“Ayo’s Reckoning”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK3Zi1KUH7J
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1QGVepMH5I
Ayo entered alone.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEK7EApDt9e
The silence was volcanic.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡemd86FpPXF
“You know why I called you,” Jabari said, voice flat.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS3PVmE445x
Ayo offered a faint shrug. “Because the girls found the card?”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSbNLyYd96Q
Jabari snapped a dossier onto the desk — a copy of Naomi’s Tribunal summary, ink still drying.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVRS7MATyuO
“Because you sabotaged a crate we sent in good faith. Because you exposed all of us.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRYMx4xsvA9
Ayo stepped closer.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu1WKArTSDB
“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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdN2Nkr95pF
Jabari frowned. “What does that even mean?”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwolXRdzFI0
Ayo picked up a coil of magnetic wire from the desk, let it dangle.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2v39juUtRG
“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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsWuea8fDYq
Jabari’s voice grew sharp.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyUzefztzXj
“You broke formation. You put everyone at risk.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsNPffP1WbW
“No,” Ayo said calmly. “I reminded everyone that you’re not clean either.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAJjW790W3n
He stepped toward Jabari.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVcm4PpwJM0
“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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡprepE0cd1y
Jabari didn’t speak for several moments.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT6s8kSpS4L
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDo4y7a7955
Ayo nodded. No fight. No protest.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQbx9OYBUqX
“As long as you understand... silencing me just proves my point.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL4zAyxrS9h
He turned.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYjdsrgjZUm
Before walking out, he paused.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3yXb36fddP
“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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFDfwS7uMSH
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK1EBCob8eU
“Control isn’t memory. It’s delay.” Below it, he circles one phrase: Boiler Room – Legacy Remnants.
**********60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH4uWU8xNE7
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBtFgePfNAV
Ayo arrives to find Kwame and Otieno waiting.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOHE41EiW1c
Kwame’s expression is razor-sharp. Otieno leans against the pipe wall, arms folded, quieter but far more dangerous.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiG5kWoFqnC
“You went off-script,” Kwame said.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgxVgB4froH
“There’s no script,” Ayo replied. “That’s why we exist.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBg0L3TRnw1
Otieno’s voice was cold: “There’s also no chaos clause. You don’t act alone.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfetQ4A2Tcv
Ayo stepped forward.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDWwnrF9YNO
“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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOkpRHghvkj
Kwame’s lip curled.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2nod49Ukhj
“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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj0vWoGEFc3
Ayo met his eyes — not defiant, but clear.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9yXRDU5BlI
“Then I’m not among you anymore.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9YGF5HBbxm
He turned to Otieno.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQyxR0Eu41n
“I thought you understood. You used to say walls exist to be rewired, not just crossed.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxNGo0nyWbW
Otieno’s jaw tightened — but he said nothing.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4It80sOvWn
“So go ahead,” Ayo said. “Protect your myths. But I won’t be a shadow in someone else’s war.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKJbZWo9BH2
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbynC7rm7fX
The thread burned silently, curling into smoke.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqqPtcind4Z
“I'm done pretending we were ever united.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn9iHZdKfGk
He walked out.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG3c5UxgVoy
The blue thread continued to smoke.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqZrfrZj6QM
Kwame didn’t stop him.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvD3KkZqgjM
Otieno did not speak.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqWZM6lKEAN
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuXSeHlTKKo
Musa entered without knocking.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJlNoyfdQQQ
He held no files. No coded messages. Just his voice.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡspEhWFm6D7
“Don’t exile him.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu7yvBO9VWk
Jabari didn’t turn. “He almost detonated the alliance.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9MG8bHLoNQ
“Because he saw the game Mercy was really playing,” Musa said.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmFdGzUfw4J
“Not the ledgers. Not the ciphers. The distraction. The division.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPwHl5d7IQO
Jabari finally turned. “He burned our seal. Broke ranks. Lied with his hands.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6WijyEoFse
Musa didn’t flinch.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7LY5UXHXzf
“But he never lied with his heart.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡshCjJh5Uso
A long silence.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzkKQlfCADh
“He’s not Mercy,” Musa said. “And if we treat him like he is… we become her next chapter.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtVUbCE9EIK
Jabari exhaled slowly; hands clasped behind his back.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIH26Et0tXG
“He’s out. No operations. No keys. No tunnels.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQIWxNIFHNV
Musa nodded.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNHbPUITWDc
“But?”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPNJGTBM57Q
Jabari met his eyes.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgI8geT5spn
“He lives. Under watch and probation. If he so much as breathes another signature, he’s done.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdqQqao5TKg
Musa nodded once.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡszGTUgKt8q
“Fair.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgRgkJFtt9y
As he turned to leave, Jabari added, quieter:60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiuOYjrBQvq
“He gave you something, didn’t he?”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9EuwYXjzZs
Musa paused.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSaBB0YsLyH
“Only this.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlypSMIE9wJ
He handed over a slip of paper — a boiler schematic with one corner circled.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRX3dlfuX3Q
“Where the heat doesn’t rise.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3lkqMEvHua
Jabari places the note into his pocket looking out at the storm again.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0fZ08W6U1e
“Then that’s where we look next.”
*****60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhUTHhnUPLa
The hallway behind the science block was nearly empty.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxpRbS2JMwE
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwSttAjHT27
The others avoided him.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTjk9l8RtJ9
But Juma didn’t.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa6lYhcO2oz
He approached in silence, his boots wet from the storm.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlMmrNHaOZu
Ayo didn’t look up.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUGJluPI6wQ
Juma paused, then — slowly — he knelt.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1ENpiStbEp
“You were reckless,” Juma said. “But you weren’t wrong.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnlJREUKyf3
Ayo blinked. “You hate me.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ41fDA9xZOS
“I did,” Juma replied. “But I hate lies more.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ38VoGbkixx
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDupxkHkGHH
He placed it beside Ayo.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡffrNLdpDQE
“Blood isn’t thicker than truth,” Juma said. “And truth deserves a second voice.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSHAzdXxBHO
Ayo picks up the thread slowly. No words — just a nod.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ26mhQ0cRkT
From the rooftops, unseen, Musa watches — saying nothing.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHDNn7cshYK
The storm passes over the lake, but its echo remains in the air.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaU2KFRpQZy
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4SbvbMvdLW
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHL4QGkgWYf
“Mercy recorded everything,” he says. “Not to preserve truth. But to rewrite it. This is her first confession.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmpY8NXd5nR
He plugs it into the projector system.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡND3W6zb5Se
The screen flickers.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY0ku5s1q5k
Mercy appears — younger, sharper, in a classroom-turned-studio. Her voice is calm.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDVKzo9PmdE
“I didn’t want to lie. But the wall made it easy. They asked me to archive. I edited.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡETCklROtly
They asked me to expel. I accused.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6fnw83gszQ
The girl from Form 3 never returned. And I never corrected it.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDqYU5dzPkg
The ledger isn’t a record.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzSbjN4lnNm
It’s a grave.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGVbpeO8aOJ
And if anyone finds this, I only ask one thing—60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡufJAhhKOiS
Don’t preserve me. Replace me.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡajBRmVT4N1
Silence.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMT5n5U0Xaa
Otieno is stone-faced. Musa breathes out slowly. One Order head lowers his eyes.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGK2Jh3dFhB
Juma steps forward. “That was the truth behind the ledger?”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqrcGpdRjir
Jabari nods. “The one we nearly died to protect. We archived a lie.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXLmBCES9VT
He turns to the room.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi0z98iwXEW
“You don’t get to carry Mercy’s fire and call it light.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRPmCRW0IZr
Jabari draws a circle in chalk on the floor.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdi992Qn75i
“Step in if you still serve the old Order. Step out if you choose to build what comes next.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPp4Jbts7w4
The pause is long. Weighty.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYEVQAUbbkT
Three members step in. Five steps out.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb2kW0MuBBc
Otieno steps to the edge, then deliberately wipes part of the chalk away.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiLKw6irYpL
“There shouldn’t be a circle anymore. Only a path.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3SdVcmieUS
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1xASTTFqRn
“Send it across the wall. No encryption.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgBoWv97ylu
Musa’s eyes widen. “You want Naomi to see it?”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBXAOt2gQaF
Jabari’s voice is firm.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡym6EHCor7j
“No. I want everyone to.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXx3bBTl2yH
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIfUsoHYqFi
