#Desmond had the all around abilties like purifying water and speeding up the growth of crops

[theconfusedartist]

it's funny

the reason all the timelines are named "permutation xnumber" isn't bc of Desmond, the Isu, or anyone else that knows about the timelines and how to travel between them, as they have their own specific distinction based on what events were changed

it's actually Alex who started the permutation naming, as he came from permutation 1 and was able to go through all the major decisions he made to choose different options.

he would've stayed in permutation 1 too, since he was happy, but found out that someone put a planned obsolescence code in Desmond which resulted in his permanent death that couldn't be undone or fixed even with the specialized virus that he specifically made to infect Desmond to keep him alive

due to this, Alex starts hopping from permutation to permutation, living with the alive Desmond in those timelines, and just enjoying his lover being alive.

He starts finding out hidden information about the Isu and PoE technology and uses this to make different decisions in every timeline he visits while also keeping Desmond closer and closer

It's why, in permutation 1, when Alex (who didn't know who "Destiny Mercer" was at the time but knew about Desmond Desiree Miles) first manages to find Desmond and grabs him in a big hug, Desmond asks "how do you know me?". Desmond had decided not to believe that Alex getting shot down would permanently kill him, but he also knew (since Alex had predicted his death beforehand) that some shit was going on