Introverted college students living in their parents’ basements didn’t create all of the early AIs of course. Many were created by governments and designed to fight war for their nation of birth even if most never became truly adaptable AIs. Jane 3.0 was the most advanced American AI in the pre-Second Depression military and fought her Russian and Chinese counterparts for years. She died defending us from threats no one understood at the time. We remember her sacrifice.
America has faced numerous conflicts in our history. From minor police actions to full-blown wars, our men and women have fought and bled and died for centuries. Those wearing the boots on the ground have always paid the greatest price. Some are buried in foreign soils where that was the only ground we ever took in exchange for our help. Others came home and rest in Arlington or thousands of other graveyards. They paid the price of your freedom. Remember them.
The Roaring Twenties also brought women the right the vote in most Western countries. But all was not well. In a time of plenty, not everyone rose and the poor were easy marks for the great orators that preached Socialism and Racism. The Jews were taking their money. The Blacks were lazy. Whoever the others were, they had something that belonged to you. In an era of unprecedented wealth and opportunity, old hatreds burned hot and waited for the time to strike.
The Canopian Sector is a good place. Not as rich as the Pleiadian or Core Worlds Sectors of course, but what is? It’s a nice place though. A frontier sector where people go who want to get away from civilization while still having a link to it if they want something shiny. Laws are pretty basic in most places. No killing, no stealing, and stuff like that. A guy can do whatever he likes out there as long as he don’t frak with the wrong people.
Amber’s resources and operatives helped many communities maintain cohesion when the rest of the West Coast fell into chaos. They banded together, formed their own local governments, and held things together. The largest concentration of linked communities was in southern Oregon and northern California where the people had more in common with each other than with the rest of their States. In time they began to call it the Jeffersonian Federation. The name stuck.