Wormhole Terminal
Wormhole Terminals known affectionately by Wormholers as "worm terms", are the points of entry and exit to the Worldwide Wormhole Complex. There are tens of thousands located globally, some near popular destinations, others less so. Almost all major destinations, and quite a few out-of-the-way terminals have nearby accommodation in the form of Wormhole Travel Hostels.
Locations
Because the WWC was discovered rather than engineered (see WWC Origin Theories), many of the terminals are located in puzzling locations (the middle of the Gobi desert, behind the local Arby's in Washburn Iowa). Statistically, only about 23% of known wormhole terminals are located in "tourist friendly" locations. It is unsurprising that vast majority of Wormhole traffic (estimated at ~91%) involves these "safe terms". However, the fact that 77% of known terminals are located in remote, dangerous, or otherwise non-commercially interesting locations is one of the main appeals of the Wormhole Dice Roll.
Types of Terminal
There are three types of wormhole terminal:
- Inbound Terminals (called innies by wormholers) only allow entry into the WWC, and have never been known to function as exit points.
- Outbound Terminals (called outies by wormholers) only allow exit from the WWC, and have never been known to function as entry points.
- Universal Terminals (called unies by wormholers) allow both entry and exit from the WWC). Many of the more popular WWC destinations are, for obvious reasons, reached by universal terminals, although there are plenty of obscure locations that function as unies, and several otherwise popular travel destinations, that frustratingly lack either inbound or outbound wormhole terminals nearby. Los Angeles, for instance, is (in)famous for having a large number of innies and not a single outbound capable wormhole. Many commentators have noted how appropriate this is.
While theories abound, there is very little consensus as to pattern of geographic distribution of terminals, nor to allocation of types of terminal among those locations.
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