“Ayo’s Reckoning”29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2UI0PNSrPt
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.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQcgfideTeA
Ayo entered alone.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf6npiZ4nBz
The silence was volcanic.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqHK6zOGKGi
“You know why I called you,” Jabari said, voice flat.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAXwGPYXhLt
Ayo offered a faint shrug. “Because the girls found the card?”29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxxrwftkOk3
Jabari snapped a dossier onto the desk — a copy of Naomi’s Tribunal summary, ink still drying.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBuyUNJBp9W
“Because you sabotaged a crate we sent in good faith. Because you exposed all of us.”29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcKYHxlAtcX
Ayo stepped closer.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ9KKVNabjN
“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.”29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuSzHnUD2yr
Jabari frowned. “What does that even mean?”29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGbbzGuyOrW
Ayo picked up a coil of magnetic wire from the desk, let it dangle.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS4f4wmD9JU
“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?”29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOV4bWqxxmU
Jabari’s voice grew sharp.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgZbgjQxL9Y
“You broke formation. You put everyone at risk.”29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuMqoq6J7NL
“No,” Ayo said calmly. “I reminded everyone that you’re not clean either.”29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLVnVP0CCL5
He stepped toward Jabari.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAfBUVkZqQZ
“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.”29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl6RyOvHJAl
Jabari didn’t speak for several moments.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhMHefANoYT
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.”29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCWF3pzqFRr
Ayo nodded. No fight. No protest.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcVltoLq1kw
“As long as you understand... silencing me just proves my point.”29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr4YHo4fts5
He turned.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKnnG2Mi2MO
Before walking out, he paused.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJRbjG4ojPV
“Check the old boiler room under the lab tower.” You’ll find what Mercy left us. Or what we left buried first.”29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡev4268sbLB
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:29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyUEXtC8Da3
“Control isn’t memory. It’s delay.” Below it, he circles one phrase: Boiler Room – Legacy Remnants.
**********29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWz3UKhx4x4
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.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOL5NB3jUz3
Ayo arrives to find Kwame and Otieno waiting.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhqFMNZOQVJ
Kwame’s expression is razor-sharp. Otieno leans against the pipe wall, arms folded, quieter but far more dangerous.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQGusUxUrI7
“You went off-script,” Kwame said.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNArjPyCI5d
“There’s no script,” Ayo replied. “That’s why we exist.”29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOTUHVr5bLY
Otieno’s voice was cold: “There’s also no chaos clause. You don’t act alone.”29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN6FTlBPdDH
Ayo stepped forward.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6S5HCADQ7O
“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.”29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5cRKdbDQ7p
Kwame’s lip curled.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRRre4Tv8Km
“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.”29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNJn0gkL2x9
Ayo met his eyes — not defiant, but clear.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBNGs7Z0KNv
“Then I’m not among you anymore.”29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp5xPNKJT2p
He turned to Otieno.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuoM3vdDWEq
“I thought you understood. You used to say walls exist to be rewired, not just crossed.”29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWVXDaFrcp9
Otieno’s jaw tightened — but he said nothing.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxOB4JV9OvT
“So go ahead,” Ayo said. “Protect your myths. But I won’t be a shadow in someone else’s war.”29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcUIIT1tyQO
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.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmEXjJF9KsX
The thread burned silently, curling into smoke.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ88aew9IOyz
“I'm done pretending we were ever united.”29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGTkf0RfRbs
He walked out.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLRth6kH0fL
The blue thread continued to smoke.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXUioUgrz2K
Kwame didn’t stop him.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSn3T2YOPc1
Otieno did not speak.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBh88wHyyDj
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.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1dQlmr1weW
Musa entered without knocking.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdbalrpu60u
He held no files. No coded messages. Just his voice.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvygeIZsvhn
“Don’t exile him.”29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEYI7XzofbE
Jabari didn’t turn. “He almost detonated the alliance.”29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCRrzXwOaZL
“Because he saw the game Mercy was really playing,” Musa said.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGna0Mij15V
“Not the ledgers. Not the ciphers. The distraction. The division.”29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Uvk2R0XBN
Jabari finally turned. “He burned our seal. Broke ranks. Lied with his hands.”29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVFyzuEFjmF
Musa didn’t flinch.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvqMwSfgbdS
“But he never lied with his heart.”29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpCIWEhQJSz
A long silence.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgaMWo7yFEA
“He’s not Mercy,” Musa said. “And if we treat him like he is… we become her next chapter.”29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQyFNHNNBFk
Jabari exhaled slowly; hands clasped behind his back.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnzTSCVGQKI
“He’s out. No operations. No keys. No tunnels.”29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡESkxKfVwxh
Musa nodded.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2EgSY6awQb
“But?”29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlhdoNT3e4U
Jabari met his eyes.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvsv0Qq1QOX
“He lives. Under watch and probation. If he so much as breathes another signature, he’s done.”29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLRxXiteBus
Musa nodded once.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwqcWFZjfek
“Fair.”29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWIw1NC0npv
As he turned to leave, Jabari added, quieter:29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdgXWgSP3vh
“He gave you something, didn’t he?”29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX9Ok7gwIbT
Musa paused.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgDzcYEErjC
“Only this.”29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCqRVzfObGb
He handed over a slip of paper — a boiler schematic with one corner circled.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPtDmVDjqZk
“Where the heat doesn’t rise.”29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVcnPE3WN7E
Jabari places the note into his pocket looking out at the storm again.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaoY2NfqUWC
“Then that’s where we look next.”
*****29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ83B1hscXLI
The hallway behind the science block was nearly empty.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwlXbqsKBph
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.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuhBEXl4o6z
The others avoided him.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ62Se3iLaRj
But Juma didn’t.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMlbA3yMKfn
He approached in silence, his boots wet from the storm.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjrJQdGfS6Q
Ayo didn’t look up.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrpdw7QiQbT
Juma paused, then — slowly — he knelt.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS1obw22kye
“You were reckless,” Juma said. “But you weren’t wrong.”29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWlD79C5dP5
Ayo blinked. “You hate me.”29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6exetyM6Gt
“I did,” Juma replied. “But I hate lies more.”29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzbpx24ubt1
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.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOYyrWROwx1
He placed it beside Ayo.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6kcHLak979
“Blood isn’t thicker than truth,” Juma said. “And truth deserves a second voice.”29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8XJzVTjXKK
Ayo picks up the thread slowly. No words — just a nod.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡevexGYVUXi
From the rooftops, unseen, Musa watches — saying nothing.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxxKqgxziyu
The storm passes over the lake, but its echo remains in the air.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo1qXEiCQPO
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.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHZSeg0pWvZ
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.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj7ShhUnDS0
“Mercy recorded everything,” he says. “Not to preserve truth. But to rewrite it. This is her first confession.”29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzeiysEYnox
He plugs it into the projector system.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTWJHoGy9SK
The screen flickers.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcsLttfq86g
Mercy appears — younger, sharper, in a classroom-turned-studio. Her voice is calm.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFRbp8HuEA3
“I didn’t want to lie. But the wall made it easy. They asked me to archive. I edited.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgAgzCA5yCz
They asked me to expel. I accused.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaeSZ9GSpmw
The girl from Form 3 never returned. And I never corrected it.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ84FrvaX419
The ledger isn’t a record.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqAglTN4smn
It’s a grave.”29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCd8seYrgX6
And if anyone finds this, I only ask one thing—29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMJEwYsjJrp
Don’t preserve me. Replace me.”29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUHzQYvAX80
Silence.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡowUa6MDUac
Otieno is stone-faced. Musa breathes out slowly. One Order head lowers his eyes.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRnwXvdsKXb
Juma steps forward. “That was the truth behind the ledger?”29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQe3I8PvA1Z
Jabari nods. “The one we nearly died to protect. We archived a lie.”29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtSvuWooZdL
He turns to the room.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5uEvWA0LFV
“You don’t get to carry Mercy’s fire and call it light.”29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRK9imgPEvS
Jabari draws a circle in chalk on the floor.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ640e0nnV0r
“Step in if you still serve the old Order. Step out if you choose to build what comes next.”29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ159XIsEAb2
The pause is long. Weighty.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQQAVsfIjSd
Three members step in. Five steps out.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjeZJUybk53
Otieno steps to the edge, then deliberately wipes part of the chalk away.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGeHvXDTpP9
“There shouldn’t be a circle anymore. Only a path.”29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2d10OsHCEJ
Jabari watches the recording fade to static. He unplugs the drive, places it in a red envelope, and hands it to Musa.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYeyJwlRlfC
“Send it across the wall. No encryption.”29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1BvLJGFCp7
Musa’s eyes widen. “You want Naomi to see it?”29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY0zH9BiY0N
Jabari’s voice is firm.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjOxQXcG9rX
“No. I want everyone to.”29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBR8iOpiXA3
29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlcylwYw0Uq
