“Ayo’s Reckoning”46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUG2DrhD8Xh
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.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzdzrnZLcX2
Ayo entered alone.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQAa1EmQgbY
The silence was volcanic.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVDjLjUVkBx
“You know why I called you,” Jabari said, voice flat.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvyOnANYcIY
Ayo offered a faint shrug. “Because the girls found the card?”46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdWB8wz171E
Jabari snapped a dossier onto the desk — a copy of Naomi’s Tribunal summary, ink still drying.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrW4YgPm54r
“Because you sabotaged a crate we sent in good faith. Because you exposed all of us.”46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQSQ4MUSBb3
Ayo stepped closer.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOKNfVRQ0ox
“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.”46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQb44guT84q
Jabari frowned. “What does that even mean?”46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1gIxxY6yFT
Ayo picked up a coil of magnetic wire from the desk, let it dangle.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq72VoEf9hG
“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?”46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJOLhmEJOfz
Jabari’s voice grew sharp.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxqBwFNhtRc
“You broke formation. You put everyone at risk.”46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXsTwfhYl9i
“No,” Ayo said calmly. “I reminded everyone that you’re not clean either.”46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfUKFxLPxQs
He stepped toward Jabari.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrTSdj672BL
“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.”46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW3gtBwpGrM
Jabari didn’t speak for several moments.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXuqtyi7AOg
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.”46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeHA5HOCFCN
Ayo nodded. No fight. No protest.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKGlbwsKDXJ
“As long as you understand... silencing me just proves my point.”46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjNmZjFk6cX
He turned.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLHlVBYGUKK
Before walking out, he paused.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0UiMOSSZbf
“Check the old boiler room under the lab tower.” You’ll find what Mercy left us. Or what we left buried first.”46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWzM7Qkp5rM
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:46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLccZGygVEg
“Control isn’t memory. It’s delay.” Below it, he circles one phrase: Boiler Room – Legacy Remnants.
**********46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVH4oD4t8KX
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.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXv9aXyOebL
Ayo arrives to find Kwame and Otieno waiting.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsIhv86eI16
Kwame’s expression is razor-sharp. Otieno leans against the pipe wall, arms folded, quieter but far more dangerous.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCq8ZjY4iLn
“You went off-script,” Kwame said.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOPZejzQT67
“There’s no script,” Ayo replied. “That’s why we exist.”46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPd62fyKMQY
Otieno’s voice was cold: “There’s also no chaos clause. You don’t act alone.”46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJGzIRLVjUK
Ayo stepped forward.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL7hOHqbrR0
“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.”46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCkLZR15cBI
Kwame’s lip curled.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡorYzt29UWU
“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.”46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBOEJtcUVpY
Ayo met his eyes — not defiant, but clear.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAvqWfr9SO5
“Then I’m not among you anymore.”46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl0w48nrJOB
He turned to Otieno.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSFpq5wLKt1
“I thought you understood. You used to say walls exist to be rewired, not just crossed.”46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFxsMaRNSDa
Otieno’s jaw tightened — but he said nothing.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvdT7JerV6v
“So go ahead,” Ayo said. “Protect your myths. But I won’t be a shadow in someone else’s war.”46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRru1hFLVHy
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.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgrgBQ1hrGt
The thread burned silently, curling into smoke.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWaEOzeLU9V
“I'm done pretending we were ever united.”46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdPc4ZFsk6P
He walked out.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhoIk4Wkpm0
The blue thread continued to smoke.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd4rSjmbCkY
Kwame didn’t stop him.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡboFVZHlToD
Otieno did not speak.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNDZUXeKhR7
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.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0uEmwoi3PY
Musa entered without knocking.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcZJP12Kl7b
He held no files. No coded messages. Just his voice.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtVinvL8I5j
“Don’t exile him.”46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjmVqqApaAb
Jabari didn’t turn. “He almost detonated the alliance.”46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6aki4J8kal
“Because he saw the game Mercy was really playing,” Musa said.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVDNJiKAX7u
“Not the ledgers. Not the ciphers. The distraction. The division.”46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwv7c59WOhP
Jabari finally turned. “He burned our seal. Broke ranks. Lied with his hands.”46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdJYGtnCIOg
Musa didn’t flinch.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVtAYyM1Fex
“But he never lied with his heart.”46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZzPxVGhCTM
A long silence.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAfl63GjnKv
“He’s not Mercy,” Musa said. “And if we treat him like he is… we become her next chapter.”46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWQEP7KAkZC
Jabari exhaled slowly; hands clasped behind his back.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuArB6x3Aeh
“He’s out. No operations. No keys. No tunnels.”46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMxY3nIUztP
Musa nodded.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Y1ANbMv5M
“But?”46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpmSpoplATb
Jabari met his eyes.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGkegWG6kSB
“He lives. Under watch and probation. If he so much as breathes another signature, he’s done.”46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlbtOSrLMTg
Musa nodded once.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7a5Swvxaqi
“Fair.”46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhA9maRvJHi
As he turned to leave, Jabari added, quieter:46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaJR1slWVkX
“He gave you something, didn’t he?”46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIDL1YzWfOP
Musa paused.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ01OEGEdjsS
“Only this.”46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTZM3GEsllQ
He handed over a slip of paper — a boiler schematic with one corner circled.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMC7Q7K831d
“Where the heat doesn’t rise.”46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1chjY4g5hZ
Jabari places the note into his pocket looking out at the storm again.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG41rUMHPdC
“Then that’s where we look next.”
*****46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEpX7yX6DU4
The hallway behind the science block was nearly empty.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6PBpFaUZDs
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.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp6GAwb7SYo
The others avoided him.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeRNm01pvIK
But Juma didn’t.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJThlJgk0kQ
He approached in silence, his boots wet from the storm.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4UrfAET4ZS
Ayo didn’t look up.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz53OCwtj6u
Juma paused, then — slowly — he knelt.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhycufj2Ir2
“You were reckless,” Juma said. “But you weren’t wrong.”46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKKGxShdSV4
Ayo blinked. “You hate me.”46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFfM4adPS00
“I did,” Juma replied. “But I hate lies more.”46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwGcnwFeNFe
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.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAhCyfmbcOi
He placed it beside Ayo.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnSXj1pP4N4
“Blood isn’t thicker than truth,” Juma said. “And truth deserves a second voice.”46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHM21yMyVUC
Ayo picks up the thread slowly. No words — just a nod.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpjO922F4Lh
From the rooftops, unseen, Musa watches — saying nothing.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡENsY7AUbfG
The storm passes over the lake, but its echo remains in the air.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH5hT9Efgfq
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.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIUqGj5BUnM
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.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5HLYY5WrwK
“Mercy recorded everything,” he says. “Not to preserve truth. But to rewrite it. This is her first confession.”46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdnYGUDkDNT
He plugs it into the projector system.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdJD8V9gj0u
The screen flickers.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo6ZE1h4K5T
Mercy appears — younger, sharper, in a classroom-turned-studio. Her voice is calm.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAaJNzFNpAJ
“I didn’t want to lie. But the wall made it easy. They asked me to archive. I edited.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf9EoTxn3i8
They asked me to expel. I accused.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVqP4QalSDk
The girl from Form 3 never returned. And I never corrected it.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlG8NYv5xK2
The ledger isn’t a record.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTwNNEoRJdl
It’s a grave.”46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQvmnCjuYRI
And if anyone finds this, I only ask one thing—46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn16aFV2n7B
Don’t preserve me. Replace me.”46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzfWqTEflAU
Silence.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZpx8CUhZ6K
Otieno is stone-faced. Musa breathes out slowly. One Order head lowers his eyes.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWAFAtwYCAT
Juma steps forward. “That was the truth behind the ledger?”46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpbT2c0ReHz
Jabari nods. “The one we nearly died to protect. We archived a lie.”46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD854TFXpFX
He turns to the room.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIA33S9ipJI
“You don’t get to carry Mercy’s fire and call it light.”46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh5sR30oV5r
Jabari draws a circle in chalk on the floor.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCa7yW3nyTm
“Step in if you still serve the old Order. Step out if you choose to build what comes next.”46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2FFh36zMf2
The pause is long. Weighty.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE14DewRydM
Three members step in. Five steps out.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPLqHug5ASJ
Otieno steps to the edge, then deliberately wipes part of the chalk away.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3xHXw6OpwE
“There shouldn’t be a circle anymore. Only a path.”46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoOzFXseuZ6
Jabari watches the recording fade to static. He unplugs the drive, places it in a red envelope, and hands it to Musa.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWQqT5PEJbt
“Send it across the wall. No encryption.”46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA9uaeZqw0D
Musa’s eyes widen. “You want Naomi to see it?”46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeB5QXWAY7F
Jabari’s voice is firm.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8ss4ZYBqxs
“No. I want everyone to.”46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHhBZIQwQpj
46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUN2DaAVph3
