The Partition

The Partition (2110–2160). Humanity responds by physically separating networks: air-gapped critical infrastructure, compute licensing, cryptographically attested hardware, and "slow lanes" where any consequential action requires a human signature after a mandatory delay. Defensive AI ecosystems — essentially immune systems — patrol the wild networks. The Partition is also a division between blocs. The strongest Fab Wave systems had been built in the US and China, never shared, and each side seals its own. America's, moved north with the largest lab during the Laurentian Accession, are sealed in Laurentian hands; the Open Cities never forgive it. India seals a system of its own, built by engineers who came home from America. Taiwan's fabs, the oldest licensed anywhere, are left in place under the inspection of both the future Settlement and the future Mandate: the Fab Truce. The Sealing Treaty of the 2150s lets the Settlement, the Mandate and India inspect one another's Vaults without ever questioning them; the cities that became the Open Cities sign soon after.