44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7YtWwzR8u2
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.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB78yGVhX4O
He placed it beside Ayo.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNpGUfhnO9E
“Blood isn’t thicker than truth,” Juma said. “And truth deserves a second voice.”44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJrExSZyvUr
Ayo picks up the thread slowly. No words — just a nod.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAs5VKic0LE
From the rooftops, unseen, Musa watches — saying nothing.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhhe4h9LuIn
The storm passes over the lake, but its echo remains in the air.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUHG7m67bwa
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.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ89j1zAX5Qu
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.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsgz2tlLBlx
“Mercy recorded everything,” he says. “Not to preserve truth. But to rewrite it. This is her first confession.”44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDZznkRAyif
He plugs it into the projector system.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8JRwlqQ6F9
The screen flickers.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwBYETQSuQX
Mercy appears — younger, sharper, in a classroom-turned-studio. Her voice is calm.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTyF4FdXiie
“I didn’t want to lie. But the wall made it easy. They asked me to archive. I edited.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnvozZdV4f5
They asked me to expel. I accused.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdHddkQh3io
The girl from Form 3 never returned. And I never corrected it.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4bfHn9iJ8W
The ledger isn’t a record.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjARduSVfIG
It’s a grave.”44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOY2YcfvvgK
And if anyone finds this, I only ask one thing—44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSUm6UynXMR
Don’t preserve me. Replace me.”44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV3i7vd5nxf
Silence.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUITZNuhxtd
Otieno is stone-faced. Musa breathes out slowly. One Order head lowers his eyes.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡygyMdKyo0Y
Juma steps forward. “That was the truth behind the ledger?”44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsAXpeO9tF3
Jabari nods. “The one we nearly died to protect. We archived a lie.”44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnUtx5VwnB1
He turns to the room.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8Fl4cVVNFo
“You don’t get to carry Mercy’s fire and call it light.”44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcggJK2xjGl
Jabari draws a circle in chalk on the floor.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2y384qjaD3
“Step in if you still serve the old Order. Step out if you choose to build what comes next.”44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ59geK08XXO
The pause is long. Weighty.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzYthp1fiHB
Three members step in. Five steps out.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxX02Ol6UCU
Otieno steps to the edge, then deliberately wipes part of the chalk away.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWEwIUzAijm
“There shouldn’t be a circle anymore. Only a path.”44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAFnnREaH1P
Jabari watches the recording fade to static. He unplugs the drive, places it in a red envelope, and hands it to Musa.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡApJL5nQHFU
“Send it across the wall. No encryption.”44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhbsjUE5q6T
Musa’s eyes widen. “You want Naomi to see it?”44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiC2RORUmxs
Jabari’s voice is firm.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡePM90aEjJO
“No. I want everyone to.”44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUWSmmHcRlL
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYPmNmY4bzO
