Bleed, Patch, And Keep Moving - An Apex Legends Story

Chapter 55 - Judge Jury Executioner

After she said her goodbyes to Octavio, Ajay made her way to her apartment. It was kind of strange being back after so many days away. It felt like it had been a lot longer and it definitely didn't feel like home anymore because Octavio wasn't there. She stood there and stared at the keypad as if she almost forgot the passcode to get into her apartment. She typed in the code and opened the door. She followed all of the instructions that Natalie gave to her. She came to her apartment alone. She came two hours before the match. She left her D.O.C. drone at home. But the last instruction was a bit odd and it was in something in her apartment that she needed to give to Natalie's friend but Natalie didn't say what that something was.

Ajay got in and flipped on the lights and went to take off her backpack but she didn't have it. She didn't bring anything but herself. She pulled her hoodie back from her head, it was a bit soaked from the rain. She looked around her apartment and jumped nearly 20 feet in the air when she saw a strange man sitting at the table near her kitchen. She couldn't move. She stood there paralyzed for a moment before approaching him. "Are you Natalie's frie...." He cut her off.

"Crypto." He sounded as though he had a Korean accent. Ajay offered him her hand, "Ajay." He interrupted. "I know who you are. I already took what you had of mine. Let's go." He stood up and walked to the door of her apartment and exited. Ajay really had no other choice but to follow him. She still didn't know what she had of his; she had never even met the man. She didn't make any small talk as they walked the streets of city. They were still two hours away from the match and she still had no idea what was going on.

It felt as though they had been walking for an hour or longer. Ajay tried to get a better look at Crypto but the only features that she could make out about him was the black suit and black jacket that he was wearing. He wore some black slip on shoes; they looked like they were meant for an office. He had black hair like Octavio but it was straight and parted at the left side of his head and combed over neatly with just a few strands that hung over the right side of his face. The rest of his hair was shaved closed to his scalp. She noticed metal that adorned his ears and his neck. Ajay also noticed that he had a small strap on his back with some sort of white of device inside of it. She really didn't know what the device was, it kind of reminded her of D.O.C. but it was not the same shape.

They finally stopped at an unmarked building. Ajay watched as Crypto pulled out sort of device from his jacket pocket. To her it kind of looked a puzzle but he manipulated it quickly and pulled it apart length wise. A dimly lit screen appeared. Crypto began typing on the screen. Ajay watched as the side of the building began emitting a blue and white color, flashing intermittently. Crypto closed his device and motioned for her to walk in. She walked in and he followed her.

The room that they entered appeared to be some sort of lab. It was small but there was a chair with a console and a screen. There was also a window with a door. Ajay looked at where they entered and saw that it was just a wall; a glitch in the system? "This guy is a hacker." Crypto sat down in the chair and accessed the console. "You'll enter the arena through that door." He motioned to the only door in the room. She nodded, "Where are we?" It was the only question she had asked him since they had left her apartment.

"Singh Labs." Ajay wasn't quite sure what that meant. "Where?" Crypto clicked away at the console, "Apex built a replica of Singh Labs and the Gauntlet, more recently, for viewers." Ajay knew about the Gauntlet "That's where Octavio has been. But what the hell is Singh Labs." Ajay's thoughts came to a halt as the screen in front of them lit up and she watched as a slender body person appear on the screen. The person was wearing white and purple. They had some sort of purple helmet on. The person was accessing the same sort of console and they were watching. A series of torturous pictures of a young girl poured onto the screen.