etraya | UN: LOKI

If they're supposedly so concerned with our well-being, the least they could do is provide an education for the multitude of kidnapped minors.

[ Harold has even stronger opinions on this than being without cultured society (TM). ]

Yes, I found that out as well. It is truly a surprise to me that they would take children at all, considering why they claim to want us here. Even children with extra abilities do not necessarily have the maturity to save their own timeline. In fact, neither to many adults. But if they are going to insist, there should be some sort of training or education. Otherwise, why bother?

I agree completely.

[ It's actually a bit of a relief to talk to someone who understands this point so readily. Maybe Harold does need to make more adult acquaintances in Etraya... he keeps talking to teenagers and mildly despairing over how to communicate with them.

He stops himself from going on at length in response. ]

My name is Harold Finch. I hope your celebration goes well, even if you're forced to cater it yourself.

[ The indignity! ]

[As former royalty, Loki himself did not attend school in the formal ways most children do, but that does not mean he isn’t educated. He thinks education is important, but doesn’t actually care how it happens. Not everyone learns the same or needs to know the same things, in his opinion.

Though no one else he’s spoken to here really seems to think at all about education. He finds it strange and is equally glad to find someone who thinks similarly.]

It is nice to meet you, in so far as this can be called truly meeting. You may call me Loki. And thank you. I do not mind cooking, but I dare say there are more talented chefs in the world than I.

I hope we will speak again soon.

[ Harold wouldn't actually care about it being a formal education himself -- he's equally self-taught and pedagogically trained -- but he does think minors need something to do with themselves that's constructive and beneficial for their development.

He's about to return the usual pleasantries to close out the conversation, and then he notably pauses, stymied. Knowing Castiel means he's forced to ask -- ]

Forgive me, but... the actual Loki, of mythological persuasion, or is that just a name?

[ If a Judeo-Christian angel can be here, why not a Norse god? ]

[Loki immediately notes the surprise and doesn’t bother to hide his own smirk. This isn’t the first time he’s had this conversation. Though admittedly, Harold seems less surprised than some of the others.]

I am the one and only yes. Though I dare say as much as being a myth sounds cool, I assure you I am very real.

[Loki doesn’t know any angels, but it would hardly surprise him to find other gods here. After all, if they could take him, they could take anyone.]

[ It's just one more thing on a whole pile of reality-breaking unbelievable things, frankly. After a certain point Harold hits saturation. He's still a little flustered, though, which means he defaults to mild sarcasm. ]

We've just had a whole conversation, of course you're real. Do all gods have good taste, or just you?

I can already tell you that Biblical angels do not.

[ Harold is very fond of Castiel, but if anything that just makes him more prone to ribbing him. ]

My apologies. Of course you know I am real. It is simply that many either believe I am out of my mind or that I am tricking them. Neither of those is true.

And no, I am afraid not. Gods are as varied as any other being. And I like to think myself rather unique.

[Loki smirks at that.]

I am perplexed by that whole pantheon. I have met and know of many different gods, but this belief that there is just one is wholly strange to me. I mean, how could that be true considering my own existence?

[ Well, he's very polite. Harold spends a lot of time pretending to be someone he isn't -- or at least, a variation on the person he is, with a lot of lying thrown on top for good measure -- and part of him reacts instinctively to the formality and courtesy by answering it in kind. ]

We are, by definition, all unique, [ he answers dryly, but starts to feel more comfortable with the conversation. ]

Given our present circumstances, I'm forced to accept a great many things I would normally discredit. And I must confess I have no preexisting belief in any kind of god whatsoever, so to me you are all equally perplexing.

Though you do seem quite comfortable with humanity compared to the angel I met.

I suppose, though most have some sort of commonality with others. Especially those of their own species and upbringing. Or at least that is how it has seemed to me.

[Many humans seemed the same to Loki, but he also sees many similarities in the people of Asgard. Most of it is probably from learned behaviour, but it still seems true enough to him.]

So you are one of those people that believe nothing exists once you die? [Loki has heard of this before and he honestly finds it interesting. He’s seen too much himself to believe that, but he understands why some might. Especially if their only other option seems to be one singular god.]

I do not know the experiences of this angel, but I have had many dealings with humanity. Even more so recently. I don’t profess to know humans overly well, but I have certainly learned a lot in the last few years. [Or few hundred years, but who’s counting?]

True. Some of us are more unique than others, like some of us are more equal than others, [ Harold quips, referencing Animal Farm. The maxims always break down when applied to actual society; we're all unique, except some people end up ostracized for it, and some don't. ]

It being impossible to prove a negative, I'm not certain nothing exists, but nothing has convinced me that something does.

[ Maybe that sounds like splitting hairs, but to Harold's supremely rational way of thinking, it's the conclusion he's forced to come to with all the necessary subtlety.

And, since he has talked to Castiel, he's alive to the idea that "a few years" might be many years indeed. ] A particularly busy few years, I take it? [ Harold pries for information almost automatically. Usually he's able to hack into personal records and know everything there is to know on paper about someone within minutes. Here he has to ask, which is very tedious. ]

[That comment causes Loki to chuckle slightly. The idea that some could be more unique than others seems a lot like an oxymoron to him, but he understands the other man’s point well enough. Everyone is different, but some are more different than others. It’s something Loki felt a lot himself while growing up in Asgard. He’d always felt different even in the ways he’d been the same.]

I suppose I can understand that. I suppose, like most things, it is easier to believe something one has experienced, but when it comes to death, by the time you experience it you can no longer share that experience with others. Except for those who are already dead and therefore already know.

[Even Loki cannot prove the existence of an afterlife. In fact, his time with the TVA almost makes it seem less likely, but it is a belief that resides deep within him. There simply must be something after, or else what is all this for? Though with his status caring for the multiverse, even if it has been delayed by Etraya, it is unlikely he’ll see it any time soon.]

You can say that again. It has been the busiest time of my life, and I have never been one to sit back and relax. [Even if what he was up to hadn’t always been good things. He’s not about to start telling everyone his rather villainous past though. He isn’t that person anymore.]

[ He realizes from Loki's response that he hadn't quite followed the reference and recalibrates, quirking a tiny smile that's almost no more than a twist of his lips. Familiar with humanity, but not familiar with humanity in that sense, it seems. ]

Have you not read Animal Farm? I was quoting that. A library just showed up here -- if you've only recently become acquainted with humanity, there's quite a few works I could recommend.

[ He'd really rather not talk about death experiences -- too close to home and personal -- so he breezes right past that. ]

What is it you've been doing, if I may ask? [ Harold won't press for anything he isn't willing to share, but what he is willing to, he's unashamedly curious about. ]

I am afraid I have not. I take it that would be one of your recommendations? [Loki will happily check out anything Harold recommends. Most of his experiences with humans to this point, at least since he’s considered them in anything other than a race to subjugate, has been with those who are rather extraordinary. It might be a good thing to find out more about them generally.]

It would seem we have lots of time between missions for things like reading. Anything you recommend I will try.

[Loki considers this request for a moment. Typically it might be rather hard to describe what he’s been doing with the TVA, but Harold seems intelligent enough and anyone living in Etraya has a better working knowledge of the multiverse than most.]

Well, simply put, I was working with an organization that exists outside of time in an attempt to keep all the branches of the multiverse from tangling with each other and therefore destroying each other. More recently, I have been manually taking on that task.

[ Harold is extremely fond of what might be considered 'general humanity'. He himself is probably counted as extraordinary by his own world's standards, but he never looked for that and doesn't enjoy it. In fact, he exerts quite a lot of effort indeed into living a life as quietly unacknowledged by others as possible. Harold not only doesn't want external validation, he actively tries to avoid attention altogether.

But he does fundamentally love people in all their messiness, and literature is one of the best examples of that. ]

Animal Farm is a fair place to start with classic works -- and making some assumptions based on your mythological reputation, I suspect you'd like it. It's a satirical allegory for the early 20th century Russian Revolution. A demanding read and quite scathing of its subject matter.

[ Then he pauses and registers the rest of what Loki said, blinking quickly. It does sound absolutely fantastical, but Harold has had to get used to a lot of absurd truths since coming to Etraya. ]

... You may be the only person here actually qualified to carry out the task we've been purportedly assigned, [ he notes, voice a little faint as he tries to process. ] In that case, perhaps I should be starting you with classic sci fi.

[Though his view on how he’s perceived has changed a lot more recently, Loki has always been one to enjoy attention. Even if he prefers to control how that might happen. He doesn’t want it at any cost and he would prefer to decide how he’s seen, but he does very much want to be seen. He just isn’t sure how he feels about people seeing the true him as opposed to the face he puts on for most people. It feels like too much power to give up.

Some of this has changed, of course. All the many years he spent trying to learn about the Loom so he could save the multiverse, and then taking over himself has made him need spectacle less than he had when he was younger. Still, he can’t say he doesn’t still like a bit of a show.

Harold does seem to be a bit different from the other humans Loki has come to know though and he wonders where he fits in, and if his book recommendations might give him some insight into that.]

That does sound interesting. I am often a fan of satire even if I’m sure I’ve been satirized enough myself.

[Loki nods almost sagely. This is the first time it seems someone has really understood what he was doing before. Of course, Loki hasn’t really revealed that to a lot of people either.]

What truly confuses me is that I am not only qualified, but I was actually accomplishing what they are asking of us here so why take me away from that to only save one timeline when otherwise I would be saving them all? [Loki pauses then, head tilting in curiosity.] Oh? Do tell.

[ What a strange thought, being satirized. And by strange he means horrifying. Harold doesn't even tell anyone his real name; being well-known enough to have works of media made about him is possibly his worst nightmare. There's a few people he's become close to, not entirely willingly, but for the vast majority he'd agree with Loki on one thing -- the face he puts on for others is deliberately crafted and allows him to maintain a necessary distance.

He clears his throat faintly and reorients himself, forcibly suspending a hefty amount of disbelief. It's only rational to accept what Loki's saying given the circumstances, but it's still incredible. ]

Aurora does seem to believe that we are here to save worlds, as they put it. [ The word world seems something of a misnomer to Harold, but he has no idea what else to use in its place. ] Even if we lend credence to that idea, it may not be as altruistic a motive as it seems. Perhaps Echo is making use of us to save certain worlds and not others.

[ The mechanics of that are an absolute mystery to Harold. Everything being a mystery, though, means he's forced to consider all options.

... Classic sci fi, right. A much more benign topic. ] Science fiction commonly features devices like time travel or alternate dimensions, or at least planets far-flung enough as to be a different existence entirely. Typically, though, they're used as literary elements to comment on a current societal issue, like classism or industrialism.

[When he was younger, Loki had felt like notoriety was something to achieve, something to desire and something only for those deserving and he so badly wanted to be deserving. Now that feels like a rather immature way to think. Though he supposes he was very immature back then. Now he sees much more usefulness in being an unknown. That just doesn’t seem to be something that is possible for Loki.

It wouldn’t surprise Loki if Harold didn’t believe him. He hardly believed it himself when he first arrived in the TVA. He often thinks of finding the Infinity Stones in Casey’s desk and just how startling that had been. But things being hard to believe did not make them untrue. He can only hope Harold gives him enough credit to try and believe him because he’s starting to think he could be quite useful in helping figure this place out.]

It does seem that they are focusing on certain worlds and not all, or else Etray would be overrun with millions of people. There are infinite timelines and that number is growing all the time. Though I do not know how many they wish to prune it down to, it is too much like what I worked so hard to fix and I cannot stand by and simply let it happen.

[Now that is interesting. Harold’s description of Science Fiction sounds a lot like Loki’s actual life. Except the fiction part, of course.] I see. Well, in my timeline those things are absolutely real and I have experienced them myself. I must seem like a fictional character to you.

UN: LOKI | VIDEO

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So sorry for the delay!