Mischief and Enchantments

Chapter 9: Roxxcart

Loki fell asleep almost as soon as they started searching through the files.

"Hey," Mobius said as he tapped him on the arm. "Come on, let's take a walk."

Mobius started walking towards the cafeteria with Loki following close behind him.

"By the way," Loki said, "at your desk, that magazine?"

"What?" Mobius asked. "The one on jet skis?"

"Yes," Loki confirmed. "Why do you have that?"

"Because they're awesome," Mobius answered.

"I suppose they are," Loki said, chuckling a little. Of all the Midgardian things that he thought Mobius would be fascinated by, he would've never thought of jet skis of all things.

"Yeah," Mobius said. "You know some things...actually most things in history are kinda dumb, and everything gets ruined eventually. But in the early 1990s for a brief, shining moment, there was a beautiful union of form and function, which we call the jet-ski, and a reasonable man cannot differ."

"You ever been on one?" Loki asked.

"No...no," Mobius admitted. "I think a TVA agent showing up on a jet ski on Sacred Timeline, that would create a branch for sure."

"It'd be fun, though." Loki pointed out.

"Yeah," Mobius agreed, "it'd be really fun."

"So, why read about them?" Loki questioned.

"Just helps remind me of what we're fighting for." Answered Mobius.

"I mean, you really believe in all this stuff, don't you?"

"I don't get hung up on, 'Believe, not believe.' I just accept what is."

"Three magic lizards—"

"Time-Keepers."

"—created the TVA, and everyone in it, including you?"

"Including me."

"Every time I start to admire your intelligence, you say something like that."

"Okay, who created you, Loki?" Mobius asked.

"A Frost Giant of Jotunheim," Loki answered.

"And who raised you?"

"Odin and Frigga of Asgard."

"Odin and Frigga, God and Goddess of the Heavens. Asgard, mystical realm, beyond the stars. Frost Giants. Listen to yourself."

"It's not the same." Said Loki. "It's completely different."

"No," Mobius said. "It's exactly the same thing. Because if you think too hard about where any of us came from, who we truly are, it sounds kinda ridiculous. Existence is chaos. Nothing makes any sense, so we try to make sense of it. And I'm just lucky that the chaos I emerged into gave me all this. My own glorious purpose. 'Cause the TVA is my life. And it's real because I believe it's real."

"Fair enough." Said Loki. "You believe it's real."

"Yeah."

"So everything is written. Past, present, future. There's no such thing as free will."

"Well, I mean, you know, it's an oversimplification—"

"So, in fact, in a way, you and I here at the TVA, we're the only ones who are actually free."

"Where are you going with this, Loki?" Asked Mobius.

"How does it all end?"

"That's a work in progress."