Lokius (Loki/Mobius) AU - What if Mobius, while looking for the Loki he knows from his timeline, encounters a different variant of himself...? A hunter Mobius.
+ Plot twist: Hunter Mobius is in love with Loki... but not the Loki we are familiar with. (L1145 is Loki in the alt. timeline where Hunter Mobius is in.)
PART II can be found here!
L1145 had questions. From the moment he woke up, he was inquisitive. Even after watching the recruitment video, he had questions. The ‘recruiter’ will answer all your questions, they had said. Having been given a simple shirt and tie outfit, he had been ushered into a grey, concrete room with a single table and two chairs, both fashioned in the minimalist style.
The air was cold, as if no heat was allowed to linger within the four walls. An old computer stood between him and whoever sat across it. A man in his late forties wearing a standard office uniform was scribbling away at his notepad, then clicking away at the computer keyboard. L1145 watched as the last recruit who had been sitting on the same chair where he was walking towards got up, taking a small printed piece of paper with his designated name and station from the recruiter.
“The recruiter will give you your name and station, and from there you’ll be able to join the hardworking men and women who continue to preserve the peace and stability of the Sacred Timeline!” The cheerful orange clock animation, Miss Minutes, had said in an accent L1145 found rather annoying. “Just make sure to keep up the good work, because this is what you were made for!”
L1145 walked closer towards the table, hearing the door behind him sealing shut. The recruiter looked up and from the expression on his face, L1145 got the sense the man was extremely annoyed just by his mere presence.
“Sit there,” the man grunted, waving the pen he held in the direction of the empty chair. L1145 sat as instructed. He wasn’t able to see the recruiter from there, the computer in front of him taking up most of the space in the middle so that it obscured his view of the recruiter.
“Creation number 1145. Category L. Hmmm... Health records state you’re fit and healthy. Athleticism range is close to 100%. IQ capacity seems adequate enough.” L1145 heard the man muttering on the other side. “The Time Keepers gave you many useful qualities, didn’t they, recruit?”
L1145 blinked, quirking his head to one side. He immediately noted what he recognized to be jealousy in the recruiter’s tone.
Why would this man envy him? He hadn’t even gotten a role yet, let alone been able to prove his worth to the TVA! And Miss Minutes had been clear - anyone who lagged in their given roles would be ‘reviewed’. L1145 wasn’t going to be one of those men and women. He was going to excel in his new role.
“All they gave me was this role. This desk. Seeing you all go through that door. I could have been like you, if they’d given me a chance,” the recruiter muttered under his breath.
L1145 wasn’t sure how to answer that remark, but it made him wonder enough that he said the only thing that came to mind.
“Then why don’t you?” L1145 said.
He heard a laugh echo from the recruiter.
“You haven’t been listening closely to Miss Minutes, have you? You’re only given one role in the TVA. That’s it. And if you don’t keep up, then it’s the Review Room for you. Trust me, kid, you don’t want to be called in.”
L1145 narrowed his eyes, “What is the Review Room-”
“L1145, you’re assigned to be a Minutemen,” the recruiter said abruptly. “They’ll call on you.”
“Don’t ask questions,” the recruiter snapped, stabbing the printed piece of paper with ‘L1145, Minutemen, APPROVED’ at L1145.
“Why?” L1145 frowned. “They said you can give me answers.”
“Do I look like I hold the answers to the universe?” the recruiter snapped, his frown turning into sneer. “Go on, I don’t have all day.”
An orange door, lit around the edges, opened up as soon as the recruiter finished speaking. L1145 turned to it, gritting his teeth in frustration. He was tempted to push the recruiter to get his answers, but then again, perhaps there was someone else more amenable who can answer those questions for him. Maybe there was a better person on the other end of that door who could give him the answers that continued to brew inside of him ever since he woke up.
Without another word, L1145 didn’t look back as he stepped through the orange glowing door, gripping the small piece of paper tightly in his palm.
