Stealing the Network: How to Own an Identity

Prologue From the Diary of Robert Knoll, Senior

By Ryan Russell

My name, my real name, is Robert Knoll, Senior. No middle name. Most of those that matter right now think of me as Knuth. But I am the man of a thousand faces, the god of infinite forms.

Identity is a precious commodity. In centuries past, those who fancied themselves sorcerers believed that if you knew a beings true name, you could control that being. Near where I live now, there are shamans that impose similar beliefs on their people. The secret is that if you grant such a man, an agency, this power over yourself through your beliefs or actions, then it is true.

Only recently has this become true in the modern world. The people of the world have granted control of their existence ...