The Variant's Shadow - LokixOC - ONGOING

* Curious encounters *

Ophelia didn't feel like moving. She'd been through a lot in the past few days, and she was somehow missing that time when she was simply bored and waiting for Mobius to notice her. It was all much simpler back then. Now, she was stuck in a TVA that forgot about Loki and that she had a real name. 

She was trying to remember every single word that came out of Miss Minutes during the little time they'd spent together in an empty room. Where was that place ? Nothing made sense now. They'd talked, and when Ophelia had asked to get back to Loki, Miss Minutes complied. She'd asked if it was really what she wanted, but there was no questioning Ophelia's decision. She wasn't about to stay in that white and empty room with a clock that had almost given her a heart attack the same day. She'd learned everything the little helper was ready to tell her, and it had been her time to go. 

Now, she was wondering if she'd made the right choice. 

"Oh, you're back," Mobius said a few shelves behind Ophelia and Loki. "Did he say something ? He looked a bit… you know. Tired."

"What are you talking about ?"

Loki turned to Ophelia, his eyes wide in confusion. Ophelia shared that feeling, since she'd just heard her own voice, and it hadn't been coming from her mouth. But it had been her, there was no doubt about it. 

"That analyst," Mobius kept saying. "The one I told you to take care of just now ?"

"I just got here," that other Ophelia replied. 

Mobius scoffed. "Could be contagious. Do you think the End is upon us, too ? What was he saying about a war ? People coming for us ?"

Ophelia stared at Loki, slowly shaking her head. "What's happening here ?" she whispered. 

"You said you were with Miss Minutes," he whispered back. "Did she tell you-"

"She told me about the TVA and free will and how useless what we were doing was," she summed up, still angry that she had to listen to how unimportant she really was and how that was the reason she hadn't been invited to stay. 

"Another TVA ?" Loki asked. "Sylvie killed He Who Remains, what if it turned this place into something else ? Another branch."

She shook her head. "The TVA is out of Time. It doesn't branch."

"It changed, then."

"It can't-"

"You work here, what is going on ?"

"I don't know !" Ophelia shouted. 

The voices behind them stopped. Ophelia pressed a hand on her mouth, hoping that it would somehow hide her from another version of herself, a version that still didn't have a name. Loki stood up and pulled her away from the bookshelf. She followed, trying to be as quiet as possible, but she could hear the footsteps. There was no doubt about it, that G-16 had heard the voice they shared. She must've been just as confused as Ophelia had been moments ago, and Ophelia knew how she'd react. She'd look for the voice. 

And G-16 had always been very good at finding people. 

Ophelia was about to tell Loki not to turn left towards the elevators because that was exactly where she would've tried to ambush them, but it was too late. He turned left, and they ended up in front of a very confused G-16. 

"That's…"

Ophelia nodded. "Yeah. That's me."

G-16 squinted. "Who are you ?" she asked, her eyes going back and forth between herself and a man she'd never met before. "How-"

She had to stop. Mobius and B-15 showed up behind them. They were both staring at their G-16 and Ophelia, surely wondering what was going on. If Loki and Ophelia hadn't been acting so suspiciously, they could've all worked on this. They could've all tried to figure it out.