Let Time Pass

Entering the TVA

This is a short chapter, but I want to rewatch the first Loki episode before going further. Happy reading!
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A series of humiliating events followed.

Soldiers shoved Loki into a small room with a robot who disintegrated his clothes, stripping him bare. He dropped through the floor, and was changed into a brown uniform with bold words on his back. 'Variant.'

A small man greeted him after that. He stood beside what appeared to be a metal detector and didn't even glance up at Loki. "Can you confirm that to the best of your knowledge you are not a fully bionic being, are a living creature, and possess what many cultures would call a soul?"

The question was stunning enough that he blinked, taking a moment to process. "To the best of my knowledge?" He echoed. "What, do many people not know if they are robots?"

"Thank you for your confirmation, please move forward."

Do many people not know if they're robots. Twelve hours ago-more? Less?-Loki believed himself to be fully Asgardian. Look at where that had gotten him.

He stepped forward, hands extended, but hesitated. "What if I was a robot and didn't know it?"

The little man at last looked upward. "You would be melted from the inside out," he drawled. "Please step forward."

Fortunately, Loki Laufeyson was indeed, not a robot. He walked through without being melted.

At his next stop, there was a large stack of papers on the wooden plank. Someone sat behind the desk. It looked far too much like a courtroom, and he began to stutter his innocence. "I.... I didn't-Odin wasn't supposed to die," Loki rasped. "He didn't die."

A printer rumbled. A piece of paper slid out, and Loki saw the words printed on it. 'I.... I didn't-Odin wasn't supposed to die. He didn't die.' "Sign each of these," said the woman behind the desk, a rodent of a lady who almost seemed to have whiskers. "To verify that this is everything you have ever said."

"What do you mean?" The God of Mischief demanded, a hand to his chest. His heart was racing again. Thump. Thump. Thump. "What is this place, what have you done to me? I've had enough, this is all absurd!"

The only response was for the printer to rumble again. She sat the new sheet of paper on top of the rest. "Sign this too."

Loki never imagined Frost Giants as beings that were fully intelligent, in the same way humans were. It turned out that was not true. For he was a Frost Giant, and he felt every complicated emotion in that moment. Humiliation. Rage. Grief.

He began to sign the papers.