“Ayo’s Reckoning”41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3ISzYnXTDY
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.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPNDo5PBTM6
Ayo entered alone.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡicbiI1b4NP
The silence was volcanic.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ25AZ15HkIg
“You know why I called you,” Jabari said, voice flat.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡttz6cgZMLL
Ayo offered a faint shrug. “Because the girls found the card?”41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLF4wLicPsk
Jabari snapped a dossier onto the desk — a copy of Naomi’s Tribunal summary, ink still drying.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm2wapkTSV5
“Because you sabotaged a crate we sent in good faith. Because you exposed all of us.”41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHXTQEGWAH6
Ayo stepped closer.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjmp9mFAZ5p
“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.”41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ74ZZUgzfVG
Jabari frowned. “What does that even mean?”41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5b69AO5Qhd
Ayo picked up a coil of magnetic wire from the desk, let it dangle.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeiwG50zT4h
“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?”41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa52NM0hr2B
Jabari’s voice grew sharp.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO9mT2Qpsr0
“You broke formation. You put everyone at risk.”41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeZ9BpT7u1B
“No,” Ayo said calmly. “I reminded everyone that you’re not clean either.”41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtrQlM977LH
He stepped toward Jabari.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl0QvkUpej9
“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.”41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ23WyFgUnnL
Jabari didn’t speak for several moments.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcnDPSGcxhI
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.”41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQxp0D8hIEp
Ayo nodded. No fight. No protest.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ64aigXLJ8Y
“As long as you understand... silencing me just proves my point.”41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmW2fMdV14e
He turned.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOqhupVpYcD
Before walking out, he paused.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHrWS1gjhIf
“Check the old boiler room under the lab tower.” You’ll find what Mercy left us. Or what we left buried first.”41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡskK4ymGIKy
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:41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQqerACNbFa
“Control isn’t memory. It’s delay.” Below it, he circles one phrase: Boiler Room – Legacy Remnants.
**********41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwQzX7qiubc
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.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA4Y543wcrY
Ayo arrives to find Kwame and Otieno waiting.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBC1dVKVAgo
Kwame’s expression is razor-sharp. Otieno leans against the pipe wall, arms folded, quieter but far more dangerous.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBawxNX0gTE
“You went off-script,” Kwame said.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwFsNXJDmNG
“There’s no script,” Ayo replied. “That’s why we exist.”41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8eMaCbN7qP
Otieno’s voice was cold: “There’s also no chaos clause. You don’t act alone.”41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSJp9vFKDWJ
Ayo stepped forward.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZVuvrM32Lr
“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.”41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFhRdsCKZBy
Kwame’s lip curled.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡekkbwBpXUi
“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.”41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ7k6bWolIk
Ayo met his eyes — not defiant, but clear.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiBB4R4Y8vK
“Then I’m not among you anymore.”41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡulrLBypGZ7
He turned to Otieno.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPPxW1IMTp3
“I thought you understood. You used to say walls exist to be rewired, not just crossed.”41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeJSOzPaYIY
Otieno’s jaw tightened — but he said nothing.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTqqxiePvz1
“So go ahead,” Ayo said. “Protect your myths. But I won’t be a shadow in someone else’s war.”41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8b5DPG9Cbq
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.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgphNxusaUI
The thread burned silently, curling into smoke.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4h4SdjfSKZ
“I'm done pretending we were ever united.”41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFDTW2cWwVZ
He walked out.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUxz9HfK6vk
The blue thread continued to smoke.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD8Y41hp2DG
Kwame didn’t stop him.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdzJ88P8j5x
Otieno did not speak.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnBkCGTcBc1
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.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNlkMAapnQz
Musa entered without knocking.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtMIdjqvh7D
He held no files. No coded messages. Just his voice.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEiKYrU7SOa
“Don’t exile him.”41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO2OP12qjLg
Jabari didn’t turn. “He almost detonated the alliance.”41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7B5ET0RiyM
“Because he saw the game Mercy was really playing,” Musa said.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfbw6swtINB
“Not the ledgers. Not the ciphers. The distraction. The division.”41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfR5898Mwji
Jabari finally turned. “He burned our seal. Broke ranks. Lied with his hands.”41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWbFBCqDHf2
Musa didn’t flinch.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLgtkayDSfQ
“But he never lied with his heart.”41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX2UTlmEyTP
A long silence.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSFMQdp2ZSh
“He’s not Mercy,” Musa said. “And if we treat him like he is… we become her next chapter.”41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHt61by8Lbd
Jabari exhaled slowly; hands clasped behind his back.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcC3GoFLv4l
“He’s out. No operations. No keys. No tunnels.”41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcAOeVMyT7F
Musa nodded.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj47pjGuUER
“But?”41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWaYuRE4ur5
Jabari met his eyes.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4uqXnSzcoG
“He lives. Under watch and probation. If he so much as breathes another signature, he’s done.”41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZaZFmRsEi0
Musa nodded once.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSSLGog7do5
“Fair.”41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmumTZvOJdd
As he turned to leave, Jabari added, quieter:41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2nJpnjZPO2
“He gave you something, didn’t he?”41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDKrMhe95ig
Musa paused.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC6Y2B29Zfv
“Only this.”41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkEVkEjxAqm
He handed over a slip of paper — a boiler schematic with one corner circled.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcJYrL5eFhU
“Where the heat doesn’t rise.”41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq1tuJlzwP8
Jabari places the note into his pocket looking out at the storm again.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjbeZBVGLKz
“Then that’s where we look next.”
*****41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4kQeuAwn5r
The hallway behind the science block was nearly empty.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIl87yaPCDR
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.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGfRN0dWpZe
The others avoided him.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGNJ4XzSRYD
But Juma didn’t.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAeU9qEGDXK
He approached in silence, his boots wet from the storm.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWi1ldGUxMP
Ayo didn’t look up.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZLvxC40QGV
Juma paused, then — slowly — he knelt.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT2e2bWB3sB
“You were reckless,” Juma said. “But you weren’t wrong.”41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuJSJ01wJzy
Ayo blinked. “You hate me.”41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMdFMlVqlzw
“I did,” Juma replied. “But I hate lies more.”41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaHK2NqCEBA
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.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR0Z5Rw4u5d
He placed it beside Ayo.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIUKBFK0cgQ
“Blood isn’t thicker than truth,” Juma said. “And truth deserves a second voice.”41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnYA6yX6pK7
Ayo picks up the thread slowly. No words — just a nod.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMmJkK3qdlH
From the rooftops, unseen, Musa watches — saying nothing.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtVnpDGRs64
The storm passes over the lake, but its echo remains in the air.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd3fgPQMzZj
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.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIMIF4ueZVm
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.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZqVWeyG2fQ
“Mercy recorded everything,” he says. “Not to preserve truth. But to rewrite it. This is her first confession.”41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGh8K5yb4Vw
He plugs it into the projector system.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL98tEP8jCj
The screen flickers.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwGWvAtJtJe
Mercy appears — younger, sharper, in a classroom-turned-studio. Her voice is calm.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ81pC6L1NVC
“I didn’t want to lie. But the wall made it easy. They asked me to archive. I edited.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIjdS0bL8gw
They asked me to expel. I accused.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd2bBWhksbb
The girl from Form 3 never returned. And I never corrected it.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNPNjKKVe58
The ledger isn’t a record.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEt9PYaaCk8
It’s a grave.”41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrdpD5qkVJV
And if anyone finds this, I only ask one thing—41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKlvLlglMGr
Don’t preserve me. Replace me.”41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ65qYeoyIPc
Silence.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAuuNDLUnGQ
Otieno is stone-faced. Musa breathes out slowly. One Order head lowers his eyes.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoACfzFGx2M
Juma steps forward. “That was the truth behind the ledger?”41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjw8K3nW5jp
Jabari nods. “The one we nearly died to protect. We archived a lie.”41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMYZftHOJsp
He turns to the room.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2j7ZlvTLPP
“You don’t get to carry Mercy’s fire and call it light.”41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCS3sdfLPW4
Jabari draws a circle in chalk on the floor.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYXBQmnNinq
“Step in if you still serve the old Order. Step out if you choose to build what comes next.”41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZMFoWrZapA
The pause is long. Weighty.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaXOMTGnEXN
Three members step in. Five steps out.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGMxd7AY2Nm
Otieno steps to the edge, then deliberately wipes part of the chalk away.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpC48sTjKx0
“There shouldn’t be a circle anymore. Only a path.”41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLVuebd0Jbj
Jabari watches the recording fade to static. He unplugs the drive, places it in a red envelope, and hands it to Musa.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqZ2WcKCbkH
“Send it across the wall. No encryption.”41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrlG7RTDdHg
Musa’s eyes widen. “You want Naomi to see it?”41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD0otgSuk6j
Jabari’s voice is firm.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡinfb7uLQm0
“No. I want everyone to.”41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLeLeeERTG1
41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUyhFqqvTSq
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