Clock's Ticking

Time Cell

The people who come through the Temporal Doors are probably the only people who can save us and the last people I want to see, members of the TVA. They grab Loki, Sylvie, and I and strap collars around our necks, before marching us through the halls. The three of us struggle very little, until they take Sylvie into another room, continuing to walk Loki and I down the hall. "Where are you taking her?" I shout and try to break free.

"Somewhere safe," Mobius doesn't even look at me as we walk. The thought of disappointing Mobius, of letting him down, hurts more than being labelled a full blown Variant again. We walk in silence for a while before Mobius speaks again, "well?"

"Well, what?" Loki snips.

"I know you got some quip you're dyin' to say."

"I don't have a quip. I've got nothing to say to you."

"Come on."

"By the way, I should have an equal amount of security. This is insulting!"

"You have more. You also have the men holding Kamaria."

"That's another thing, why is she locked up? She's done nothing wrong."

"She was working for the two of you. We can't be sure she isn't still being controlled by you."

"She is not!"

"You can't help yourself."

"You betrayed me!"

"You betrayed me."

"Grow up!"

"You grow up." The guards open the doors to the room we had interrogated Loki in before, "you know, it occurred to me that you're not really the God of Mischief."

Loki struggles a bit more to get away, "oh, here it comes. The folksy, dopey insult from the folksy dope. What am I? The God of Self-Sabotage, yeah? The God of Back-Stabbing?"

"Just kind of an asshole and a bad friend." Loki stops and looks to Mobius as if he is actually hurt by this, "yeah, chew on that for a little bit. All right. They're ready." As he says this he queues up two red Temporal Doors.

"What is this?"

"You'll see."

"Mobius!"

"Okay, no, no, no, let him," Mobius stops the guards holding Loki from just shoving him in, "one last desperate trick from the desperate trickster. Go ahead."

"The TVA is lying to you. And Kamaria is innocent, she's done nothing wrong."

Mobius just chuckles, "put him in." As the guards shove Loki into his door, the two guards holding me let me go. Mobius just gestures toward the door, "you're turn."

I shake my head and look back to Mobius, "please don't make me."

Mobius walks up to me, "you have to." I shake my head and begin to cry, knowing that something horrible waits for me on the other side of the door. "They really did a number on you, didnt they?" Mobius shouts at me, "crocodile tears aren't gonna work Variant. I'm gonna find a way to get my partner back."

"Mobius, you have to believe me. They're not controlling me."

"Of course they are, they're Lokis." With this one of the guards pushes me back into the door and I fall through it.

Seconds after I land, someone hoists me up and almost drags me forward, "on your feet Variant," I look over and see B-15. When I look around I notice the courtroom and Renslayer in her normal position as judge. When I look down at myself I haven't changed at all, but everyone is looking at me with disgust and discontent.

B-15 walks me up to the small metal podium we stand the Variants in when they're on trial. "Kamaria Whitlock, you are charged with crimes against the sacred timeline. How do you plead?"

I take a deep breath and realize the memory they are making me relive is my trial. All those years ago when I was arrested for being a Variant and when everyone here hated me for something I didn't even know I had control over. I look up to Renslayer and try to stand tall like I had before, "not guilty."

"Not guilty?"

"I am unsure of what I have been charged with, so yes, I plead not guilty."

"You are being charged with crimes against the sacred timeline. What do you not understand?"

"I believe I may be able to help," I turn as I hear Mobius. When I see him he is standing in the pews, much like we had done together when we saved Loki. "I'm sorry, your honor, but I believe this Variant can prove useful to us."

"How?"

"I'm not sure. But I see a lot of potential in her."

As I smile to Mobius I hear the gavel hit the desk and turn back to Renslayer, my memory starting all over again. "Kamaria Whitlock, you are charged with crimes against the sacred timeline. How do you plead?" I realize that they are not making me relive a painful memory, but rather trying to make me feel guilty about betraying the people who saved me and spared my life. I relive this experience over and over again and soon become very bored with Renslayer, "Kamaria Whitlock, you are charged with crimes against the sacred timeline. How do you plead?"

"Guilty!" I shout, "as guilty as all of you. You're all Variants! But none of that matters, does it? This trial is pointless. Everyone who comes in here is declared guilty or recruited apparently."

My out burst does little and the rest of the memory plays out as it had before, but soon everything pauses. When I turn back to the door, I see another Mobius whom I'm hoping it here to get me out. "Mobius," I smile.

"Come on," he gestures, "we have a Loki to talk to." He then looks over himself in the memory, "is that really what I look like?" He rubs his nose a bit, "is my nose really that crooked?" He looks back to me and I nod, "wahw..."