Jack of Harts

The Socialist Republic of Juneau never made a profit on their Debt Collector program. Bringing back runners and making them work off their Life Debts never recouped enough resources to justify the costs of capturing them. But it was never truly about money. It was about punishing those who ran. It was about showing the other Life Debtors that those who ran would be tracked down and returned, even if it took years, and then they would be punished. It was about keeping those with Life Debts too scared to run at all. It was a terror campaign, conducted by a Rogue State, and both the Western Alliance and the AI Council officially declared it so in open committee. But they couldn’t actually stop it. Juneau was one of those unique States that declared it wasn’t a member of the Western Alliance, or the United States of America, but was a member of Pacifica. And extremely rich States like Portland and San Francisco blocked all efforts to deal with them. They funded Juneau and their political support in the halls of power kept Juneau alive and well as the years stretched into decades and beyond.