I curse my parents’ choice of Fatimah. A name, whether given at birth, self-ascribed or bestowed by mocking contemporaries is so entwined with identity. Change by deed poll seemed the only solution to the seemingly irremovable tags of “Fatty” and “Tatty.” Identifying a fitting substitution was the challenge.

But that was before my career as a Digital Modifier with the Palimpsest Foundation. Digital Falsifier would be a more accurate descriptor. The greatest perk of apprenticeship was learning the tools of the trade,- pixel manipulation, real-time video simulation, voice replication,-  from a true master. The downside was moving far from family to the glaring redness of the Foundation’s god-forsaken HQ in the Mohave Desert.