“Ayo’s Reckoning”61Please respect copyright.PENANAi29adZuuOR
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.61Please respect copyright.PENANAZp66KG932v
Ayo entered alone.61Please respect copyright.PENANARzG8oQqKyL
The silence was volcanic.61Please respect copyright.PENANACS05sexRVb
“You know why I called you,” Jabari said, voice flat.61Please respect copyright.PENANAWVUZcFMVWY
Ayo offered a faint shrug. “Because the girls found the card?”61Please respect copyright.PENANAp7YvQbz1NI
Jabari snapped a dossier onto the desk — a copy of Naomi’s Tribunal summary, ink still drying.61Please respect copyright.PENANASkYjBMrysu
“Because you sabotaged a crate we sent in good faith. Because you exposed all of us.”61Please respect copyright.PENANAelMsMyo4Vy
Ayo stepped closer.61Please respect copyright.PENANAe5k6lPQoix
“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.”61Please respect copyright.PENANAoknDC9FYiE
Jabari frowned. “What does that even mean?”61Please respect copyright.PENANA3QkjfM1ehl
Ayo picked up a coil of magnetic wire from the desk, let it dangle.61Please respect copyright.PENANAzpLJegEzTH
“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?”61Please respect copyright.PENANAvheaIeY6st
Jabari’s voice grew sharp.61Please respect copyright.PENANAkbkbbur5OS
“You broke formation. You put everyone at risk.”61Please respect copyright.PENANALH8bpnmmxU
“No,” Ayo said calmly. “I reminded everyone that you’re not clean either.”61Please respect copyright.PENANAYhKflmTElR
He stepped toward Jabari.61Please respect copyright.PENANAp3ilRwuAnb
“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.”61Please respect copyright.PENANAz45e0KUxKo
Jabari didn’t speak for several moments.61Please respect copyright.PENANAI8NgYZ8fRZ
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.”61Please respect copyright.PENANAvs65U9gcOW
Ayo nodded. No fight. No protest.61Please respect copyright.PENANANd1FLsLJSm
“As long as you understand... silencing me just proves my point.”61Please respect copyright.PENANAJ2oE9e3Pj8
He turned.61Please respect copyright.PENANAk1Sxxwe8rg
Before walking out, he paused.61Please respect copyright.PENANAACZLu9q36J
“Check the old boiler room under the lab tower.” You’ll find what Mercy left us. Or what we left buried first.”61Please respect copyright.PENANAEg0CTipnyc
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:61Please respect copyright.PENANAgI8MLe1Nid
“Control isn’t memory. It’s delay.” Below it, he circles one phrase: Boiler Room – Legacy Remnants.
**********61Please respect copyright.PENANAsUt3Xbffu4
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.61Please respect copyright.PENANAbQGt5StSAv
Ayo arrives to find Kwame and Otieno waiting.61Please respect copyright.PENANAHZdvcEARwA
Kwame’s expression is razor-sharp. Otieno leans against the pipe wall, arms folded, quieter but far more dangerous.61Please respect copyright.PENANAacFijav4Y0
“You went off-script,” Kwame said.61Please respect copyright.PENANAJ5j5U7QduN
“There’s no script,” Ayo replied. “That’s why we exist.”61Please respect copyright.PENANAHyRgtLDhRd
Otieno’s voice was cold: “There’s also no chaos clause. You don’t act alone.”61Please respect copyright.PENANAq1gkocQZaR
Ayo stepped forward.61Please respect copyright.PENANAFMe43W7icy
“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.”61Please respect copyright.PENANAO7SlHwi9DH
Kwame’s lip curled.61Please respect copyright.PENANAPJUPDvVftT
“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.”61Please respect copyright.PENANA26Mfsl7u1J
Ayo met his eyes — not defiant, but clear.61Please respect copyright.PENANAfNFKpNlsAM
“Then I’m not among you anymore.”61Please respect copyright.PENANApgZ3m50X12
He turned to Otieno.61Please respect copyright.PENANAne3uwjzPtP
“I thought you understood. You used to say walls exist to be rewired, not just crossed.”61Please respect copyright.PENANAxUBgekRb5g
Otieno’s jaw tightened — but he said nothing.61Please respect copyright.PENANAtKk5xZHORr
“So go ahead,” Ayo said. “Protect your myths. But I won’t be a shadow in someone else’s war.”61Please respect copyright.PENANACz8J8B1Mgt
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.61Please respect copyright.PENANAyMOpWtExnk
The thread burned silently, curling into smoke.61Please respect copyright.PENANAB5yenCkVnP
“I'm done pretending we were ever united.”61Please respect copyright.PENANAfwNp33EYTd
He walked out.61Please respect copyright.PENANAWXHBt3oZdn
The blue thread continued to smoke.61Please respect copyright.PENANA5R6O3RZlNp
Kwame didn’t stop him.61Please respect copyright.PENANAzmdRzEjOcI
Otieno did not speak.61Please respect copyright.PENANAuxD4BCNGxU
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.61Please respect copyright.PENANAaUj5au3MPr
Musa entered without knocking.61Please respect copyright.PENANAz3CFgSqLDS
He held no files. No coded messages. Just his voice.61Please respect copyright.PENANAabH8PsjLu2
“Don’t exile him.”61Please respect copyright.PENANAbFUbFjqbk9
Jabari didn’t turn. “He almost detonated the alliance.”61Please respect copyright.PENANA2pXrSDQcBD
“Because he saw the game Mercy was really playing,” Musa said.61Please respect copyright.PENANAmHFEV3YQBC
“Not the ledgers. Not the ciphers. The distraction. The division.”61Please respect copyright.PENANADDRPvMu2IW
Jabari finally turned. “He burned our seal. Broke ranks. Lied with his hands.”61Please respect copyright.PENANAnEtsMvM6M0
Musa didn’t flinch.61Please respect copyright.PENANA2nCtfMcD7d
“But he never lied with his heart.”61Please respect copyright.PENANA84H5WE65qZ
A long silence.61Please respect copyright.PENANA3nOnzLKGsa
“He’s not Mercy,” Musa said. “And if we treat him like he is… we become her next chapter.”61Please respect copyright.PENANA6dXKzacjad
Jabari exhaled slowly; hands clasped behind his back.61Please respect copyright.PENANA5GWDf5YbjW
“He’s out. No operations. No keys. No tunnels.”61Please respect copyright.PENANA4zTs4rgk2k
Musa nodded.61Please respect copyright.PENANAKTZm3jVxRb
“But?”61Please respect copyright.PENANAYVm8uWNtl5
Jabari met his eyes.61Please respect copyright.PENANADeB24Jahxs
“He lives. Under watch and probation. If he so much as breathes another signature, he’s done.”61Please respect copyright.PENANAxXoEibKSRR
Musa nodded once.61Please respect copyright.PENANANakRddZ4lZ
“Fair.”61Please respect copyright.PENANA1sXfgKKtYC
As he turned to leave, Jabari added, quieter:61Please respect copyright.PENANA9nUyvzNPGX
“He gave you something, didn’t he?”61Please respect copyright.PENANAdVLlTYJnOX
Musa paused.61Please respect copyright.PENANAaam9yqs3Dj
“Only this.”61Please respect copyright.PENANAAJslfRC7Zh
He handed over a slip of paper — a boiler schematic with one corner circled.61Please respect copyright.PENANAp4vi9UsR9t
“Where the heat doesn’t rise.”61Please respect copyright.PENANAGsXWAiiXw8
Jabari places the note into his pocket looking out at the storm again.61Please respect copyright.PENANAFemtqoehRe
“Then that’s where we look next.”
*****61Please respect copyright.PENANAdvElv9S9qN
The hallway behind the science block was nearly empty.61Please respect copyright.PENANAOCuS1C8EJ2
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.61Please respect copyright.PENANAkbYFY71GZX
The others avoided him.61Please respect copyright.PENANAORUVsmLyfB
But Juma didn’t.61Please respect copyright.PENANAmcXrm3kj30
He approached in silence, his boots wet from the storm.61Please respect copyright.PENANAzQdg3nLW7c
Ayo didn’t look up.61Please respect copyright.PENANAGbxTEJvrC9
Juma paused, then — slowly — he knelt.61Please respect copyright.PENANAdlSMT1cgx5
“You were reckless,” Juma said. “But you weren’t wrong.”61Please respect copyright.PENANAdq5aHJkc3B
Ayo blinked. “You hate me.”61Please respect copyright.PENANAEbKUeV32p0
“I did,” Juma replied. “But I hate lies more.”61Please respect copyright.PENANAAMcksgyEHc
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.61Please respect copyright.PENANAc80A1XACam
He placed it beside Ayo.61Please respect copyright.PENANAgh8PAfmRGc
“Blood isn’t thicker than truth,” Juma said. “And truth deserves a second voice.”61Please respect copyright.PENANAR0wtpkchE0
Ayo picks up the thread slowly. No words — just a nod.61Please respect copyright.PENANAIOJbIuAJXj
From the rooftops, unseen, Musa watches — saying nothing.61Please respect copyright.PENANATEAbmVxGP0
The storm passes over the lake, but its echo remains in the air.61Please respect copyright.PENANAT49ZQeltQK
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.61Please respect copyright.PENANAZk8p0tLzXV
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.61Please respect copyright.PENANAt79P7I5xvU
“Mercy recorded everything,” he says. “Not to preserve truth. But to rewrite it. This is her first confession.”61Please respect copyright.PENANAzxMYD4I6Fu
He plugs it into the projector system.61Please respect copyright.PENANAufpjGPlvA9
The screen flickers.61Please respect copyright.PENANAOfmFazlN7c
Mercy appears — younger, sharper, in a classroom-turned-studio. Her voice is calm.61Please respect copyright.PENANAob8vloREIw
“I didn’t want to lie. But the wall made it easy. They asked me to archive. I edited.61Please respect copyright.PENANA8w8vnnVmM9
They asked me to expel. I accused.61Please respect copyright.PENANAA5id8mJwv8
The girl from Form 3 never returned. And I never corrected it.61Please respect copyright.PENANAqRQdqG2Uj2
The ledger isn’t a record.61Please respect copyright.PENANAsUuZt6mMF4
It’s a grave.”61Please respect copyright.PENANAoWBHJqY91p
And if anyone finds this, I only ask one thing—61Please respect copyright.PENANAZMFXUwySzf
Don’t preserve me. Replace me.”61Please respect copyright.PENANAWvkZEdrn7H
Silence.61Please respect copyright.PENANA6g41frzNJO
Otieno is stone-faced. Musa breathes out slowly. One Order head lowers his eyes.61Please respect copyright.PENANAaBtearzBn8
Juma steps forward. “That was the truth behind the ledger?”61Please respect copyright.PENANAmtUIqh68Yj
Jabari nods. “The one we nearly died to protect. We archived a lie.”61Please respect copyright.PENANAvR35qaFnnF
He turns to the room.61Please respect copyright.PENANAPzvoRIH3Ei
“You don’t get to carry Mercy’s fire and call it light.”61Please respect copyright.PENANA5b0XQXMySv
Jabari draws a circle in chalk on the floor.61Please respect copyright.PENANAWaYpNTrhjJ
“Step in if you still serve the old Order. Step out if you choose to build what comes next.”61Please respect copyright.PENANA69aMlk5DK2
The pause is long. Weighty.61Please respect copyright.PENANAppINrmMIZQ
Three members step in. Five steps out.61Please respect copyright.PENANAl3GnjPkNch
Otieno steps to the edge, then deliberately wipes part of the chalk away.61Please respect copyright.PENANAx96BZUjAkK
“There shouldn’t be a circle anymore. Only a path.”61Please respect copyright.PENANAuGB4KinspR
Jabari watches the recording fade to static. He unplugs the drive, places it in a red envelope, and hands it to Musa.61Please respect copyright.PENANAUhaMgCiCxn
“Send it across the wall. No encryption.”61Please respect copyright.PENANAHv7ylTJ0j1
Musa’s eyes widen. “You want Naomi to see it?”61Please respect copyright.PENANAzivMo5YyBG
Jabari’s voice is firm.61Please respect copyright.PENANAyfSqwHRPuu
“No. I want everyone to.”61Please respect copyright.PENANASm5YaJ85oQ
61Please respect copyright.PENANAKL0eEkKj43