“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
