To give a simple example.
For something to work in a universe other than the main universe, it needed to satisfy an interlocking combination of conditions represented by the twenty-six letters from A to Z.
No matter how you looked at it, the structure was logically consistent and utterly flawless.
But for that same thing to work in Earth-616, although it still needed to satisfy every one of those interlocking conditions from A to Z without exception.
Between A and B, there also had to be A1, A2, and A3.
Those additional combinations of letters and numbers between each necessary universal condition were what distinguished a complete universe from an incomplete one.
And when something from a complete universe entered an incomplete universe, A1, A2, A3.
...and all the other conditions were hidden. The incomplete universe could not see those conditions at all, nor did it need them.
But that did not mean those conditions did not exist in the incomplete universe.
They simply could not be observed.
A more complete universe absolutely needed A1, A2, and A3 between A and B, or its chain of logic would collapse. An incomplete universe did not need those additional conditions; once A appeared, it could always connect to B.
This was actually common knowledge taken for granted when traveling across the Multiverse.
For instance, when Brad traveled from Earth-9527 to Earth-10011, he would discover A1 and A2 between A and B. Only after passing through A1 and A2 could he reach B, followed by B1 and B2 before finally reaching C.
But for Brad, who had reached the ceiling of Earth-9527, deducing the existence of A1 and A2 was hardly any harder than eating or drinking.
Yet when he encountered an advanced technology from Earth-616 that involved space-time, what Brad saw was