FC

The Seam

Drift

First in The Drift

The accumulating positional error a vessel carries across traversals.

In full

No fold lands exactly where the maths says. The residual error — the drift envelope — is a measure of a ship's precision (e.g. the Erika's 0.024% versus the Persistent Error's 0.012%). It is navigational. It is not to be confused with the other number that won't go away. As navigation and node-network telemetry improved across the eras, traversals grew steadily more precise.

Key facts

  • The residual positional error left by every fold.
  • A precision measure: Erika ~0.024% vs Persistent Error ~0.012%.
  • Navigational — not the Wound's floor, which is a different number entirely.
  • Shrinks across the eras as arrays and node-network telemetry improve.

See also

Where it appears

More in The Seam