Mobius led Loki into a room at the far end of the corridor. As soon as they entered, Loki saw an old-fashioned movie projector that was playing something akin to a film.
Loki couldn't be sure if it was a movie because the projector's shape was strange and it had no place to insert a videotape. It resembled the disassembled gadget in the dressing room that Helen had taken apart, embodying a rough yet appealing aesthetic of steampunk machinery.
A table and two chairs, standing starkly out of place, were situated right before the wall where the film was projected.
Obviously products of modern industrial design, they reflected a dash of European high-end luxury style. In Loki's aesthetic evaluation, they were completely inconsistent with the room's overall style and the structure of the building.
But it seemed like Mobius really fancied this set of table and chairs. He asked Loki to sit across him and served her a drink, declaring cheerfully, "The table and chairs in the conversation room were broken a while ago. This one, custom made somewhere else, is way more comfortable than the bare stools we had."
After taking her seat, Loki discovered that they were obstructing the light from the projector, casting their silhouettes on the wall. The light streaming from the side was somewhat blinding.
Loki noted how the lighting painted a sharp contrast on Mobius' face. One half was exceptionally bright, blurring his facial features, while the other half sank into deep darkness.
An intuition stirred within Loki. She felt that this might be a harbinger of something.
Loki glanced at the beverage in her cup. It was opaque and looked like coffee. After taking a sip, she found its taste falling somewhere between coffee and tea - slightly bitter yet aromatic. Feeling a little thirsty, she drained the cup in one gulp.
"You are very different from the other Lokis," began Mobius. "They wouldn't drink something they don't recognize, always suspecting that we might have poisoned it."
"They're right..." Loki responded, glancing at Mobius, "...but they're also wrong. They're clever, yet also foolish."
"You suddenly appeared in my life, announcing your intention to arrest and trial me, so I should be wary of you and suspect every object you give me as a trap."
"But where they show folly is when they think you need poison to deal with me. That would void your elaborate procedures. The magic wand and the strange machine you've been using are enough to set unnoticeable traps in my daily life."
Leaning forward, Mobius fixed his gaze on Loki's attractive countenance and after a while, said, "You are the most beautiful Loki I've met."
"I don't mean to flatter you or indulge you with compliments. The aura you exude tells me that you're truly deserving of being a god. You possess an innate aristocracy and confidence, something which the other Lokis lack."
"But they're more arrogant than me, aren't they?" Loki relaxed in her chair and began absentmindedly playing with her other elbow, saying, "They are haughty and menacing, often belittling the 'miserable human race', 'weak ants', 'stubborn fools'. They behave like a clown..."
Seeing Mobius' surprised expression, Loki gradually let a smile creep onto her face, saying, "I bet, I have uttered just the things you were about to say, the hard truths about my weaknesses you wanted me to face."
"But it's a pity, you're too late. A psychologist, far more acerbic than you could ever be, already said all that. I can even tell you why I've become what I am."
"I use arrogance to hide my inferiority complex, a spiky shell to protect my fragile heart, a high self-esteem to cover my low self-worth. The stronger I show myself to be, the more prone I become to breaking."
Loki sighed. Now, she didn't appear as elegant and neat as she was when she first transformed into a woman. Her bout with Helen had left her somewhat disheveled and decadent.
But that brought out another dimension of beauty in her — fragile, alienated, cold, and yet deadly.
"Got a cigarette?" Loki asked Mobius.
"You're a mother. You wouldn't want to meet your daughter smelling of smoke," Mobius shook his head. "That might choke her."
"Don't joke. I am a mother, but you're not. You don't have the personal experience or understanding to speak for me," Loki muttered, covering her mouth as she coughed twice. Her hand, under the light, looked cold as snow.
Mobius sighed resignedly and took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket. Loki leaned forward, received a cigarette, and placed it in her mouth for Mobius to light.
As Loki leaned closer, Mobius could even see the shadow cast by her eyelashes and the fleeting glimmer within her pupils under the projector's light.
After taking a drag, Loki leaned back in her chair, cast her gaze upward to the ceiling, and asked, "Have you received many Lokis here?"
"Yes. And not one of them admitted their guilt," Mobius replied, refraining from smoking and stuffing the pack of cigarettes back in his pocket.
"So, I have to persuade them here and ask them to repent for their sins... "
"So, you're a priest?" A wicked smile pulled at Loki's lips. The madness and defiance in her smile took Mobius aback. Indeed, she was Loki, and yet, not quite like Loki.
"So, how did you make them repent?" Loki straightened up, asking with some curiosity: "I don't understand what I have to repent of …"
Mobius didn't respond, he simply produced a small device and pressed something on the projector, which began playing images on the wall.
The first images were of a battle scene. Loki saw an image of herself fighting alongside Thor. But quickly, the scene shifted, and Frigga lay fallen on the ground, with Loki as the perpetrator.
When Frigga's death scene was shown, Mobius watched Loki's expression intently, but he saw no shock or sadness on her face.
"Don't you want to ask anything?" Mobius initiated, having never encountered a Loki like this before, who, even when faced with the image of her mother's death, made no move to discuss it.
"For Lokis who have never seen this scene, it is indeed shocking enough to break down their mental defenses, but for me, it's far from it." Loki lightly tapped off some ash with her fingertip.
She stood up, leaned in close to Mobius's ear and gently said, "I've seen it countless times."
Mobius widened his eyes, slightly turning his head to look at Loki's profile, said: "That's impossible! This is the future of Asgard on a certain cosmic timeline …"
"Then there's no need to show the footage." Loki shook her head, "You just need to tell me that this is the scene of Ragnarok and that we will all die in this catastrophe, including Frigga."
"Why are you so indifferent?" Mobius asked, staring into Loki's eyes: "Every Loki I've met loved their mother dearly. Upon knowing that they would kill their own mother in Ragnarok, they would express remorse for their transgressions …"
"That's because they feel powerless to prevent Ragnarok." Loki sat upright, turned her head to face the wall, and said: "At that time, I still considered myself a helpless young prince, believing this bleak future to be inevitable and that I couldn't save anyone."
Loki closed her eyes and sighed softly, "I won't be saddened by a future that will never happen, the future you play is nothing more than a poorly made movie to me."
"What are you hoping for?" Mobius asked, "Iron Man? Do you want to see his outcome?"
"Like I said, I've seen it." Loki seemed a bit impatient, continuing: "Every time, as I stand above the cosmos, all conceivable futures concerning me unfold before my eyes, which includes how Asgard ushers in Ragnarok and how half of The Avengers were destroyed …"
"You peeked at the timelines?" Mobius squinted his eyes.
"I merely stand higher and see farther than the other Lokis." Loki looked back at Mobius: "If you exist in the multiverse, you should understand more than I do, about what it means to 'ascend' …"
"You've ascended??" Mobius stared shocked.
"No, I could only say that I looked up, or perhaps, even more than just a glance." Loki shook her head: "Don't be shocked, I don't have the power to match it, otherwise you wouldn't have been able to bring me here."
Mobius sighed, knowing he likely wouldn't gain any advantage in today's dealings with Loki.
Time Management Bureau staff can only observe the futures of specific timelines within their duty, but according to Loki, she has seen all futures across all timelines in the cosmos, she's the examiner who holds all the answers.
"The official part of our discussion concludes here." Mobius looked into Loki's eyes, his expression had a hint of hesitation, but he still said: "Next, there are some personal questions I'd like to ask. You could answer or ignore them, regardless, I thank you for your cooperation."
"You can ask." Loki lowered her head, her fringe hiding her eyes. As the smoke from the cigarette dispersed, she seemed more desolate.
"Didn't you feel any sadness when you saw your mother's death?" Mobius sat up straight, saying: "This is not a movie, but something that really happened in a certain universe …"
"Having encountered so many Lokis and heard so many stories about Asgard, can't you work out our relationship?" Loki looked at Mobius through her fringe, seeing his clueless expression, she sighed and said: "Alright, let's start with the basics."
"Who do you think is Frigga's favourite child?"
"Isn't it you?" Mobius asked doubtfully.
"Maybe now, yes. But once, Frigga's favorite child was Hela, her eldest daughter, the Crown Princess of Asgard." Loki slowly closed her eyes, and only then did Mobius catch a glimpse of sadness in her demeanor.
Loki looked up at the ceiling, as though lost in memory, then after a while, she spoke slowly:
"This was the beginning of the crown princess's tragic life, and in this singular respect, what Odin, Thor, and I did were the same. We all hoped she could move on from this profound tragedy."
"But unfortunately, Frigga never forgot her daughter."