Chapter 24: Behind Closed Doors

The door closed with a soft click, muting the distant sounds of activity outside. Inside, the room was heavy with silence. Dr. Evelyn Mercer sat at her desk, fingers laced together in front of her, while Mariane Kyros stood by the window, her gaze fixed on the tablet glowing in her hands. Both women were deep in thought, tension hanging in the air like a thick fog.

The press conference had done its job—kept the public’s questions at bay for now—but the storm of speculation was building. It wasn’t just about the brutal footage of Levi and Jake’s capture. People were starting to ask more dangerous questions: How did they survive?

“They’re all wondering the same thing,” Mariane said, not looking up from her tablet. “How two teenagers walked away from the Galewood explosion unscathed. The public’s connecting the dots. They’re not accusing them outright yet, but…”

“But they’re suspicious,” Mercer finished, her voice cold. She leaned back in her chair, eyes narrowing. “We knew this would happen. The footage we allowed the public to see gave them just enough information to speculate but not enough to confirm anything.”

Mercer’s gaze shifted, her fingers tapping lightly against her desk. “Levi Blackwell especially is an enigma, even to us. We have been studying him for weeks, running tests, trying to understand his powers, but every result only seems to raise more questions.”

“We haven’t even fully grasped the extent of his abilities yet,” Mariane said, her voice dropping slightly. “He’s… different from anything we’ve seen before.”

Mercer nodded slowly, her mind working through the tangled web of possibilities. Levi’s powers went beyond mere empathy. That much was clear. But the details of how he had survived the explosion, how he had remained seemingly unaffected, were still uncertain.

“And Jake?” Mercer asked, her voice steady. “Any progress?”

Mariane’s expression tightened. “Jake’s a different case. His… reactions are more predictable, yet volatile. We’ve been pushing him, but we still don’t know how far we can go before something… happens again.”

Mercer’s face remained impassive, though the weight of Galewood still hung between them. They had seen what Jake was capable of—destruction on a scale that no one could have predicted. But the real question was whether Jake himself even understood the full scope of his power. From the tests they’d run, they were beginning to suspect he didn’t.

“We need to keep pushing, but cautiously,” Mercer said after a long pause. “We don’t have the luxury of time, Mariane. The central Academy leadership is watching us closely, and if they think we’ve lost control…”

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“I know…they’ll step in,” Mariane finished, her voice tight.

The silence in the room grew heavier. The central Academy was already questioning their methods, and if they made a misstep—if the public outcry grew too loud, or, if the government got involved—it wouldn’t just be Levi and Jake they would lose control over. It would be the entire Academy branch.

“Jake’s guilt is keeping him compliant for now,” Mariane said quietly. “But that won’t last forever. He’s starting to show signs of pushing back.”

Mercer’s eyes darkened. Jake Foster was a walking bomb, and they both knew it. His ability to absorb and manipulate energy was unlike anything they’d seen before, and yet, despite their best efforts, they still hadn’t fully uncovered the source of his power. Every test they ran seemed to hint at something deeper, something they couldn’t yet explain.

“We need to break him down further,” Mercer said, her voice cold. “Mentally. I believe guilt is our strongest tool, but we have to push him to understand what he’s capable of. Carefully, of course.”

Mariane nodded, though she didn’t look convinced. “What about Levi? We’ve pushed him as well, but… he’s not reacting the way we expected.”

Mercer leaned forward, eyes narrowing. “Explain.”

Mariane hesitated before answering. “Levi… seems detached. He’s following the protocols, cooperating during the tests, but it’s like he’s not entirely present. There’s no emotional response to what we’re doing to him, but…”

“But?” Mercer pressed.

“There’s something off about him,” Mariane said, her voice uncertain. “He’s not showing outward signs of distress, but… the tests are showing strange results. His powers are still active, even though he doesn’t seem to be feeling anything. It’s as if he’s still drawing from the emotions around him, but he’s not affected by them.”

Mercer sat in silence for a moment, considering this. Levi’s emotional detachment had been apparent since the moment of his capture. It was one of the reasons they had been able to contain him so easily—he hadn’t fought back, hadn’t reacted the way Jake had. But if he was still absorbing emotional energy even in this state…

“We need to keep testing him,” Mercer said finally. “He’s the key. Whatever’s happening to him, it’s most likely tied to his survival.”

Mariane swiped through her tablet, pulling up another report. “There’s something else. The footage from the capture is starting to gain more traction online. People are still asking why we had to use such force to bring them in. They don’t know about the… other footage, of course, but there’s growing pressure.”

Mercer’s jaw tightened. The footage of Levi and Jake being brutally subdued by Academy soldiers had sparked a wave of public outrage. They had seen two young kids who barely survived a catastrophe beaten into submission, and the accusations of excessive force were growing louder. What they hadn’t seen—what the Academy had confiscated—was the footage of Levi before the explosion, showing his black hair and brown eyes, before his transformation.

That footage was locked away, buried deep in the Academy’s archives. They couldn’t afford to let the public see it. If people realized how drastically Levi had changed after the explosion, it would raise even more questions they just weren’t ready to answer.

“We’ve contained that footage,” Mercer said flatly. “The public only knows what we want them to know.”

“For now,” Mariane said softly. “But people are persistent. They’re starting to connect the dots. Even without seeing the changes, they’re wondering why we’re treating them like this. Why we’ve classified them as Class 5 metahumans.”

Mercer’s eyes narrowed. “Then we keep control. No one outside the Academy leadership knows the full story. As long as we keep it that way, the public will keep speculating, but they’ll have no proof.”

But even as she spoke, Mercer knew they were walking a dangerous line. The more they tested Levi and Jake, the more unpredictable the results became. And the more questions the public asked, the harder it was to maintain the facade.

The soft chime of Mariane’s tablet interrupted the silence.

“There’s been another small incident,” Mariane said, her voice tight. “Jake’s containment room is showing elevated energy levels again. He’s… pushing back.”

Mercer exhaled slowly, her expression darkening. Jake’s instability was becoming more of a problem by the day. His guilt over the explosion had kept him in check, but the more they pushed him, the more volatile he became. And if he slipped again—if he lost control like he had in Galewood—there was no telling what the consequences would be.