UID

Possession of a UID marks a being as a User in the eyes of Administrators, regardless of actual origin. It is essentially the source of User immortality, as the Resolution Queue will reconstruct any being in possession of one. This significance makes it an object of great value, almost never traded lightly. Without a UID, a being is potentially subject to retirement like a Process, or in some rare cases, subject to The Family's judgement like a typical Daemon. In addition to immortality, a UID is a pointer to a person's identity used in other User memories. As a consequence, a User who loses their UID is often quickly forgotten by all but their closest associates, who still often struggle to hold onto those memories without some means of reinforcing the connection. In contrast, a being who obtains a UID may find themselves with expectations to be the former owner, or at least a new Iteration of that owner.

Significance

In addition to providing a being with the immortality of a User, it endows them with their privileged status, as Administration is programmed to serve User interests. Being the source of User immortality, some religiously inclined beings have come to see it as analogous to a soul or True Name.

Rarity

There are estimated to be about 2,000,000 UIDs in Soulbank. Some are believed to be lost, but no new UIDs have been created since the original User migration, and there is no known method of copying a UID. Forged UIDs do exist, but seldom survive scrutiny by Administration.