Chapter One
After Loki watched the clips of his life, he found himself at the end of the film, witnessing his own death. However, there were two individuals mourning his passing: his brother and an unfamiliar woman whose face remained blurred. "I wonder who that woman is. It feels like I've met her before, but I can't quite place her," Loki thought, intrigued by the mystery.
In the midst of his contemplation, Mobius entered the room and engaged in a conversation about Loki's perception of himself as a villain. Mobius expressed a different perspective, challenging Loki's self-image.
Just as Mobius was about to leave, B-15 entered and whispered something into his ear. Loki, catching snippets of their conversation, overheard the words "She's here."
Curiosity piqued, Loki inquired, "Who is here? And why is it being kept a secret?"
Mobius replied, "It's a volunteer who will assist us in capturing the other variants. I can provide more details later, but I can tell you now that she's not thrilled about being here. Actually... it's going to be quite interesting, considering she happens to be your daughter."
Loki's disbelief was evident as he responded, "Wait... daughter? How is that possible? Unless she's the same woman from the clips, the one who was crying alongside my brother."
"Let's just say that you managed to leave a legacy behind. I haven't had the opportunity to meet her yet. Ravonna has been conversing with her extensively. I wish I knew the nature of their discussions. Hopefully, your daughter will enlighten us. This mission is no joke, and the more help we have, the better," Mobius explained, emphasizing the importance of their mission.
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Mobius starts to approach the door, and Ravonna opens it.
"Could you be more careful? Almost hit my nose,"
"Mobius, I am not in the mood. Be careful with this one; she's difficult to deal with. I'm starting to rethink bringing her here. I better not regret it," Ravonna warned, handing Mobius the files about Loki's daughter.
"Her name is Soren Aesho. She is 5ft 7in tall and 25 years old. It seems she was part of the Young Avengers alliance in the past but is now going solo. Additionally, she's not human like I initially thought; she belongs to another alien race that was allied with the Asgardians," Ravonna provided the information.
"I'm sure it will all be fine. What's the worst that can happen?" Mobius reassured.
"Why don't you see for yourself?" Ravonna walked away, visibly angry.
Mobius entered the room where Soren was waiting. She was a pale, beautiful woman with long wavy black hair and piercing blue eyes. She was dressed in a sleek dark blue and black army-level catsuit with a black poncho and gloves.
"Man, I'm looking at the spitting image of your father," Mobius commented, pulling a chair in front of her.
"So I've heard from everyone else," Soren replied, looking away with her arms crossed, leaning back in the chair.
"What did you say to Ravonna? She seems angrier than usual," Mobius inquired.
"Things she didn't want to hear—that this place is just a time-wasting bureaucracy. I didn't have to be here. Your goons came to me for help, promising to let me meet the man who brought me into existence. The only reason I'm here is to discover the missing part of my family," Soren explained.
"Very eager to start this mission, I like it. And you will soon meet the man. But before that, I'd like to know a little bit more about you. The information in these files is vague, so maybe you and I can get to know each other," Mobius suggested.
Soren kicked up her legs on the chair, tilting it back slightly. "What more do you want to know?"
"It says here you were part of the Young Avengers group for a little while. What happened there? Why aren't you still a part of them?"
"I don't want to get into that. Let's just say we had a disagreement," Soren evaded the question.
"Alright, I won't press further into that," Mobius respected Soren's reluctance to discuss the matter.
"It also mentions here that you're an alien. Mind telling me where you originally came from? It says you're not human, yet you look human. I'm also interested in the history of your society," Mobius inquired further.
"I was pod born in Arva, which is part of the Nyon Empire—a highly advanced civilization known as the galactic police of the galaxy, alongside Xandar. You're familiar with the war that took place with Thanos. We couldn't offer assistance due to an ambush. Many of our people perished in that war and the subsequent snap. However, our population was already small, so the snap didn't affect us," Soren explained.
"I've heard of them, a very brutal civilization, but highly intelligent. Wasn't their Empire comprised of around 150 planets?" Mobius recalled.
"Yes, but that was the case years ago. Now, only four of them remain," Soren replied with a tinge of sadness.
"It's truly tragic. This means your mother fought in the war against them. That whole conflict was essentially genocide against your people," Mobius sympathized.
Soren stopped tilting the chair back and leaned forward, showing a more serious demeanor.
"Are we done with this little history lesson?" Soren asked, eager to move on.
"Not quite, but I did notice the glowing eye ring. Is there more to your abilities or enhancements?" Mobius inquired further.
"The eye glow? Most of me is cybernetic. It helps stabilize the powers I possess, or at least it attempts to," Soren revealed.
"And how did the alliance with Asgard come about? Can you shed some light on that?" Mobius asked, shifting the focus of the conversation.
"The alliance with Asgard happened a long time ago, before its destruction. It came about when a tall, dark-haired woman arrived in our empire and began committing acts of violence. Asgard, instead of opting for war, sought peace and deliberated on what to do with the prisoner. It was a debt owed, so to speak. Surprisingly, we discovered many similarities between our civilizations, leading to a friendly alliance," Soren explained.
"Well, at least most of it is cleared up now. We should get started on this case. But before you meet your father, I'll be taking him to one of the clues left in the Renaissance fair. It might lead us to the variant. In the meantime, you can examine these files left by the variant and see if you notice anything we might have missed," Mobius suggested.
"I'm not here to spend the entire day looking at files. I have more pressing matters back in my dimension," Soren replied, showing her reluctance.
"Please, Soren," Mobius pleaded, hoping she would cooperate.
"Fine, but I'll be taking these files to my room," Soren agreed, asserting her condition.
"Alright, we'll catch up with you soon," Mobius said, concluding their conversation.
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Soren decided to deviate from her original plan of going to her room in the TVA. Instead, she took a detour to explore the rest of the facility.
"Why spend ages reading files when I can take a little tour?" Soren thought to herself as she gazed out of the window, observing the boxy-looking cars and retro-style buildings outside.
Suddenly, Soren received a call from Alta, her trusted ally.
"Hey Soren, just checking in on you," Alta greeted.
"Always perfect timing, Alta. I have a few thoughts I wanted to share," Soren replied.
"What's on your mind?" Alta inquired.
"This TVA place feels off. I'm looking around, scanning, and planting bugs to see if there's anything else going on," Soren explained, expressing her suspicions.
"Ah, I see. You're being paranoid and spying on a bunch of people you don't even know," Alta remarked.
"Well, if you heard my conversation with Ravonna, it wasn't exactly promising. It felt more like blackmail," Soren revealed.
"What do you mean?" Alta asked, curious to know more.
"Do you remember Wade Wilson? The asshole who got his hands on my little time-traveling device?" Soren questioned.
"I do," Alta confirmed.
"Well, it turns out that since I created the device, they were planning to use it against me somehow. As if I had any control over Wade stealing it," Soren explained, frustration evident in her voice.
"I understand. From the base here, I can start infiltrating their networks, but you'll have to get to their main computer or something similar so we can make copies of their data. It shouldn't be too difficult," Alta suggested, offering her assistance.
"It's peculiar how their technology is advanced but has this retro '80s vibe to it. It's like the movie Aliens took a step further and evolved into this place," Soren remarked, observing the surroundings.
"Well, if it's actually retro-based, then it should be easier to navigate. Maybe we'll even find something valuable," Alta suggested, intrigued by the possibilities.
As Soren wandered through the halls of the TVA, she came across Casey, one of the employees.
She silently approached him, standing creepily behind him.
"Hey dude, what's on these box computers?" Soren asked, slamming her hand on his desk and leaning against it.
Casey jumped, clearly startled. "I thought you were someone else," he stammered, taking a second look at her. "Actually, you look just like him. He once threatened to gut me like a fish, but I didn't even know what that meant."
Soren looked annoyed. "Maybe he was onto something," she said, her expression turning mischievous.
"What do you mean?" Casey asked, confusion evident on his face.
Soren grinned and traced her finger along his chair. "Actually, whoever said that was being merciful, compared to what I would do," she replied, her voice filled with coldness. Soren twisted Casey's chair around to face her. "Like I said, what's on these computers before I resort to breaking bones," she stated, her eyes piercing.
"Um, um, it's a bunch of files with information on the multiverse. Though it's not everything. Ravonna would have greater access," Casey hurriedly answered, trying to appease Soren.
"Even better," Soren said as she spun the chair back and began to walk away. But before she exited the room, she glanced over her shoulder. "Also, if you breathe a word about this little incident to anyone, and I mean anyone, you and I will have more than just a chat," Soren threatened, winking at Casey.
Soren continued her stroll through the halls, now focused on finding Ravonna's office.
"I trust you got all that information, right Alta?" Soren asked, glancing at the names on the doors.
"Your charm never fails, Soren. Although it would have been more helpful if you asked where Ravonna's office is," Alta remarked.
"Don't you enjoy scavenger hunts?" Soren replied playfully.
"Don't push it," Alta responded.
Soren let out a slight laugh.
"I didn't ask, but why aren't you with Mobius? Wasn't there a mission for the variant?" Alta inquired.
"Yeah, I'm guessing it would be too chaotic if he took me and Loki," Soren explained.
"Your father?" Alta clarified.
"Yeah, I did tell you that. Back in the day, Tony got smacked by the Hulk during one of our missions and dropped the Tesseract. That's when my father escaped. I know this whole time thing is weird because to us, it was years ago, but here it happened like yesterday," Soren elaborated.
"Makes sense. Time and space are strange anomalies. Are you close yet?" Alta asked.
Soren listened carefully at the door, trying to detect any movement. She spotted a camera.
"Alta, there's a camera that needs to be turned off," Soren informed.
"No problem. Give it a nice look for me," Alta responded.
Soren's eyes started to glow as she focused her attention on the camera. Alta successfully disabled it.
"Alright, I'm in," Soren confirmed.
Soren approached Ravonna's desk and accessed her computer.
"Whenever you're ready to plug in," Alta instructed.
Soren connected herself to the computer and skillfully bypassed all the passwords and security measures. Alta simultaneously accessed the files and displayed them on her screen. After a few minutes, Soren heard footsteps approaching in the hallway.
"Alta, she's going to be here soon," Soren whispered.
"Go ahead and unplug. I've already bugged the room," Alta assured her.
The door swung open, and Soren appeared engrossed in a book on the couch.
"Um, what are you doing here?" Ravonna questioned.
"I happened to come across your room and saw my favorite book," Soren quickly improvised.
"Genesis the Last Empire?" Ravonna inquired.
"Oh, yeah," Soren replied, standing up from the couch with the book in her hand. "My favorite part is when Kal slays Gon for the throne, so he can free his people. It was an epic ending."
Ravonna eyed Soren suspiciously. "Are those the files that Mobius gave you?" she questioned.
Soren glanced over at the table. "Yes, they are," she replied, reaching for the files and skimming through one of them. "And before you ask, I did take a look. I find it deeply unsettling that a 10-year-old girl was taken from her home just for playing with toys."
Ravonna grew defensive. "Hey, that is not what..." she began, but Soren interrupted her.
"And the fact that you lost her and have been chasing her through time and dimensions ever since. Yet, you blackmailed me over a mistake I didn't even make."
Soren stepped closer, her expression steely. "Listen here, I am not afraid of your little tea party. But if you try that shit again, I will bring it all down, one way or another. Don't underestimate me." Soren's voice dripped with a mixture of threat and confidence. She smiled and added, "Good talk. I'm glad we cleared this up. It would be a shame to tarnish the reputation of the esteemed judge or cult leader. Not sure what you're supposed to be." Soren pointed a finger and walked toward the door. "I'm going to head out now."
Ravonna let out a frustrated sigh, feeling the weight of the confrontation.
As Soren made her way downstairs, she bumped into Mobius. "Weren't you supposed to be reading some files in your room?" Mobius inquired.
"Yeah, I did. In fact, I shared them with Ravonna. She was quite taken aback by what I discovered," Soren replied.
"Awesome. Well, I have to go speak with her. If you want, your father is down the hall sitting in the chair. You can have a chat with him," Mobius suggested.
"Yeah, I'll go do that. Thank you," Soren said, heading down the hall to meet her father.