Chapter 25: The Public Eye Returns
It had been a month since Galewood’s destruction, but the shockwaves from that day were still being felt. Despite the Academy’s press conference, held weeks earlier to address the public’s concerns, the aftermath of the event continued to stir speculation and anger. The footage of Jake Foster and Levi Blackwell’s brutal detainment, aired live by Channel 5, had resurfaced across news outlets and social media, driving the conversation back into the public spotlight.
Lisa Hayward, the reporter who had been broadcasting live that day, sat in the station’s newsroom, her eyes glued to the screen as the footage looped again. Jake, dragging a weakened and barely conscious Levi through the rubble, surrounded by the devastation of a city wiped off the map. Then came the Academy soldiers, their insignias barely visible in the chaos, rushing in with full force to neutralize the two boys.
“People don’t know what to make of it,” a talking head on the screen said, his voice thick with skepticism. “We’re all asking the same thing—how did they survive the explosion when almost no one else did? And why was the Academy so quick to detain them?”
Another commentator jumped in. “Exactly. The Academy was aggressive, more so than necessary for a couple of teenagers. It raises the question: what were they trying to hide?”
Lisa’s jaw tightened as she watched the footage again. The public hadn’t let go of the Academy’s brutal methods, and the questions about Jake and Levi’s survival had only grown louder. Even though the Academy had attempted to pacify the situation with their official statements, claiming that the boys were being detained as part of an ongoing investigation, the answers had been vague at best.
Her phone buzzed on the desk, and she glanced down at the message from Rick Marshall, her cameraman from that day.
“People are getting restless. You think we should push harder for the full story?”
Lisa’s eyes flicked back to the screen, where the footage replayed for what felt like the thousandth time. The media had dissected every second of the broadcast, looking for clues, but all they had were questions: How had two boys survived an explosion that wiped out nearly a million people? And why had the Academy come down on them with such force?
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.
She typed back quickly:
“Not yet. Academy’s watching.”
Rick’s reply came swiftly:
“Too late. Public’s already doing it for us.”
He was right. The footage had gone viral, and people were picking it apart frame by frame, looking for hidden details that might explain how Jake and Levi had walked out of the blast zone alive. Some speculated that it had to do with unknown metahuman powers. Others believed it was part of a larger conspiracy, with the Academy suppressing information about what had really happened.
The footage had only made things worse for the Academy. Viewers saw Jake pulling Levi through the rubble, their faces caked in dust and blood, seemingly disoriented and exhausted. Then came the soldiers, their movements swift and merciless as they subdued the two boys with unnecessary brutality.
“Why are they being treated like this?” one commentator asked during the broadcast, his tone heavy with disbelief. “These are just kids. Survivors. The Academy needs to explain what’s going on.”
Lisa swallowed hard. She had been there, mere feet away from the boys when it all went down. She had seen the fear in their eyes, and even now, watching it again, she knew something wasn’t right. Levi had looked… different by the time they got close. But that detail had been buried. The footage that might have shown more—anything that could reveal more about who they were or how they survived—had been confiscated by the Academy’s agents before it could air.
“Lisa,” her editor Tom Jennings said as he approached her desk, his voice low and urgent. “We need to be careful. The bosses are talking about pushing a deeper investigation into this, but we both know that could get us in trouble.”
Lisa glanced up, meeting his eyes. “I know. But people are demanding answers. They saw what happened. They saw how brutal the Academy was. It’s not going away.”
“True,” Tom said, rubbing the back of his neck. “But they still don’t know everything. If we push too hard and end up on the Academy’s radar again, it could get ugly.”
The Academy had been silent since the press conference, refusing to address the growing outcry. They had painted Jake and Levi as dangerous metahumans, which only stoked more public curiosity. Speculation had shifted from “why were they captured?” to “what are they capable of?”
But Lisa had seen enough to know that there was something off about the whole situation. She had stood in the wreckage of Galewood and watched as two boys—teenagers—were beaten into submission. The world had seen it too. And now, the questions about their survival were growing louder.
“Look at the headlines,” Tom said, motioning to the screen. “They’re calling for an investigation into the Academy. People don’t think this is just about capturing dangerous metas. They think the Academy’s hiding something.”
Lisa nodded slowly. She could feel the weight of the moment, the growing mistrust that hung in the air. The Academy’s secrecy wasn’t doing them any favors, and the longer they remained silent, the more the public was turning against them.
Across the country, the footage continued to play in homes, cafés, and office buildings. People were glued to their screens, fixated on the sight of two boys being hauled away by the Academy’s soldiers. There were no clear answers—only speculation.
How had they survived? What had really happened in Galewood?
The Academy’s press conference had addressed none of this. Instead, they had focused on defending their actions, claiming that Jake and Levi were being held for their own safety and for the safety of others. But the public wasn’t buying it. They had seen the violence, and they weren’t satisfied with vague assurances.