"Dome, Heavenly Palace, Tomorrow City, city—they were all actually the same thing: that hemispherical city Big Head Reed created."
In Sepulk's reception room, Deathstroke was telling Loki a joke, one he thought deserved a place in a joke book:
"That city was actually a lifeboat, bigger and stronger than the swim ring on Earth-616. It could even use technology to accelerate time inside, teleport itself as a whole, and escape into the Negative Zone. It was a secret only Reed himself knew. Unfortunately, he died."
The room was brightly lit, filled with the genuine fragrance of flowers, and pleasantly warm.
"Hehehehe. So what you mean is, Earth-1610 had always possessed its own Ark, but now no one besides you knew about it, so the Ultimates still followed your guidance and went after Earth-616's lifeboat?"
Loki liked the absurdity born from such disparities in information. It gave her the pleasure of manipulating others.
"Doushou knew as well, originally, but I had Adjutant infiltrate it and wipe that part of its records. That's why its behavior is rather interesting now." As Deathstroke spoke, he revealed a meaningful smile.
The Dome was far too large. If it were used as a lifeboat, it could probably save around two hundred million people from Earth-1610. That number was inconvenient to control.
Each Earth only needed a few human specimens to survive. Too many people were trouble instead, especially since the people of Earth-1610 were much like Gotham's residents. They looked fairly normal most of the time, but at any moment, some tiny matter could make them become simple-minded.
As he watched the Ultimates and the X-Men fight, Deathstroke pulled out a bag of popcorn to share with Loki and began explaining the Dome city's origins.
Back in the Ultimate Universe, Big Head Reed had wanted