[ Ah, he has so much more questions to ask about her world and how everything functions without all the obvious machinery, but he's fine with answering hers. ]

It's been this way for a long time— since before I was born. The three major families in Paris were responsible for the development and the foundation of mechanizing the city, and the Auberts were one of them.

[ Carefully sidestepping 'we'. ]

The Gaillards and Prevost are the other two, but the Prevost died out a few decades ago.