“We’ve been using outdated infrastructure for most of the last century, and a lot of it was destroyed in the fighting,” he answered. “So we’re actually rebuilding with new technology rather than replacing antiquated copper lines and the like. The infrastructure damage to China and India wasn’t as severe, because they’ve never really relied on tech to the levels we do, and what little they did rely on was already state of the art. We’ve been lagging behind the Block since before they became the Block, honestly. Hong Kong and Beijing had us beat in many areas since the early twenty-first century. That’s about to change.”

“Interesting. I hadn’t considered it, but you’re right,” LaFontaine said as she thought about old stories. “I wonder why we allowed ourselves to lag behind?”

“Because infrastructure is a public project, and we tend to let private corporations lead the way,” Eric answered easily. “That system is more flexible and tends to be more resilient overall, but corporations don’t like to invest in infrastructure they don’t control entirely. Since we still have antimonopoly laws in place, that slows down development in certain areas. That’s why the fastest access to communications hubs have consistently been in the Block countries, while we tend to get access that’s considered ‘good enough.’”

“It’s almost surprising we won the war, then, if that’s true.”

“We nearly didn’t,” Eric said, “though not because of that. Both systems have strengths, but while some of the best and most modern infrastructure in the world does exist in the Block, they also have large swaths of territory with effectively no infrastructure. We don’t. Rich, poor, or in the middle, if you grew up in the Confederation, you had access to the world economy. More than ninety percent of Block citizens just didn’t. Our system doesn’t hit the peaks theirs does, as a rule, but it doesn’t come anywhere close to the lows either.”

“So why did we win ultimately, in your opinion?” LaFontaine asked, mildly interested in the conversation but more intent on the views of the captain of the Confederation flagship.

“We had momentum.”

That answer wasn’t what she expected, and for a moment she tried to puzzle it out before finally saying, “I’m not sure I understand?”