I was supposed to start work two weeks later. Great: that would give me time to find an apartment, fill it with a load of rental furniture, and then dive into an important project that had been on my mind. My Eric Weiss identity was safe and verifiable. Still, there was already a real Eric Weiss walking around in Portland with the same Social Security number, birth date, and alma mater. That was okay for the time being, since the other Eric lived far enough away that our paths weren’t likely to cross. But I wanted an identity I could safely use for the rest of my life.