On what wormholes can tell you without your asking

There is more to navigating w-space than simply scanning for wormholes. Knowing the designations of the wormholes and what they mean can help with expectations and reduce confusion or misunderstandings. First, it must be understood that there are two ‘ends’ to a wormhole, the ‘entrance’ and the ‘exit’. There are no specific restrictions on movements through a wormhole dependent on it being the entrance or exit, but knowing what side you have found gives information in itself.

If you are looking at the exit of a wormhole you will always see the designation ‘K162′, with no exceptions. That is the only designation ever given to an exit. The entrance of a wormhole has a designation made up in the similar way of having a letter and three numbers, but unlike the exit each specific designation essentially determines where the wormhole leads. For example, seeing an X877 signature in a class 4 w-space system will tell you that the wormhole leads to another class 4 w-space system. On the other side, of course, will be a K162.

The second snippet of information needed to be understood is that an entrance wormhole can either be ‘static’ or random. The meaning of ‘static’ in the sense of a wormhole simply means that a particular type of wormhole will always be present within the system. It won’t remain in the same position, just that once the previous wormhole collapses the new one will be have the same designation. A random wormhole is an anomalous signature that has a chance of spawning anywhere but, once collapsed, will not automatically return. Understanding the static types and, by inference, the random types of wormhole designations will therefore let you imply more information about connections within any specific system.

Whilst it is possible to determine the class of w-space system from the colours seeping through the wormhole this is not the information I wish to impart today. I am more interested in the implications of finding certain designations of wormholes, and the importance in recognising the designations.

Let’s look at what we can tell about a system by the wormholes you visit.

• If you find an entrance wormhole that leads to further w-space you can be sure of finding at least one more wormhole in the system beyond.
  • You are jumping through an outbound wormhole that leads to a system that must contain at least its own static wormhole, so you there is definitely another wormhole to find.
• If you find an entrance wormhole that is not a static designation you can be sure of finding at least one more wormhole in the current system.
  • Each w-space system has one static wormhole, and class 2 w-space has two, so finding a wormhole that isn’t the static wormhole always leaves the static wormhole to be found.
• If you find an exit wormhole in w-space you can be sure of finding at least one more wormhole in the current system.
  • The exit wormhole cannot be the static wormhole of the current system, which must be an entrance, so the static wormhole is still to be found.
• If you find an exit wormhole that leads to w-space there is no guarantee that further wormholes will be found in the system beyond.
  • The entrance to the wormhole has been opened in another system, but you need to jump through the wormhole and see the designation of the entrance before you can determine further exploration possibilities.
• If you jump through a K162 to see a static designation on the other side you are not guaranteed to find any further wormholes.
  • The system’s static connection is the only guaranteed wormhole in the system, and you’ve found it indirectly by jumping through the K162.
  • Check the system for occupation. If there is none, there could be another K162 to find, as a capsuleer must have entered the system to activate the static wormhole you jumped through. Even this is not a guarantee, though, as the wormhole may already be collapsed.
• If you jump through a K162 in to w-space to see a random designation on the other side you can be sure of finding at least one more wormhole.
  • The w-space system you have entered has a random wormhole, which still leaves the static wormhole to be found.

All of the above information can be discerned without having to launch scanning probes, which can save time and help maintain covert operations. And it should be seen that being able to determine static and random wormhole designations is useful when exploring w-space. There are plenty to memorise, but in practice only a few are necessary. Certain connections between w-space systems will be seen time and again, particularly if you settle in w-space, and will become obvious given a little time. Others can be determined by scrutinising the information panel, most notably those heading out to k-space. And wormholes to and from deadly class 6 w-space are unmistakable.