Actually, Lorien knew the other party might come looking for him. But it wasn't certain. So he waited.
The Time Variance Authority, because it could manipulate time, behaved with complete impunity. They could do whatever they wanted on the timeline—so long as they didn't disrupt its overall course. They could act recklessly!
That was precisely why Lorien was willing to wait. As long as they didn't make a mistake, he could ignore whatever the TVA did. The premise was simple: don't be stupid.
But you came to find me five years ago. Are you really here with good intentions? How could that be possible?
That alone contradicted Lorien's warning: don't tamper with the timeline. They'd interfered now—so things were already messed up.
When Lorien spoke, all three people present went wide-eyed. The most stunned was Agent Mobius. His body froze, his eyes bulging with sheer disbelief.
Impossible! How could he know this? Isn't that him from five years ago? Why—why would he say that? Did he jump through time too?
No. He hadn't. Those were his own thoughts. But overriding those thoughts was a single, raw feeling: fear. In all the TVA's past recklessness this had never happened—until now. And they couldn't move. What the hell was going on?
...
Sylvie, standing nearby, watched. She flexed her fingers—at least she could still move. Glancing around, she stepped out of the way of the 64/1 time-slowing round and then looked at Lorien with a questioning expression, as if to ask,
"What is going on?"
"How did you do that?"
She wanted to ask both, but she held back. The more she knew, the worse it might be for her.
After a brief thought, Sylvie pointed at the two men—asking, what do we do?
Lorien met her gaze. She placed a hand at her throat and made a slashing motion.
Kill them.
Those who understood got it. They'd been found; that meant ill intent. So end it. If malice is present, there's no need to wait for provocation—just kill and be done with it.
Sylvie's gesture made Agent Mobius and the outsider Loki look terrified. Mobius shut his eyes, as if bracing for something. Lorien nodded faintly and focused his will.
A hum, a ripple through space.
Inside the depths of outsider Loki's eyes, a tiny phoenix-shaped image flared into being. His irises flashed red. With a crackling boom, his entire body erupted like fireworks—incinerating into nothing.
It wasn't only Loki who burst into flame. Agent Mobius began to burn as well. His eyes were closed, so the fiery phoenix inside him remained unseen, but that didn't matter.
Soon scarlet light began to well from his seven orifices—eyes, nostrils, mouth, ears—all glowing red. The instant the fireworks detonated, he would explode like an overinflated balloon and vanish.
But just as the red light flared, a void-like space encapsulated Mobius. A clock materialized above his head; time itself slowed to a crawl. The red light didn't erupt.
Lorien saw this and smiled, preparing to push harder. Then a crack split open beside Mobius—one of the TVA's retrieval rifts. Mobius's body was sucked inside.
Clearly the Time Variance Authority had come to reclaim their agent. As for why they didn't bother saving the outsider Loki? He was an outsider—no need.
"No!"
Sylvie lunged toward the time rift, trying to stop it.
Lorien watched as Agent Mobius truly was about to be taken. He smiled and snapped the medical book shut.
Thud.
With the book closing came a muffled explosion from inside the time rift and a flash of crimson light. The rift sealed.
The next moment, amid Sylvie's stunned expression, time around them began to roll again. The library crowd shifted from stillness back into motion: hushed conversations resumed, pages turned, people searched shelves for the books they wanted. Time returned to normal, as if nothing at all had happened.
Sylvie stood dumbfounded for a beat, then turned to Lorien with confusion in her voice.
"Was he taken, or did he blow himself up in there?"
Lorien closed the book and rested his hand on the armrest.
"You can go in and see for yourself."
Sylvie shook her head violently. See what? She'd sooner wish the Time Variance Authority's inhuman lot all dead than go poking around their work.
What had she done wrong? Nothing. She'd simply been born and somehow destined to have her right to live taken away. What else could that be but contempt? Just because she was weak, the TVA treated her as if she didn't matter. Sylvie knew that too well. She wanted every last one of them gone.
Still, after seeing the outcome, she happily moved up to Lorien, pulled out a chair and sat, a little excited.
"How did you do that?"
"You're the you from five years ago, yet you knew things that will happen five years later."
"A prophecy? No — prophecies can't predict events that happen today. Not even the Time Stone could do that."
"Then how did you know? I'm curious!"
It was indeed the future Lorien who knew those things — so how could the Lorien from five years ago have said those words? That meant he knew. How was that possible?
Lorien shook his head slightly.
"Even if I told you, you wouldn't understand. So just know this: on the timeline, I'm always the latest version of myself. That's all you need to know."
At first that sounded vague, but when Sylvie thought it through she went slack-jawed.
"So you're saying if you become a bit stronger five years from now, then the you from five years ago would be equally strong?"
"You're only partially right."
Lorien stood and went to return the book. Sylvie followed closely.
"Partially right?"
He scanned the shelf as he spoke.
"Also, no matter which timeline you meet me in, I'm always the most recent version of myself. There's no 'future me' or 'past me.' Whenever I appear on a timeline, I'm the current me, shaped by the flow of time."
Hearing that, Sylvie's shock turned into comprehension. No matter the timeline or the moment, Lorien was Lorien — neither new nor old. He simply was. No exceptions. That explained why, at the lighthouse last night, Lorien had only smiled and said nothing. He'd had that confidence all along. It didn't matter. Try me, if you don't believe it.
Under Sylvie's respectful gaze, Lorien found the place for the medical book and returned it.
Sylvie was silent for a moment after watching him, then finally asked, "What consequences should the Time Variance Authority face? They showed such blatant disregard for your authority."