“Ayo’s Reckoning”101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2DOaLFGYRH
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.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpa5ayyG41D
Ayo entered alone.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmCTQkgkMcv
The silence was volcanic.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnqA3E1biRU
“You know why I called you,” Jabari said, voice flat.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ5wz8MY8om
Ayo offered a faint shrug. “Because the girls found the card?”101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBbebJ3ZLG0
Jabari snapped a dossier onto the desk — a copy of Naomi’s Tribunal summary, ink still drying.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRWOzjILVVe
“Because you sabotaged a crate we sent in good faith. Because you exposed all of us.”101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmVURJBEteA
Ayo stepped closer.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMM9PCWDXy3
“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.”101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5CvpV8ycBG
Jabari frowned. “What does that even mean?”101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxZ24GXk1wN
Ayo picked up a coil of magnetic wire from the desk, let it dangle.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHFmXIc7wDa
“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?”101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu3bzgQ0vPm
Jabari’s voice grew sharp.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdG9ePDrbsl
“You broke formation. You put everyone at risk.”101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWIrJ6Mf1bR
“No,” Ayo said calmly. “I reminded everyone that you’re not clean either.”101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2KpnOKy10n
He stepped toward Jabari.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6BfCyAGoEa
“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.”101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI9ephnnBu0
Jabari didn’t speak for several moments.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqhDWHLN71u
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.”101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgepfdlw7L0
Ayo nodded. No fight. No protest.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4VjqESsxI3
“As long as you understand... silencing me just proves my point.”101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnL1PGg6Oap
He turned.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE2RlczywdL
Before walking out, he paused.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvygEVyMauj
“Check the old boiler room under the lab tower.” You’ll find what Mercy left us. Or what we left buried first.”101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt3cM98BVLY
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:101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡchsJguvLxL
“Control isn’t memory. It’s delay.” Below it, he circles one phrase: Boiler Room – Legacy Remnants.
**********101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJxcUJSTLQk
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.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXLc7TvSvPh
Ayo arrives to find Kwame and Otieno waiting.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡknpaNvQA6X
Kwame’s expression is razor-sharp. Otieno leans against the pipe wall, arms folded, quieter but far more dangerous.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Wnrtivfsu
“You went off-script,” Kwame said.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVeuK8os10z
“There’s no script,” Ayo replied. “That’s why we exist.”101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL8N4yaQwcM
Otieno’s voice was cold: “There’s also no chaos clause. You don’t act alone.”101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzaarJtPMbC
Ayo stepped forward.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmQxLkF63qW
“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.”101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX9o9IWMDqT
Kwame’s lip curled.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhOCb97Pmjx
“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.”101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXZp06U2LRL
Ayo met his eyes — not defiant, but clear.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdEyUJU1Hh3
“Then I’m not among you anymore.”101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDBnE66lm1D
He turned to Otieno.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDjH2LGvSFM
“I thought you understood. You used to say walls exist to be rewired, not just crossed.”101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh5McggXmeM
Otieno’s jaw tightened — but he said nothing.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQtDEAZh5I2
“So go ahead,” Ayo said. “Protect your myths. But I won’t be a shadow in someone else’s war.”101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP4DcAWZVrE
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.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmH93zBv3CB
The thread burned silently, curling into smoke.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTTfhhom1GV
“I'm done pretending we were ever united.”101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfgcQC8udJ7
He walked out.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaYpYUvOj95
The blue thread continued to smoke.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt9HcPTLMn0
Kwame didn’t stop him.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgreTSM8Efq
Otieno did not speak.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjfKo1cq3gr
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.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxUaBYHHjgq
Musa entered without knocking.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡonO7tmORuP
He held no files. No coded messages. Just his voice.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh6C0w0DHni
“Don’t exile him.”101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSLeozTCjAw
Jabari didn’t turn. “He almost detonated the alliance.”101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbhPFGODS0i
“Because he saw the game Mercy was really playing,” Musa said.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlAZKfhV4mJ
“Not the ledgers. Not the ciphers. The distraction. The division.”101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFuDnOIY7I2
Jabari finally turned. “He burned our seal. Broke ranks. Lied with his hands.”101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlEEENibcBC
Musa didn’t flinch.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTm42qOEyq9
“But he never lied with his heart.”101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKN0xhulMb3
A long silence.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡooCBKSyMqV
“He’s not Mercy,” Musa said. “And if we treat him like he is… we become her next chapter.”101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaPkc9CL7uG
Jabari exhaled slowly; hands clasped behind his back.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZTdW2btfLf
“He’s out. No operations. No keys. No tunnels.”101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNtz76VcqQs
Musa nodded.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCjMCOCCgwJ
“But?”101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV1o7VRZf7U
Jabari met his eyes.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfi0YE81fid
“He lives. Under watch and probation. If he so much as breathes another signature, he’s done.”101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfi7t5JrzHx
Musa nodded once.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1oh913t1zK
“Fair.”101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRyEPsK2y3Q
As he turned to leave, Jabari added, quieter:101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZDLZqyZfrC
“He gave you something, didn’t he?”101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmYOMc8OmGg
Musa paused.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuFq3y9zIpJ
“Only this.”101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJIkRXjs2PO
He handed over a slip of paper — a boiler schematic with one corner circled.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOnC3xJdZmc
“Where the heat doesn’t rise.”101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDTwETeaMCQ
Jabari places the note into his pocket looking out at the storm again.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfPRX7KTQ24
“Then that’s where we look next.”
*****101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2AAnMVihyC
The hallway behind the science block was nearly empty.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoExwTTErEo
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.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIo7naI2HEL
The others avoided him.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcUrFVjw1ks
But Juma didn’t.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtxn1DXNxQD
He approached in silence, his boots wet from the storm.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd9TNtxyKON
Ayo didn’t look up.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhK9ulRXzcW
Juma paused, then — slowly — he knelt.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7H8U1DsJrU
“You were reckless,” Juma said. “But you weren’t wrong.”101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4eCjvB0lro
Ayo blinked. “You hate me.”101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI1C8ceqXG0
“I did,” Juma replied. “But I hate lies more.”101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡshy1hWklxL
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.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAvUl2ytyZz
He placed it beside Ayo.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4a3FCwWVt2
“Blood isn’t thicker than truth,” Juma said. “And truth deserves a second voice.”101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDlMSWfhCx4
Ayo picks up the thread slowly. No words — just a nod.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ17pKtjsp7X
From the rooftops, unseen, Musa watches — saying nothing.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX5BmnHENJf
The storm passes over the lake, but its echo remains in the air.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9wbqLJRVP9
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.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ99cq3U6bMt
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.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9EDepQKGwe
“Mercy recorded everything,” he says. “Not to preserve truth. But to rewrite it. This is her first confession.”101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKjZniVGjNX
He plugs it into the projector system.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRTo0vkbfjy
The screen flickers.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7QMgh6RUhG
Mercy appears — younger, sharper, in a classroom-turned-studio. Her voice is calm.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNDiHissEhg
“I didn’t want to lie. But the wall made it easy. They asked me to archive. I edited.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYlP4oFuPER
They asked me to expel. I accused.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV9n3qsbzmZ
The girl from Form 3 never returned. And I never corrected it.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKwIwpwfKMa
The ledger isn’t a record.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCMEbb1idEX
It’s a grave.”101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUDHNuCm5C7
And if anyone finds this, I only ask one thing—101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBTUK2AF8My
Don’t preserve me. Replace me.”101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVk1O5XtmFk
Silence.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAG3Orslj4E
Otieno is stone-faced. Musa breathes out slowly. One Order head lowers his eyes.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc9MlVV8z2Y
Juma steps forward. “That was the truth behind the ledger?”101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnqVoQLGRph
Jabari nods. “The one we nearly died to protect. We archived a lie.”101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Kzrx2fxIr
He turns to the room.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA2IRWH10e1
“You don’t get to carry Mercy’s fire and call it light.”101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzhLaAbslWo
Jabari draws a circle in chalk on the floor.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiVvXoQs4Hh
“Step in if you still serve the old Order. Step out if you choose to build what comes next.”101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfHqA45LUWz
The pause is long. Weighty.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuMFy532zjx
Three members step in. Five steps out.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzRxTrGjMNP
Otieno steps to the edge, then deliberately wipes part of the chalk away.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHj5yOe89Zr
“There shouldn’t be a circle anymore. Only a path.”101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe5OiQ6JOIE
Jabari watches the recording fade to static. He unplugs the drive, places it in a red envelope, and hands it to Musa.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡunsV1dS7JX
“Send it across the wall. No encryption.”101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoUT2ABrKhr
Musa’s eyes widen. “You want Naomi to see it?”101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUSxYE17n87
Jabari’s voice is firm.101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡENARyyXf8G
“No. I want everyone to.”101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX9vTkgogxk
101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWKBgNBOISd
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