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"It's me, of course it's me, Mobius, what's wrong? Are you dizzy from looking at those files?"
Mobius looked at Kevin in confusion.
Kevin looked at him even more puzzled, but soon Kevin realized something and looked down at his clothes.
Sure enough, the clothes he was wearing were no longer the suit from The Boys world, but an agent uniform identical to Mobius's.
He even had a name tag hanging on him.
Probationary Agent.
A probationary agent, what the hell!!
Looking at the tag representing his identity, and then at the ancient, sci-fi-style building not far away, Kevin didn't react for a long time.
Mobius, however, seemed to have thought of something, walked over and said:
"You must have a lot of questions to ask, coming to the Time Variance Authority for the first time. It's okay, we can talk while we eat. The Time Variance Authority's donuts are delicious, you can try them."
Time Variance Authority is the abbreviation for Time Variation Administration, which Kevin already knew.
But now Kevin wasn't confused about that.
He looked at Mobius in great surprise, frowned and asked:
"You… know me…?"
"I said, are you really dumbfounded from looking at the files? Of course I know you, you're my colleague. Of course, I know you must have a lot of questions to ask, having just been created, but it's okay, I happen to have a lot of time now. Come on, let's go have lunch first."
Me?
Created?
By whom?
Loki??
As Mobius said this, Kevin's questions grew more and more numerous.
But Kevin quickly understood what Mobius meant by "created."
The creation he spoke of undoubtedly referred to the original Time Variance Authority, the Time Variance Authority created by the three Time Keepers.
Of course, anyone who understood the original plot knew that the so-called three Time Keepers were just three large robots created by Kang.
The true creator of the Time Variance Authority was Kang himself.
And the employees within the Time Variance Authority were not things created by Kang or the Time Keepers.
The employees of the Time Variance Authority, each and every one of them, were variants from different timelines.
Kang brought them here, erased their memories, and made them believe they were beings created by the Time Variance Authority.
This was the consensus of everyone within the Time Variance Authority before Loki changed the timeline.
And now, listening to Mobius, had he, Kevin, also become an employee created by Kang?
So, what time was it now?
Looking at the external architecture, it didn't seem like the initial period of the Time Variance Authority's establishment.
If not, how could there be new employees joining…
He couldn't understand.
Kevin really couldn't understand.
Temporarily unable to figure it out, Kevin could only follow Mobius to lunch first, hoping to get the information he wanted from Mobius.
Perhaps to take care of Kevin, the 'new employee,' Mobius walked ahead, deliberately walking very slowly so Kevin could remember the route.
As he walked, he said to Kevin:
"Our office and the cafeteria aren't actually far apart, the route is easy to remember. In fact, if you're not busy with work, you can even come here to slack off."
"…"
"But if you get caught, don't say I told you, though no one will be watching us anyway."
Mobius said cheerfully, trying to make Kevin relax.
Perhaps in his eyes, the reason Kevin looked bewildered was due to nervousness, and he was trying to alleviate Kevin's tension in his own way.
Kevin, amidst Mobius's chatter, arrived at the cafeteria.
After getting their lunches from the self-service dispenser, Kevin and Mobius sat opposite each other. Not long after, Mobius began to ask Kevin:
"You must have read all those files about variants, right?"
"Ah? Uh, yes, I have…"
Kevin hadn't read the files Mobius mentioned, but he knew what a variant was.
Mobius then said:
"Then tell me what a variant is."
"Testing me?"
"You could say that. After all, I'm the senior employee responsible for guiding you now."
"…Alright, a variant is an individual who causes a timeline to branch."
"Be more specific."
"To be more specific, everyone's fate is actually fixed. All their information from birth to death is stored in the Time Variance Authority.
"And if someone does something that goes against their fate, such as avoiding death, or making a different choice, or even just choosing to eat pancakes instead of a hamburger in the morning, it could cause a timeline to branch.
"And these people who cause timeline branches, we call them variants… Am I right?"
Kevin spoke out what he knew.
Suddenly, he also had an epiphany.
If it really was like this, then Kevin in The Boys world was clearly also a 'Time Variant,' and it seemed plausible that he would enter the Time Variance Authority…
What the hell!
The Boys and Marvel aren't even in the same universe, are they!?
What exactly is wrong with Loki? Why did he send me here!?
Kevin admitted that he was a Time Variant on The Boys Universe's timeline, but he did not admit that he would be governed by the Time Variance Authority.
The two sides are not in the same system at all. To put it bluntly, Loki, you're using a sword from a different dynasty to slay an official of this dynasty. What great authority you have!
And speaking of which, if Loki had already become the Story God, why would the Time Variance Authority created by Kang still exist?
Why would the Sacred Timeline still exist??
Shouldn't it have already become a giant Time Tree?
The more Kevin thought about it, the more confused he became, but Mobius didn't know what Kevin was thinking. After listening to Kevin's answer, he nodded in agreement:
"Yes, by understanding variants, you can understand the nature of our work. Our job is to prune Time Variants on the Sacred Timeline, prevent time branches from appearing, and thereby maintain the stability of the timeline."
"Our… work?"
"Oh, I apologize for my inappropriate wording. To be precise, that's the work of the action teams. Our real job is to investigate and apprehend those Time Variants who have escaped, Agent Kevin."
The Time Variance Authority has clear divisions of labor.
There are hunters specifically responsible for apprehending Time Variants, judges responsible for judging Time Variants, and of course, agents responsible for investigating and tracking escaped Time Variants.
Generally, according to normal procedure, hunters go to the place where a time variation has occurred, find the Time Variant, and bring them to the Time Variance Authority. Then, the judge determines their guilt, whether they are to be completely 'pruned' or have their memories erased and be returned to their original timeline to maintain their predetermined fate.
Normally, the disposition of a Time Variant ends here.
But there are exceptions.
For example, some powerful and intelligent Time Variants will evade the Time Variance Authority's pursuit, or they will find a way to escape after being caught by the Time Variance Authority.
At this point, agents like Mobius and Kevin are needed.
They conduct investigations, pinpoint the whereabouts of escaped Time Variants, and then lead the hunters to apprehend them.
Simply put, agents are considered the management of the Time Variance Authority and have certain authority to control hunters.
Kevin didn't expect Loki to arrange such a position for him right away.
"I generally understand…"
Although he didn't understand Loki's purpose in calling him here, Loki's actions were very much to Kevin's liking.
Kevin had originally wanted to find the Time Variance Authority, to determine its operating rules, and the machine that could constrain the timeline.
Now that Loki had directly sent him to his destination, logically, Kevin should be thanking him.
As for those messy questions, he would think about them later.
Now… getting a complete TemPad was the priority.
Thinking of this, Kevin asked Mobius:
"I remember, you… no, we agents should each have a TemPad, right…"
"That's right, we all have TemPads."
"Then where's mine?"
"What are you talking about, Kevin? Isn't yours in your pocket?"
Mobius said, pointing to Kevin's clothes pocket.
Kevin raised an eyebrow, and with a touch of his right hand, he indeed felt a TemPad.
However, when he took out the TemPad, Kevin fell silent.
The TemPad was indeed intact, but from some of the marks on it, it was clearly the one Kevin had brought from The Boys world.
This TemPad, originally discovered by Kevin on a certain Marvel timeline, was now officially certified by the Time Variance Authority as Kevin's exclusive item.
…
It wasn't just the TemPad that had changed.
After having lunch with Mobius and returning to his workstation to process files, Kevin discovered that many other things had also changed.
First and most crucially, he couldn't use his magic.
This seemed normal, after all, this was the Time Variance Authority, which inherently had barriers to isolate magic. Forget Kevin, even if Doctor Strange himself came, he wouldn't be able to use magic here.
But logically, Kevin's magic system was different from the Marvel World's. Even if the Time Variance Authority could prohibit magic or superpowers, it shouldn't be able to prohibit Kevin's abilities.
At least a few should remain!
Yet the Reality was that Kevin couldn't use any of his magic, not even his runic system.
However, thankfully, Kevin's physical fitness was retained; he could still feel that much.
Physical fitness, combat skills, including various extended skills from Lord's Martial Arts—these things that didn't involve supernatural elements, Kevin could still use.
He didn't know if this was only the case within the Time Variance Authority, or if it would be the same outside of it.
In any case, it was a good thing that his physical fitness and combat skills were still there. If even his physical fitness and combat skills were gone…
Kevin would truly curse.
Yes, he would curse Loki, who sent him here.
Fortunately, Kevin still had the ability to protect himself now, so he didn't need to verbally abuse Loki.
Getting back to the main topic, since Kevin was currently inside the Time Variance Authority, he decided to pack up and go find the great master who made the TemPad.
That is OB (Ouroboros), who is still working in the repair department, or he can be called by his abbreviation.
OB.
OB is the Time Variance Authority's archivist and repairman, living in the Time Variance Authority's basement and never leaving.
Therefore, most people in the Time Variance Authority didn't know of him.
Except for Mobius.
And don't be fooled by OB's seemingly insignificant identity; often, roles like 'librarian' or 'archivist' usually have a non-simple background.
Either they are reclusive grandmasters or reclusive experts.
OB is naturally no exception.
Don't let him seem like an ordinary, unremarkable repairman; his ability to create the TemPad and most of the tools currently used by the Time Variance Authority based on the Time Variance Authority's archive manual is sufficient to prove his capabilities.
Kevin sought him precisely because of this ability.
OB could analyze Loki's predicament from his state and help Loki figure out a way to control 'time slipping.'
He could also work with Kang to create an incrementer that could constrain the hidden power of time, so he would have a clue about the situation in The Boys world where Kevin was.
He could even help Kevin create a way to constrain the timeline!
This was why Kevin wanted to come to the Time Variance Authority.
One was to find OB, and the other was to find Kang.
The current Time Variance Authority is in the Sacred Timeline phase, so finding Kang is unrealistic. Kevin can only go find OB first.
There seemed to be no day or night within the Time Variance Authority, only work and rest.
Although the Time Variance Authority's employees' time seems to have been fixed in one state, even working sleeplessly wouldn't significantly affect their bodies, there is still a concept of 'sleep' within the Time Variance Authority.
There are even employee dormitories.
This was something not mentioned in the original TV series.
So Kevin didn't need to rush to find OB during working hours; waiting until after work… or rather, the 'long break' phase, it wouldn't be too late for Kevin to find OB.
There's nothing much to say about daytime work.
When not chasing time variants, an agent's work is quite leisurely.
It's just about organizing old time variant files and checking if the Sacred Timeline has any fluctuations.
And even if there were time variants, it wasn't Kevin's turn as a 'trainee agent' to pursue them.
Thus, this day passed very easily for Kevin.
During the rest period, Mobius wanted to come and eat with Kevin, but Kevin politely declined.
If the timeline collapse event in The Boys world were resolved, Kevin wouldn't mind having a heart-to-heart talk with Mobius.
But now, Kevin truly wasn't in the mood.
As soon as he finally got some rest, Kevin rushed to the repair department without stopping.
Taking the elevator, then walking the stairs, all the way to the lowest level of the Time Variance Authority, Kevin finally arrived at this inconspicuous repair department.
"Uh... is anyone here?"
Entering the repair department... or more accurately, what seemed like a storage room, Kevin looked at the room full of discarded props and tentatively asked.
"Sorry! I'm fixing something, just a moment."
The voice came from above Kevin's head.
Kevin looked up. At the top of this vast repair department, OB was holding a wrench as long as his arm, repairing some giant object.
Upon seeing Kevin approach, he quickly finished his work, descended from above via a lift, and said to Kevin, very pleasantly surprised:
"Oh! Welcome to the repair department! I'm OB (Ouroboros)!"
OB walked in front of Kevin, reaching out his hand to Kevin across the counter.
Facing OB's enthusiasm, Kevin instinctively reached out and shook his hand, then scrutinized the other person.
OB was of Asian descent, with a square face and glasses, giving him an impression of being very smart yet also somewhat like a bookworm.
However, to Kevin, OB gave him a strong impression of being able to fight.
Especially in complex environments like furniture stores or prop shops.
Yes, OB's appearance was very similar to Jackie Chan's; in fact, if one didn't look closely, they might mistake him for the famous kung fu superstar.
Kevin almost thought it was Jackie Chan making a cameo when he first watched the show, but unfortunately, it wasn't.
Looking at Jackie Chan... ahem, no, OB, Kevin looked at OB and introduced himself:
"I'm Kevin, you can just call me Kevin."
"Oh! Kevin, it's good to see you. Did you come to the wrong floor? The Time Archives are on a higher floor..."
OB released his hand and spoke to Kevin with a bright, cheerful demeanor.
A smile was on his face, as if he would smile at anyone who came, truly a model of an excellent employee in the service industry.
Kevin interrupted him, saying:
"No, no, no, I didn't come to the wrong floor. I came to find you."
"Wow, that's really rare. After so long, someone actually came to find me proactively. I thought you also came to the wrong floor."
"...Also?"
"Yeah, four hundred years ago, there was an employee named Mobius who came here because he came to the wrong floor... Now that I think about it, it really has been a long time."
OB seemed to realize, as if an afterthought, how long he had been there.
Kevin's mouth twitched, suppressing the urge to complain.
He had always said he was a homebody before he transmigrated, but compared to the great master OB, Kevin's homebodyness was nothing.
At least he couldn't stand being in one place for four hundred years without seeing anyone.
Even the monkey pressed under the Five Finger Mountain could at least see ordinary people like shepherds and talk to them!
Kevin couldn't imagine if he could maintain his mental stability after spending four hundred years in one place without interacting with people.
He could only say that OB was indeed very strong in this regard.
Of course, this might also be the Time Variance Authority's peculiarity; it could forcibly fix employees' time, both physical and mental.
Otherwise, doing one thing continuously for over four hundred years, a normal person would have collapsed long ago.
"What a coincidence, Mobius is my colleague... Ahem, but O... OB (Ouroboros)..."
"OB! My friends all call me OB... Although I don't seem to have many friends, you can also call me OB."
OB (Ouroboros) said with a smile.
Kevin followed his lead and said:
"Okay OB, I came to you because I have something I'd like to ask you. Do you... have time?"
"Time? Of course, the one thing we have most of here is time. But you don't mind if I work while we chat, do you?"
OB pointed to the pile of parts on the ground and asked Kevin with a smile.
"That's fine, no problem, as long as you can answer my questions."
"Don't worry, working while chatting is my strong suit. Hmm, it should be my strong suit, you know, no one has come to find me in these past few centuries."
OB shrugged and sat on the ground without hesitation, starting to tinker with the parts on the floor.
Then he remembered to ask:
"Oh, what do you want to ask?"
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