“Ayo’s Reckoning”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDnT8cSYltG
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.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4RCXxNYdyw
Ayo entered alone.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvBOk7G4afC
The silence was volcanic.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFgqwo1YSXJ
“You know why I called you,” Jabari said, voice flat.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9SHTrqqSih
Ayo offered a faint shrug. “Because the girls found the card?”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcJXXHzepui
Jabari snapped a dossier onto the desk — a copy of Naomi’s Tribunal summary, ink still drying.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW0iAJnqUdR
“Because you sabotaged a crate we sent in good faith. Because you exposed all of us.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtG7wQg6GEs
Ayo stepped closer.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc1hQ4mDqWs
“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.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6UFfEmKQI7
Jabari frowned. “What does that even mean?”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbMiAsc64AU
Ayo picked up a coil of magnetic wire from the desk, let it dangle.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu4kQ5X4gUT
“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?”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqRvfgxD86h
Jabari’s voice grew sharp.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEJXMS9rusu
“You broke formation. You put everyone at risk.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkJPQhO2my3
“No,” Ayo said calmly. “I reminded everyone that you’re not clean either.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOwZ9m7zCTQ
He stepped toward Jabari.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIXT6zeqmls
“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.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJemyTJZzmD
Jabari didn’t speak for several moments.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnUrhAyNLN9
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.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6ShC3huQfb
Ayo nodded. No fight. No protest.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsx2QpM3diK
“As long as you understand... silencing me just proves my point.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs0r5PNeQkC
He turned.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrsHQDSSAdJ
Before walking out, he paused.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEskXDJCFe3
“Check the old boiler room under the lab tower.” You’ll find what Mercy left us. Or what we left buried first.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFta5b8lwAo
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:58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOi2ZpgJhYr
“Control isn’t memory. It’s delay.” Below it, he circles one phrase: Boiler Room – Legacy Remnants.
**********58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGBHOgQi7Wf
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.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyRdYLAPVyw
Ayo arrives to find Kwame and Otieno waiting.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXSCsTBWRBG
Kwame’s expression is razor-sharp. Otieno leans against the pipe wall, arms folded, quieter but far more dangerous.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT8VBmjBTJj
“You went off-script,” Kwame said.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSHpxDygi9S
“There’s no script,” Ayo replied. “That’s why we exist.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoPSeMX61pe
Otieno’s voice was cold: “There’s also no chaos clause. You don’t act alone.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcF3EaPSVtx
Ayo stepped forward.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVKCVn2kyhm
“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.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpRgvmByYes
Kwame’s lip curled.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpgD108Th8Y
“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.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvHdXXFUdd7
Ayo met his eyes — not defiant, but clear.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqPA0eqikH6
“Then I’m not among you anymore.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKQtbywGbzd
He turned to Otieno.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr91m1RRzq8
“I thought you understood. You used to say walls exist to be rewired, not just crossed.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0P3mObxG5r
Otieno’s jaw tightened — but he said nothing.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0rLWnOKp1Y
“So go ahead,” Ayo said. “Protect your myths. But I won’t be a shadow in someone else’s war.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr0rt2COq78
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.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLGgk9Q2AQ0
The thread burned silently, curling into smoke.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM1EsxUJ6Vx
“I'm done pretending we were ever united.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSDXWXiDaJN
He walked out.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhaLJczwP4L
The blue thread continued to smoke.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCWzn5BRnjR
Kwame didn’t stop him.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyKeaP878xN
Otieno did not speak.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDh0ZmTJzAc
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.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0miq5P3JDl
Musa entered without knocking.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz1g7Jhi42Z
He held no files. No coded messages. Just his voice.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNnE6dmCQTX
“Don’t exile him.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvuOmFJAJHi
Jabari didn’t turn. “He almost detonated the alliance.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGeOViz4yi2
“Because he saw the game Mercy was really playing,” Musa said.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa7HEZcZqat
“Not the ledgers. Not the ciphers. The distraction. The division.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIFnqUf9Ukl
Jabari finally turned. “He burned our seal. Broke ranks. Lied with his hands.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGgt5QJP3X4
Musa didn’t flinch.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDGnr1IoDtl
“But he never lied with his heart.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMkSzMQe9TY
A long silence.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHGZaaI5xde
“He’s not Mercy,” Musa said. “And if we treat him like he is… we become her next chapter.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJEV8YjUJrC
Jabari exhaled slowly; hands clasped behind his back.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvTVaC5SN8Y
“He’s out. No operations. No keys. No tunnels.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwHFxAkmPfY
Musa nodded.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLe8PzZ92cp
“But?”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTBBvexvt7u
Jabari met his eyes.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeWreDV16KZ
“He lives. Under watch and probation. If he so much as breathes another signature, he’s done.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM64A5euGQL
Musa nodded once.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEtWG53876g
“Fair.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHa1yTK3qba
As he turned to leave, Jabari added, quieter:58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjOEr5xaBhD
“He gave you something, didn’t he?”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOZYVntoKLx
Musa paused.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHH0U6XpPsF
“Only this.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ07awM3Sjsm
He handed over a slip of paper — a boiler schematic with one corner circled.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5m2D91KNr6
“Where the heat doesn’t rise.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjRTnph1AmV
Jabari places the note into his pocket looking out at the storm again.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfg9iGMqtI3
“Then that’s where we look next.”
*****58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm1xUL26YnP
The hallway behind the science block was nearly empty.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOOTWjTRJo8
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.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡORa4RL979B
The others avoided him.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwrJ8eq0sdD
But Juma didn’t.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDOFyIoerjj
He approached in silence, his boots wet from the storm.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnukhGmTlTf
Ayo didn’t look up.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjNoOhfjqCF
Juma paused, then — slowly — he knelt.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzxrHCwi0eZ
“You were reckless,” Juma said. “But you weren’t wrong.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbmIYfTmJCw
Ayo blinked. “You hate me.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRVU04MBB1E
“I did,” Juma replied. “But I hate lies more.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2OSHEdFEvQ
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.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeZN96KDeTj
He placed it beside Ayo.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4dZ1In1TPc
“Blood isn’t thicker than truth,” Juma said. “And truth deserves a second voice.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA8xbBtITEr
Ayo picks up the thread slowly. No words — just a nod.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ30RktrMpuW
From the rooftops, unseen, Musa watches — saying nothing.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWuonqPhFZP
The storm passes over the lake, but its echo remains in the air.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQacOAfOZvP
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.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUywwe0YKRA
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.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ3wMqBNUOF
“Mercy recorded everything,” he says. “Not to preserve truth. But to rewrite it. This is her first confession.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfqugvkTqQS
He plugs it into the projector system.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeBqHPwQKi0
The screen flickers.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxGozCPTG0K
Mercy appears — younger, sharper, in a classroom-turned-studio. Her voice is calm.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs4rhWW1QPh
“I didn’t want to lie. But the wall made it easy. They asked me to archive. I edited.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRVQPEVlvx5
They asked me to expel. I accused.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeB3wTDCGnj
The girl from Form 3 never returned. And I never corrected it.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvBPY7A1QoH
The ledger isn’t a record.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnuf4ervsjn
It’s a grave.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwN50Y18dmV
And if anyone finds this, I only ask one thing—58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPFStJmXbvf
Don’t preserve me. Replace me.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkpV9aGsH1X
Silence.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0dQZDvu86r
Otieno is stone-faced. Musa breathes out slowly. One Order head lowers his eyes.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGQTTbfjFcy
Juma steps forward. “That was the truth behind the ledger?”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbJYYlUgSK9
Jabari nods. “The one we nearly died to protect. We archived a lie.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8fgV1CHMP6
He turns to the room.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF0dFtPLosf
“You don’t get to carry Mercy’s fire and call it light.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3Ux4lflAZD
Jabari draws a circle in chalk on the floor.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAieIkIGgWJ
“Step in if you still serve the old Order. Step out if you choose to build what comes next.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiH8KCz4OOj
The pause is long. Weighty.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvoGF6sGCqy
Three members step in. Five steps out.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUrg8JlTCoF
Otieno steps to the edge, then deliberately wipes part of the chalk away.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvZUG1rkpdB
“There shouldn’t be a circle anymore. Only a path.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0HXHqheFHc
Jabari watches the recording fade to static. He unplugs the drive, places it in a red envelope, and hands it to Musa.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmtQ82dU6GX
“Send it across the wall. No encryption.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrrL4CIlR93
Musa’s eyes widen. “You want Naomi to see it?”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6xxNDf3vhL
Jabari’s voice is firm.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpqjRqb4j9S
“No. I want everyone to.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL2PwONTu9Y
58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyl1fhCN5D5
