I hear you. I just don't agree with the premise. Tech level doesn't develop in a vacuum.
They would have nothing close by to import the tech level from, but TL-15 systems do have that. Your TL-16 do-dad breaks. Whoops. Can't fix it. Mail order the next one from Vincennes and wait a long while for it to get there.
Let's look at them. Pashus is 12 parsecs away from Vincennes, so import is possible, though unlikely.
Pashus is a poor,
nonindustrial world.
- As a nonindustrial world, it requires extensive imports of outside technology to maintain a modern, star-faring society. The need to import most manufactured and high technology goods drives the price of these goods up in the open market.
- This world has few prospects for economic development.
- It is a member of the Third Imperium in the Zeng Subsector of Deneb Sector in the Domain of Deneb.
- This is a "high technology" world with technology achievements at, near, or over technology standards for Charted Space.
- This world has a research station engaged in the scientific pursuit of knowledge.
As a nonindustrial world, it has to import technology extensively and only Vincennes can be the source. That is very pricy, and they are 80,000 people on a poor world. They didn't bootstrap themselves, so the research station is the only likely tech source.
It's studying jump science, so it likely is TL-16 in that field, but someone complained when I said that had to be the source of the tech level. I still believe the research station has to be the source and the vast majority of people on the world are at a much lower tech level. They don't even know what is being researched.
Then there is Gannvair.
Gannvair is a ring of many small worldlets (planetoids AKA an "asteroid belt"), not capable of retaining an atmosphere or water, and is also a low-population vacuum environment with a population less than 10,000
sophonts in population size, warranting hazardous environment precautions.
These belters are living their lives mining, not setting up a TL-16 infrastructure for the hell of it, as if they could do so with no examples anywhere near them. There is a mad science commune or two working there, and I still believe they are the source of the tech level, though they are only working on sensors and the computers that support that work.
Only Vincennes has 10 billion people and widespread use of TL-16. Again, I submit the other two are not really TL-16, though the science nerds in those enclaves would be in their limited fields.
Feel free to disagree, but I'll stick with my opinion on this.