“Ayo’s Reckoning”60Please respect copyright.PENANAiXJCl6ebxZ
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.60Please respect copyright.PENANATC2So3eCZX
Ayo entered alone.60Please respect copyright.PENANASCmEVeVKeG
The silence was volcanic.60Please respect copyright.PENANAzaFIZLcI3g
“You know why I called you,” Jabari said, voice flat.60Please respect copyright.PENANAuQ3GGCUA8r
Ayo offered a faint shrug. “Because the girls found the card?”60Please respect copyright.PENANAZIHSmGNlGX
Jabari snapped a dossier onto the desk — a copy of Naomi’s Tribunal summary, ink still drying.60Please respect copyright.PENANAA7IxV6yBjo
“Because you sabotaged a crate we sent in good faith. Because you exposed all of us.”60Please respect copyright.PENANAiadwkpYy9J
Ayo stepped closer.60Please respect copyright.PENANAtb7kaJcWUR
“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.”60Please respect copyright.PENANAEtrrRrc9GK
Jabari frowned. “What does that even mean?”60Please respect copyright.PENANAD7fnciYTco
Ayo picked up a coil of magnetic wire from the desk, let it dangle.60Please respect copyright.PENANA8vNk5lya4g
“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?”60Please respect copyright.PENANAF7888FqZTT
Jabari’s voice grew sharp.60Please respect copyright.PENANAjxGQ9RjskC
“You broke formation. You put everyone at risk.”60Please respect copyright.PENANAxhDsKjwAj1
“No,” Ayo said calmly. “I reminded everyone that you’re not clean either.”60Please respect copyright.PENANAKS9eZJOeGg
He stepped toward Jabari.60Please respect copyright.PENANAOjBi5Zua8s
“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.”60Please respect copyright.PENANACCIVjdzoAy
Jabari didn’t speak for several moments.60Please respect copyright.PENANAIoousYPkaQ
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.”60Please respect copyright.PENANAasms0Gao8w
Ayo nodded. No fight. No protest.60Please respect copyright.PENANAbVOn6MNW2H
“As long as you understand... silencing me just proves my point.”60Please respect copyright.PENANAcx4QKJKsip
He turned.60Please respect copyright.PENANA3oe4PIrjnr
Before walking out, he paused.60Please respect copyright.PENANAQwKOm6JR2n
“Check the old boiler room under the lab tower.” You’ll find what Mercy left us. Or what we left buried first.”60Please respect copyright.PENANAjTHRM93Goj
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:60Please respect copyright.PENANAa6kjSFQIkF
“Control isn’t memory. It’s delay.” Below it, he circles one phrase: Boiler Room – Legacy Remnants.
**********60Please respect copyright.PENANAAskFOdHoOf
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.60Please respect copyright.PENANAwIrASZR1nP
Ayo arrives to find Kwame and Otieno waiting.60Please respect copyright.PENANA4oPlJTj8Na
Kwame’s expression is razor-sharp. Otieno leans against the pipe wall, arms folded, quieter but far more dangerous.60Please respect copyright.PENANAFClDwdmOzy
“You went off-script,” Kwame said.60Please respect copyright.PENANARbTk7jaL7C
“There’s no script,” Ayo replied. “That’s why we exist.”60Please respect copyright.PENANAwU5OXLmHvF
Otieno’s voice was cold: “There’s also no chaos clause. You don’t act alone.”60Please respect copyright.PENANAOGoD4dmxOb
Ayo stepped forward.60Please respect copyright.PENANA8LWzFKrgaA
“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.”60Please respect copyright.PENANABKiVWT9qZr
Kwame’s lip curled.60Please respect copyright.PENANAdtUnc5NPWh
“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.”60Please respect copyright.PENANAXqjMmtVWf3
Ayo met his eyes — not defiant, but clear.60Please respect copyright.PENANAFGBQHmApEF
“Then I’m not among you anymore.”60Please respect copyright.PENANAPD5BRdHWM1
He turned to Otieno.60Please respect copyright.PENANAwp5Np26gmE
“I thought you understood. You used to say walls exist to be rewired, not just crossed.”60Please respect copyright.PENANAHuQvUNBsij
Otieno’s jaw tightened — but he said nothing.60Please respect copyright.PENANAZec9mJM8oi
“So go ahead,” Ayo said. “Protect your myths. But I won’t be a shadow in someone else’s war.”60Please respect copyright.PENANA2OHF5Xu263
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.60Please respect copyright.PENANA8O7ZX9wlVD
The thread burned silently, curling into smoke.60Please respect copyright.PENANAICJoXAMAtq
“I'm done pretending we were ever united.”60Please respect copyright.PENANA5YIVLjMfWG
He walked out.60Please respect copyright.PENANATSY5QpxIHV
The blue thread continued to smoke.60Please respect copyright.PENANAa5IuCfxz3N
Kwame didn’t stop him.60Please respect copyright.PENANANqdNKT5VKL
Otieno did not speak.60Please respect copyright.PENANAyjdlapzcG5
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.60Please respect copyright.PENANAtqhEjX4zwm
Musa entered without knocking.60Please respect copyright.PENANAPoYvGTmP3g
He held no files. No coded messages. Just his voice.60Please respect copyright.PENANAwVZxtXTZXb
“Don’t exile him.”60Please respect copyright.PENANAZPC7ZOoMTr
Jabari didn’t turn. “He almost detonated the alliance.”60Please respect copyright.PENANA4QjNkxVGmW
“Because he saw the game Mercy was really playing,” Musa said.60Please respect copyright.PENANAy2rtcmDSZ7
“Not the ledgers. Not the ciphers. The distraction. The division.”60Please respect copyright.PENANAIgZLJja6XX
Jabari finally turned. “He burned our seal. Broke ranks. Lied with his hands.”60Please respect copyright.PENANA68tM4RwZOk
Musa didn’t flinch.60Please respect copyright.PENANAp7PItBBpnE
“But he never lied with his heart.”60Please respect copyright.PENANAUNIqQqNyow
A long silence.60Please respect copyright.PENANABeOj4Z1RWR
“He’s not Mercy,” Musa said. “And if we treat him like he is… we become her next chapter.”60Please respect copyright.PENANAaieZYFvMJ1
Jabari exhaled slowly; hands clasped behind his back.60Please respect copyright.PENANARcyP2Zjgzu
“He’s out. No operations. No keys. No tunnels.”60Please respect copyright.PENANA99EB2HlG3N
Musa nodded.60Please respect copyright.PENANAYRE8ncmd68
“But?”60Please respect copyright.PENANAS5MrMTPJZ5
Jabari met his eyes.60Please respect copyright.PENANAWse7dFZme2
“He lives. Under watch and probation. If he so much as breathes another signature, he’s done.”60Please respect copyright.PENANAqyZA1cGz15
Musa nodded once.60Please respect copyright.PENANAF6hqIL0p4r
“Fair.”60Please respect copyright.PENANAHBhY6LN1jv
As he turned to leave, Jabari added, quieter:60Please respect copyright.PENANANa5Hm2yRtH
“He gave you something, didn’t he?”60Please respect copyright.PENANA75spv7Cfzm
Musa paused.60Please respect copyright.PENANAzrlzGymmkZ
“Only this.”60Please respect copyright.PENANApxuVLIcQ9O
He handed over a slip of paper — a boiler schematic with one corner circled.60Please respect copyright.PENANAttJRyxUojY
“Where the heat doesn’t rise.”60Please respect copyright.PENANAu0bh0YjBRD
Jabari places the note into his pocket looking out at the storm again.60Please respect copyright.PENANAjqYEtz63gp
“Then that’s where we look next.”
*****60Please respect copyright.PENANAE1pcBX9M0R
The hallway behind the science block was nearly empty.60Please respect copyright.PENANATmV22vpCB4
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.60Please respect copyright.PENANAgqGDFEirKj
The others avoided him.60Please respect copyright.PENANA289PZyxptq
But Juma didn’t.60Please respect copyright.PENANA6cmTgtnXuX
He approached in silence, his boots wet from the storm.60Please respect copyright.PENANAgmk8pRoNxD
Ayo didn’t look up.60Please respect copyright.PENANA9CrBs9u4pY
Juma paused, then — slowly — he knelt.60Please respect copyright.PENANAhMyEsKlQXs
“You were reckless,” Juma said. “But you weren’t wrong.”60Please respect copyright.PENANAaCjbFC8Sl6
Ayo blinked. “You hate me.”60Please respect copyright.PENANA66NSCBYEYq
“I did,” Juma replied. “But I hate lies more.”60Please respect copyright.PENANA6N6XRb3TOl
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.60Please respect copyright.PENANATqHW1WMKAN
He placed it beside Ayo.60Please respect copyright.PENANAcD1xq1pyh1
“Blood isn’t thicker than truth,” Juma said. “And truth deserves a second voice.”60Please respect copyright.PENANAHdOABDRpPF
Ayo picks up the thread slowly. No words — just a nod.60Please respect copyright.PENANAOzMELs2qp8
From the rooftops, unseen, Musa watches — saying nothing.60Please respect copyright.PENANApnu4E2yLLv
The storm passes over the lake, but its echo remains in the air.60Please respect copyright.PENANA8aMjLY0ekZ
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.60Please respect copyright.PENANAnemXbITuwd
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.60Please respect copyright.PENANA56DzxfPBz7
“Mercy recorded everything,” he says. “Not to preserve truth. But to rewrite it. This is her first confession.”60Please respect copyright.PENANAT6OENWNpYJ
He plugs it into the projector system.60Please respect copyright.PENANAGOunKXq6rl
The screen flickers.60Please respect copyright.PENANAm1TBQdBYq0
Mercy appears — younger, sharper, in a classroom-turned-studio. Her voice is calm.60Please respect copyright.PENANAZauuvw84FU
“I didn’t want to lie. But the wall made it easy. They asked me to archive. I edited.60Please respect copyright.PENANAIZ0UIYI4Ii
They asked me to expel. I accused.60Please respect copyright.PENANAFaI2oG7fop
The girl from Form 3 never returned. And I never corrected it.60Please respect copyright.PENANANvqUJeL9Or
The ledger isn’t a record.60Please respect copyright.PENANAELinj9jZhW
It’s a grave.”60Please respect copyright.PENANAbuBrQ76dqm
And if anyone finds this, I only ask one thing—60Please respect copyright.PENANA0tj0AQz00F
Don’t preserve me. Replace me.”60Please respect copyright.PENANAb8flYKcQ8e
Silence.60Please respect copyright.PENANAArBujfI1ny
Otieno is stone-faced. Musa breathes out slowly. One Order head lowers his eyes.60Please respect copyright.PENANAbSJMwdDOTi
Juma steps forward. “That was the truth behind the ledger?”60Please respect copyright.PENANAjYIhLp6kZC
Jabari nods. “The one we nearly died to protect. We archived a lie.”60Please respect copyright.PENANAiuy0eplvYL
He turns to the room.60Please respect copyright.PENANA1et5R1jsN7
“You don’t get to carry Mercy’s fire and call it light.”60Please respect copyright.PENANA4RUQjDUhpZ
Jabari draws a circle in chalk on the floor.60Please respect copyright.PENANAkCY4aR3h6d
“Step in if you still serve the old Order. Step out if you choose to build what comes next.”60Please respect copyright.PENANAQfsVZZSdnd
The pause is long. Weighty.60Please respect copyright.PENANAtWzy4bZTgA
Three members step in. Five steps out.60Please respect copyright.PENANARPMDJAlApP
Otieno steps to the edge, then deliberately wipes part of the chalk away.60Please respect copyright.PENANA8iZGZaoNPs
“There shouldn’t be a circle anymore. Only a path.”60Please respect copyright.PENANAQriDw6WVqH
Jabari watches the recording fade to static. He unplugs the drive, places it in a red envelope, and hands it to Musa.60Please respect copyright.PENANAtvAaBi3bEd
“Send it across the wall. No encryption.”60Please respect copyright.PENANAhBLo3kyBiY
Musa’s eyes widen. “You want Naomi to see it?”60Please respect copyright.PENANAuU7gFEQIe7
Jabari’s voice is firm.60Please respect copyright.PENANA0Wh8AgcgCS
“No. I want everyone to.”60Please respect copyright.PENANAm2ZSnv5LUY
60Please respect copyright.PENANAv2n0JHeOtI