Chapter 66: Opening The I.O. File
Dr. Naomi Wells sat back in her chair, eyes still fixed on the last piece of data about Levi Blackwell. She hadn’t moved for nearly half an hour, her mind still processing the ramifications of what she had just seen. His immortality wasn’t just a theory anymore. It was staring at her in black and white, in numbers, graphs, and video footage.
The sheer scope of what the Academy had discovered—what they had tested—was overwhelming. It was also unsettling. The depth of testing was excessive, invasive, and inhuman. She had seen extreme experiments before, but something about this—about Levi’s unique situation—once again made her stomach twist in a way it hadn’t for years.
She rubbed her temples, trying to ease the tension building behind her eyes. As much as the Blackwell data weighed on her, there was something else gnawing at the back of her mind. Something she had tried to push away but couldn’t ignore any longer.
The I.O. file.
It had been months since she first stumbled across it. At the time, she hadn’t had the clearance to access it, and the restriction only made her more curious. The file was buried deep within the Academy’s database—labeled with the nondescript initials “I.O.”—but it had been flagged as highly classified.
At the time, Naomi had managed to brush off her curiosity, telling herself it was just another restricted project. The Academy was filled with secrets, after all. But now, with her promotion to Level 8 clearance, that restriction was gone. She could just open it. She had the access.
Her fingers hovered over the keyboard as she hesitated. A part of her didn’t want to know what was inside, especially not after what she had just uncovered about Levi. But another part—the scientist in her—couldn’t resist. Knowledge was power, and here she was, standing at the threshold of something bigger than she’d ever imagined.
Taking a deep breath, Naomi clicked on the file.
The screen flashed, and within moments, rows of data, reports, and videos populated her screen. The header at the top of the first page caught her eye immediately.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
Subject I.O.: Isabella Ortega
Naomi’s heart skipped a beat. Ortega? The name wasn’t unfamiliar—it carried a certain weight among the metahuman world, though she hadn’t heard much more than whispers over the years. The Ortega family was practically legend in some circles, known for their powerful lineage of metahumans with fire-based abilities. But Isabella Ortega had disappeared decades ago, her whereabouts unknown.
Naomi leaned forward, her eyes scanning the first report.
Status: Involuntary Containment
Isabella Ortega had been in the Academy’s custody all this time? Naomi felt a chill crawl up her spine as she continued to read.
The file detailed Isabella’s abilities in precise, clinical terms—strong pyrokinetic powers, far surpassing any other fire-manipulator the Academy had ever encountered. But what stood out to Naomi wasn’t the power, it was the age of the reports. Isabella had been held here for over two decades. Quietly, secretly.
Naomi’s gaze flicked over to a video file attached to the report, labeled Subject I.O. – Conditioning Report. Her finger hesitated over the play button, but she couldn’t stop herself. She clicked it.
The footage was grainy, clearly from years ago. A younger-looking Isabella sat in what looked like a containment room, her hair tangled, her eyes hollow. She was hooked up to several machines, electrodes strapped to her temples, wrists, and chest. Around her, a group of scientists stood, watching her every move.
The screen flickered, and Naomi’s stomach churned as the tests began.
They were brutal. Isabella was subjected to increasingly painful stimuli, meant to trigger her abilities. Flames erupted from her hands, engulfing parts of the room, but every outburst was met with immediate suppression by the Academy’s systems. Over and over again, they pushed her, demanding more control, more power, more precision.
Naomi’s hands clenched into fists, the tension in her body rising as the video dragged on. The woman in the footage—once powerful and proud—looked broken. It was clear in her eyes, in the way she reacted to the smallest commands, how she no longer fought back with the same fire that once defined her.
The video cut off abruptly, leaving Naomi in silence.
She sat back, heart racing. How could they have kept this hidden? The Academy had held Isabella Ortega, one of the most powerful metahumans of her generation, in a secret containment facility for all these years. And for what? To study her? To break her down? To experiment with her abilities in the same way they were now doing with others?
Her mind raced back to Levi and Jake. To the other metahumans. How long before they ended up like Isabella—trapped, dissected, and stripped of their humanity?
Naomi closed the file, feeling a cold knot settle in her stomach. The data she had uncovered about Levi had been startling, but this… this was something else entirely. The Academy was willing to go to unimaginable lengths to control, exploit, and contain metahumans.
And now she was part of it.
She leaned forward, elbows resting on her knees, hands pressed against her temples. Naomi had spent her career chasing knowledge, pushing the limits of what was scientifically possible. But the lines were blurring, the ethical boundaries disappearing.
She had always known the Academy wasn’t a place for the faint of heart. But now, more than ever, she felt the weight of the choices ahead of her. She had been given the keys to some of the Academy’s darkest secrets. And what she did next could determine whether she became part of the system that perpetuated this cruelty, or something more.
Naomi let out a shaky breath and glanced back at the screen. The Ortega file was still open, the data silently waiting for her to dig deeper.
But for the first time in forever, Naomi wasn’t sure she wanted to know more.