"I was just thinking about something," Russell said, as if bringing it up in passing. But everyone could tell it was anything but casual.
"This universe has plenty of space, plenty of civilizations, and plenty of superheroes."
He paused, as though checking whether what he was about to say held true. "But it lacks a persistent variable."
Tony's brow twitched. "A variable?"
"You have superheroes, villains, alien invasions, and Infinity Stones. But you treat other people with powers a little differently."
Russell's tone was even, as though he were stating something he had only recently noticed.
"You treat aliens as invaders and people with powers as heroes or criminals. But what happens when new mutants appear?"
Russell continued, "So I'm going to conduct an experiment. I'll scatter some seeds of civilization across this universe's Earth, and mutants will be the first recipients."
"Recipients?" Doctor Strange's voice came from the back of the crowd, as though the word had struck a chord in his memory.
"You're treating mutants as test subjects?"
"Not test subjects. Participants in a trial," Russell said calmly.
"The seeds will appear in different forms across Earth. They'll alter the energy around them, change how genes are expressed, and create things that never existed before."
"And then?" Tony frowned.
"Then we see how far they can go. It's a long-term test. It might last far longer than you imagine, or far less.
"I won't set a destination or a deadline. They'll choose their own paths. I'll just record the results."
Tony fell silent for a while. His gaze settled not on Russell, but on the distant Manhattan skyline bathed in golden light.
When he spoke, his voice was lower than before. "Are you testing mutants, or testing the limits of Earth's tolerance?"
Russell did not answer at once.