Jack of Harts

The Great Families created their new world order in their holdings on the East Coast of America. The governments of Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts signed up to become Day One Federation Member States, and every State from Maryland to Maine followed their lead within months. The New England Federation was the single most powerful American alliance when Texas called a State Convention to convene on the matter of the failing Federal government. They helped hold the line on many of Texas’ more crazy proposals, and made certain that the Federation’s principles would survive and thrive following the convention. It is because of those early adopters that the New England Federation thrives to this day.

The Great Families of New England secured their position as modern day folk heroes when they shepherded New England through the collapse and chaos of the Second Great Depression and the Cybernetic Wars. When cities collapsed and governments failed, they provided for those who lived and worked for them. They held the local governments together, and spread their examples throughout New England. They brought together a coalition of the willing, and promised all who worked to protect civilization safety and security from the death and destruction surrounding them. They organized and protected the parts of New England that followed their example, and helped usher in a new age. They built the New England Federation to govern by their example, and in doing so brought New England into a prosperous and secure future that would dominate America for centuries to come.

Physical air gaps between utility operating systems and the planetary networks were simply part of the safety systems the Great Families of New England required of utilities that served them. They refused “upgrades” to automated smart systems that would monitor their usage and required real human monitoring of all systems they interacted with. They banned any and all “artificial intelligence” systems, and required physical connections and lockouts as needed. While the middle class was encouraged to automate everything in their homes from toasters to refrigerators, the Great Families maintained the purely human touch in all levels of life. When the Cybernetic Wars and Rogue AIs destroyed far more advanced systems, their homes and the utilities that supported them continued operating at peak efficiency. When all around them crashed and burned, the Great Families remained.