Rachel Bostwick

No one model of learning would accurately represent the education of the Boroughs. The methods are nearly as varied as our citizens themselves.

Among the lower classes, education is primarily accomplished through an informal system of apprenticeships, usually among family and friends. Illiteracy among the undergrounders is common. Unskilled labor can be taught at a young age and the standard of living is such than an undergrounder can support himself on unskilled labor. He can support a family on skilled labor, of which there is no shortage, and which he can learn from a neighbor who will, in nearly all cases, welcome an extra pair of hands in exchange for knowledge.

Above ground, the economics are more complicated. We are building a system of labor which includes working for salary, legalized ownership of property, and in cases of unemployable criminals, permanent indentured employment. Because of this more complex system, education is even more varied and certainly more demanding. Many citizens, like our family, choose to tutor their children in the home, with one or both parents passing on wisdom and knowledge through oratory and books. Still others have small schools where a teacher is retained by the parents to teach such skills as reading and mathematics. As aboveground children are coming of age, we are expanding our education by working for skilled laborers who are family or friends.

My brother, Andrew, has chosen an internship under our father’s friend, Lux. Lux is the seventh judge, just as our father is the sixth judge. He is a good friend to our mother, too. In a few years, I will be professionally employed as an artist, doing sworn in sketch work for the Boroughs.

-Perry Dell Howard, at Age 15

When mankind fell asleep, they left a lot of canned beans behind.

They hadn’t left many deer.

Deer are native to the Manhattan area, though, and after a decade without lawnmowers, returned in droves. Another decade and they lived in and around the boroughs by the ten-thousands.

Right about when we ran out of canned beans, we started to remember how to hunt. How to build stoves. How to tan hide. How to use all the pieces of an animal.

And best of all – how to make deer jerky.

While beef is a treat if you can get it, deer is the primary source of meat in the boroughs. In the underground, citizens wear deerskin moccasins, tunics, and breeches. The leather pouches we carry our belongings in are made from deer skin. The deer is one of the bounties that was returned to mankind when we lost everything else we had. Part of the trade. Just don’t ask us if we’d trade back…

-Jerky Joe’s Oral Memoirs

The council was not created because of the desire for power. The Council of the judges was created to protect people from being oppressed by one another. To stand up against the inevitable survival of the strongest. After 10 years of living in the wild, we wanted to return to what made humanity great. To what had made America a good place to live. Peace. Freedom. Equal opportunities. So we divided up what remained of the population into 7 jurisdictions.  Queens, Brooklyn, and Staten Island stood as they had in the past. Those residing in La Guardia and the preserves demanded a jurisdiction of their own. More heavily populated Manhattan was divided into Harlem and Lower Manhattan. Finally, although only the lower half of the Bronx was inhabited, enough people lived there to allow it to stand on its own as a jurisdiction. Naturally, the 7th judge chose to stay in his home in the Bronx. His best friend, Dell Howard chose the JD next to his and became the 6th judge, ruling over Harlem.

The Council of the seven judges meets weekly to discuss the precedents established in their boroughs. No written penal code applies to the boroughs. Instead, the judges rely on their previous cases as established precedent. Several of the judges also rely on trusted advisors. These advisers may be experts in specific fields, family members or lovers, friends, or simply wise citizens. These citizens are considered non-ruling members of the council and may sit in meetings.

While the position of a council judge affords a great deal of honor, respect, and authority, the judges have no salaries. For this reason, their standard of living varies greatly, depending upon their individual resourcefulness.

The Bronx was one of the original five boroughs of New York City, famous as the home of the New York Yankees and one of the worlds most famous Zoological parks. Today, the Bronx is most well-known for being the home of the 7th judge. Alexander Jackson – today known as Lux – grew up in the Bronx before the fall. His mother was an elementary school teacher at Sts. Peter and Paul Parish school, his father was a nightguard/maintenance worker at the now-famous Electrolux Palace, then a night club for young adults.

After the fall, Lux and his father gathered many of the survivors into the Palace. There they worked together to survive, hunting, gathering food, putting out fires, keeping wildlife away, and salvaging what technology survived the breakdown of the NYC infrastructure. Few survivors remained, but over time the population grew. At first, those whole were sick or dependent died off in the harsh weather and lack of technology. Then slowly those who survived gravitated toward the Palace.  The Bronx became the center of civilization until the council of the judges was established and the people distibuted more evenly over the five boroughs.

Today, the Bronx is one of the smaller of the seven jurisdictions. The Palace and the common market are the northern markers of civilization. Above the market few people reside and only a handful of businesses, most catering to New England trade caravans. The Bronx is home to some 5,000 souls – 2,000 above ground and approximately 3,200 below. Accurate  numbers below are impossible, but a best estimate is offered.  Visitors to the 7th jurisdiction are always welcome to stop into the Electrolux Palace – you will come for the beautifully preserved Beaux Arts style 20th century architecture; stay for the housekeeper’s renowned comfort cuisine.

Andrew Angelo Howard is the oldest son of the 6th Judge, Dell Howard of the Harlem Jurisdiction. Since his 16th birthday, Andrew has been working as an assistant to the 7th judge. Andrew files papers, drafts contracts, manages the household budget, and oversees the judge’s messengers. Andrew takes his job as the 7th judge’s right-hand man very seriously.

Andrew was born in the 1st jurisdiction in the year 2107, six years after the fall of mankind. He lived in the Underground for the first three years of his life, until he and his little brother Perry were adopted by the Howards and brought to live in their home in Harlem. From his father Dell, Andrew learned history, logic, law, civics, philosophy, and literature. His mother, Apple, taught him Science, Math, reading, writing, and courtesy.  He hopes to succeed his father as the judge of the 6th jurisdiction.

He wears blond hair to his shoulders and can always be seen in the formal dress of an elite citizen of the boroughs. He prefers red neckties and solid charcoal suits. His only concession to comfort are the well-tanned moccasins he wears, which are yearly birthday gifts from his mother. He has little time for games or amusements, and reads classic literature by the assist light of his pod when he can’t sleep.

“Ignorance of the law is no excuse… actually ignorance of any kind is no excuse.” – Andrew Angelo Howard