Intergalactic Summit

Hello inquisitive pilots and explorers of New Eden. I would like to discuss a few observations which we here at Alexylva Paradox have made about the unknown regions beyond wormholes known as Anoikis, and the implications of those observations.

First, I would like to preface all of this with a few things. I'd like to give thanks to the Arek'Jaalan project and its team members, as well as the explorers who participated in the crowdsourcing of data. I'd also like to give a warning to the audience: this might be long and sound like some loony conspiracy theory. With this in mind I encourage people to keep an open mind and try to reliably duplicate our observations in order to confirm or deny them.

Our observations begin with a pretty well-known phenomenon in Anoikis: "classes" of space which contain similar levels and types of Sleeper drone fortifications, ancient salvage and databases, fullerite gas clouds, and so on. Star systems of the same class may or may not be physically near to each other in location, given the similarity of nebulae found in systems of the same class (to the point that experienced explorers can tell what class of space a wormhole leads to simply by peering at the distorted images shimmering near the event horion). By this point in time capsuleers have a functional understanding of classes, and it is more or less common knowledge within the capsuleer community that "higher class" space is more lucrative...and also more dangerous. Higher class space, such as C5 or C6, contains more formidable Sleeper drone defenses, higher chances of finding very well-preserved artifacts, older Sleeper drones with much more salvageable technology, and incredibly advanced databases containing information that scientists are still struggling to make sense of. Lower class space contains much lighter Sleeper drone defenses, less ruins of ancient infrastructure, and many more newer Emergent-type Sleeper drones which are more fragile and yield less valuable tech when salvaged. It should also be noted that structures and fortifications in lower class space contain less total Sleeper drones overall.

All of these facts give credence to the possibility that higher class space represents the core of what was the Sleepers' civilization, whereas lower-class space represents outward frontiers.

The second observation we are concerned about deals with what are known as "static wormholes". Every system in Anoikis will have at least one outbound wormhole which consistently leads to the same general areas of space, and this wormhole is known as the system's "static". Barring C1 and C3 space, all classes of wormholes may static into systems of equivalent class. C1 and C3 space have static wormholes leading to known space, and C4 through C6 space have static wormholes leading to other systems in Anoikis. Class 2 systems are special in that they each have two static wormholes: one to known space and one to other systems in Anoikis. Static wormholes also have varying lifecycles: some last for a full day while others last only sixteen hours. In addition, all wormholes have limits on how much mass can pass through them before they destabilize and collapse.

Here is where things get odd. Why should wormholes consistently lead to the same areas of space and consistently have the same lifecycles and mass limitations? While many capsuleers unfamiliar with Anoikis regard wormholes as purely random, they are anything but. The primary issue is with known space statics; how do the wormholes "know" to tunnel into systems of a particular security status and not others? A so-called "lowsec static" will, without fail, lead into systems with a security status of greater than 0.0 and no more than 0.4. A hisec static will never lead to known space with a security status below 0.5, and a nullsec static will never lead to space with a security status above 0.0. So we are forced to question a few things: the Sleeper civilization seems to have died out thousands of years ago and left nothing but ruins and drifting automatons. How is it that the space they once resided in so systematically links with the New Eden cluster?

Some have proposed that various CONCORD system-wide technologies which prohibit certain capsuleer behaviours (or the lack thereof, in the case of nullsec) is in some way related to where static wormholes in Anoikis will lead to. This is a flimsy explanation, however, since it fails to explain the existence of wandering wormholes which occasionally link systems in Anoikis that normally only static into one area of space with other areas of space. For example a C3 system with a static to nullsec may still occasionally link to hisec via a wandering wormhole. If various system-wide technologies are what restrict statics to only link to systems of particular security statuses in known space, why then are there wandering wormholes which occasionally "get around" any limitations imposed by such system-wide tech? Additionally, CONCORD system-wide tech is not present in Anoikis, and yet statics from one class of system to another class of system are just as reliable and consistent as known-space statics. Thus the argument that system-wide technology present in known space impacts wormholes in Anoikis cannot explain wspace-to-wspace statics. It is possible that wandering wormholes are the ones which are truly random, but it is clear that static wormholes work in a mechanical manner that can be observed and repeated.

An additional fact is that all unknown systems discovered thus far contain Sleeper drones and ruins. If the wormholes were random we would expect to occasionally link with systems that do not contain any evidence of the long-dead civilization.

Miss Jormagdnir, you do indeed raise several salient points.

I am curious though, as to what your sample sizing was. You don't need a mathematician here to tell you the significance of that, but here I am anyway.

You are correct in that the observed data does in fact permit and trend toward your conclusions thus far.

However, a large number of questions remain to my eyes. First and foremost - how many wormholes do we have such data on and in sufficient volumes and compatible types to make any such determinations of classification with certainty?
Secondly, I am concerned by the C1/C2/C3/C4/C5 dispersion as it does not seem consistent enough to me. Even if one were to account for 'dead' C1s which are fully collapsed, there should be an expected bias ratio of approximately 10:5:3:2:1 using the C1-5 classifications.
In short, I would very much like to know more about the exact distribution of these wormholes. I believe your idea of the layout may be flawed - specifically in that there is a presumption of stage-walking them. But what if rather than the walking expected, it was specialized tasking? Or the walk is much longer than we have seen so far.

Something to think on.

Installations of a particularly sensitive nature, such as military research or clandestine operations, may be located in isolated, remote regions for their security - and for the well-being of civilian populations in the event something blows up.

I would like to point out that the legitimacy of the Awakened Infomorph has not been confirmed. It very well could be a capsuleer having a good long laugh at the controversy he/she has stirred up.

Streya, thank you for publicising your theory - it's certainly very interesting.

Both Nicolas and yourself are correct.

There was no absolute confirmation that Awakened Infomorph (A.I._1 to use the terminology in Cmdr Baxter's report) was legitimate in either the claim suggested by its name or that of its ability to influence Sleeper and Rogue Drone activity or wormhole generation. However, as you suggest, the close correlation of A.I._1's appearances with unique events and applied technology that is beyond what a typical capsuleer of that experience would possess certainly argues for a strong anecdotal connection if nothing else.

The reality is that we are only likely to learn the truth if A.I._1 reappears and reengages with New Eden. As I'm sure you're aware, in the last 21 months there have been no further published sightings of A.I_1.

To return to the theory, I have a few questions which you might already have considered or be in the process of researching.

1. How does your hypothesis of an expanding civilisation which has now 'set their sights on known space' explain the ancient Sleeper ruins in Ani constellation?
2. Will your hypothesis be looking into the Talocan technology also found in some classes of w-space systems?

Again, thank you and I look forward to your replies.

Excellent questions!

As to your first:

I have long struggled with the existence of both Sleeper and Talocan ruins in known space, but if the two civilizations did clash there's nothing to say that the New Eden cluster didn't play partial host to the conflict. If the Talocan did construct the Anoikis wormhole network and were clashing with the Sleepers, it is quite possible the Sleepers used the wormholes as well for strategic purposes.

Of course, this would suggest that one or both civilizations originated in known space. I still believe, however, that physically speaking the Sleeper civilization's core was C6/C5 space with its frontiers being in lower-class space. If the Sleepers did originate from the known cluster and the ruins are older than those found in Anoikis this would suggest some sort of mass exodus into Anoikis by the Sleepers (given that there are vastly more Sleeper ruins in Anoikis than the known cluster). If the Sleepers did originate in known space and leave en masse then the recent sightings of a likely-related Awakened Infomorph and the inclusion of kspace in the static network point towards the Sleepers embarking on some form of return. And, given that the static network seems to "know" how CONCORD security status works (which is a relatively recent socio-political development), this would suggest such a return is a very recent endeavor that definitely has the kspace population and its security in mind.

On the other hand, if the Ani ruins are newer and the Sleepers did not originate from the known cluster then the Ani ruins might represent earlier attempts to get a foothold in the kspace cluster through unknown means.

It makes the most sense to me that both civilizations originated in the known cluster given the apparent social interactions between the two groups (namely, quarantine and perhaps hostility), though this is slightly against the current grain of thought in mold theory (which states that humans can develop anywhere on any temperate planet because the human form is optimal).

As to your second question:

Of course! It is apparent now more than ever that the Talocan had some significant role to play in Anoikis and possessed technology on par with or perhaps exceeding the Sleepers in some areas. So we're definitely going to be investigating the quarantine sites in C5 space.

I am curious as to any possible connections between the predictability of wormholes and our existing gate technology.

Very interesting data being shared here.

Is there any evidence dating the existence of the Talocan relative to the Sleepers? Can it even be ruled out that the Talocan entered the EVE cluster from w-space?

I came upon this thread by just browsing the database as i was heading to Okkelen to search for archaeological material on the Talocan. Interesting convergen

The fungus in questions seems likely to have been a weaponized organism developed by one advanced species (possibly the Sleepers themselves; possibly the Talocan; possibly an unidentified third party) to destroy another. One potential example of this fungus was found in the Kyonoke Pit. There are some similarities between that organism and the technological "corpse bugs" employed by current-day Blood Raiders, who descend in part from the Takmahl (who excelled at cybernetics and bio-engineering), but that line goes back about three thousand years. They may have learned something from the Dark Past, but probably did not originate it.

Although as a broad premise, I agree life follows patterns and so it is on some level "likely" to evolve in "similar" fashions around the Universe - four independently evolving "human" species overlapping within a matter of a few thousand years stretches credibility quite far. Furthermore, unless there has been a spectacular discovery in the fossil record of yet unpublished, independent origin has been all but ruled out.

Absent temporal shenanigans, of course.

Entirely fascinating and quite seemingly on the right track.