I Fear Nothing ~ An Apex Legends Story

Chapter 2 - Not High

"So, Elliot," Mary said, mixing some sugar into her coffee, "Have you signed that contract yet?"

Elliot rubbed his eyes, only having woken up minutes before, unprepared to have any conversations this early into his routine. Half of the other legends sat at the obnoxiously long dining table set out for them, all digging into a breakfast buffet of sorts, complete with eggs, bacon, pancakes, and croissants. Elliot took a seat beside Ramya, across from Mary, and was immediately met with Pathfinder placing three full plates beside him. One held his breakfast, one had what looked to be last night's dinner, and the last looked like what should've been cereal, but was long disintegrated in milk. When that last plate was put down, it almost spilled into his lap. "Hey, Path, cereal goes into a bowl."

"Oh, of course!" Pathfinder scampered off.

Mary cleared her throat. "So, did you?"

Elliot looked at her, confused. "Did I what?"

"Did ya sign that damn contract?!" Ramya yelled playfully.

Elliot covered his ears and jumped at the sudden volume change. "No, not yet."

"But you won't get told who your teammate is until you do!" Mary pointed out. "I suggest you sign it soon so you can get with your partner."

"But have either of you, like, read it yet?" Elliot questioned.

Both of the other women nodded.

"Is the wording of the whole thing not weird to you guys? It feels off."

"How so?" Mary asked.

"Well, for starters, we are all going to physically be in the games for a change, yet we are being promised our absolute safety. We usually go in via simulation, but they want to actually throw us out of a ship and let us gun each other down."

Ramya shrugged. "I don't know how the tech works, but I have a feeling it'll be a pseudo-simulation. We will be there, but not."

Elliot huffed. "That cleared up absolutely nothing."

Mary reached across the table. "I think the game runners just want to make a more personal feeling game for the viewers. The emotions will feel more real if we are all actually there. I don't know if you saw, but we will be given safety bracelets that will keep us from dying and they will be our new banners. Taking one of those to a respawn beacon will 'recharge' it and when it is placed back on the player, they can get back up."

Elliot grabbed a fork and started poking at his eggs. "It still feels weird to me."

"Well, you better not chicken out!" Mary joked. "I would... I mean, your partner, would be sad if she couldn't play alongside you."

Elliot perked up, a tinge of a smile hanging on his lips. "Wait, we are-"

"Shh! You didn't hear it from me!" Mary looked around to make sure the others at the table were paying her no mind. "But, yes, we may or may not be teamed up." Mary winked at him, making him feel incredibly excited.

"We haven't been on the same team in ages!" Elliot could feel himself getting more and more pumped. "This..this is great! Wow! Okay, um, I need to go sign the contract!" Elliot jumped up from his seat and dashed back toward his room.

As he left, Pathfinder called out for him. "BUT YOU DIDN'T FINISH YOUR MEALS!" He looked down at the plates, then back in Elliot's direction. "I will just have to prepare him four plates for lunch."

Elliot flipped through the pages, double checking he signed in all the right places, before placing the stack back on his desk. He leaned back in his chair and smiled at the photo of him and his mom. Though he felt homesick, part of him felt better knowing he was going to be on a team with Dr. Sommers. She was a very comfortable person to be around and never talked down to Elliot. He sometimes felt as though many of the other legends questioned his intelligence, so it was nice to be with someone that didn't make him feel stupid.