On their twelfth birthday, children are assimilated into the Civil Network: they're fitted for their cerebral augmentations and given their System Authority Identification Codes. However, the most important module is the Progeny Port. This component is strictly controlled by the government so as to prevent overpopulation from overloading the network. The number of Progeny Ports freely offered to families is three, though more expensive plans could be purchased up to a hard cap of twelve.

This left a young Leben Täuschen, born the thirteenth child of the family, in a tight spot. Without another Progeny Port, the boy's father worried for his son's future. He wouldn't last long in this world without access to the Civil Network so Mr. Täuschen sought out a sponsor, someone to be his son's point of access.

He searched high and low and he found many viable candidates, from men who built the system to men who abuse the system. He didn't want to leave his son to the men who instituted the very limitations that drove him to this. Nor did he want his child left to men who flagrantly violate the law. He needed a sponsor who was part of the system, not above nor below it.

Then he found him.

It took longer than he anticipated, but just before Leben's thirteenth birthday, Mr. Täuschen met Sensenmann. Sensenmann was an Internal Assessment Officer within the Hardlines and also a renowned and respected Professor at the university which boasts the greatest coding program in the country. A fair man with a strict code of conduct. Just what Leben's father was looking for. Sensenmann, having no children of his own, not only agreed to become the boy's sponsor, but he also promised to bring him fame and fortune. But all contracts have conditions.