diff --git a/src/as/com/threerings/io/ArrayMask.as b/src/as/com/threerings/io/ArrayMask.as
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..353fa04e6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/as/com/threerings/io/ArrayMask.as
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+package com.threerings.io {
+
+public class ArrayMask
+{
+}
+}
diff --git a/src/as/com/threerings/io/ClassMapping.as b/src/as/com/threerings/io/ClassMapping.as
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..12522c05f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/as/com/threerings/io/ClassMapping.as
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+package com.threerings.io {
+
+public class ClassMapping
+{
+    public var code :int;
+    public var classname :String;
+    public var streamer :Streamer;
+
+    public function ClassMapping (code :int, classname :String,
+            streamer :Streamer)
+    {
+        this.code = code;
+        this.classname = classname;
+        this.streamer = streamer;
+    }
+}
+}
diff --git a/src/as/com/threerings/io/ObjectInputStream.as b/src/as/com/threerings/io/ObjectInputStream.as
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..8910d6ed8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/as/com/threerings/io/ObjectInputStream.as
@@ -0,0 +1,174 @@
+package com.threerings.io {
+
+import flash.errors.IOError;
+
+import flash.util.ByteArray;
+import flash.util.IDataInput;
+
+import com.threerings.util.ClassUtil;
+import com.threerings.util.SimpleMap;
+
+public class ObjectInputStream
+{
+    public function ObjectInputStream (targ:IDataInput)
+    {
+        _targ = targ;
+    }
+
+    public function readObject () :*
+        //throws IOError
+    {
+        var cmap :ClassMapping;
+
+        try {
+            // read in the class code for this instance
+            var code :int = readShort();
+
+            // a zero code indicates a null value
+            if (code == 0) {
+                return null;
+
+            // if the code is negative, that means we've never seen it
+            // before and class metadata follows
+            } else if (code < 0) {
+                // first swap the code into positive land
+                code *= -1;
+
+                // read in the class metadata
+                var cname :String = readUTF();
+                var streamer :Streamer = Streamer.getStreamer(cname);
+
+                cmap = new ClassMapping(code, cname, streamer);
+                _classMap[code] = cmap;
+
+            } else {
+                cmap = _classMap[code];
+                if (null == cmap) {
+                    throw new IOError("Read object for which we have no " +
+                        "registered class metadata.");
+                }
+            }
+
+            // create an instance of the appropriate object
+            _streamer = cmap.streamer;
+            var target :* = _streamer.createObject(this);
+            _current = target;
+
+            // now read the instance data
+            _streamer.readObject(target, this, true);
+
+            // and return the newly read object
+            return target;
+
+        } finally {
+            // clear out our current object references
+            _current = null;
+            _streamer = null;
+        }
+    }
+
+    public function readBareObject (obj :*) :void
+        //throws IOError
+    {
+        try {
+            // obtain the streamer for the objects of this class
+            _streamer = Streamer.getStreamer(ClassUtil.getClassName(obj));
+            _current = obj;
+
+            // now read the instance data
+            _streamer.readObject(obj, this, true);
+
+        } finally {
+            // clear out our current object references
+            _current = null;
+            _streamer = null;
+        }
+    }
+
+    public function readField (clazz :Class) :*
+        //throws IOError
+    {
+        if (readBoolean()) {
+            var obj :* = new clazz();
+            return readBareObject(obj);
+        }
+        return null;
+    }
+
+    public function defaultReadObject () :void
+        //throws IOError
+    {
+        _streamer.readObject(_current, this, false);
+    }
+
+    public function readBoolean () :Boolean
+        //throws IOError
+    {
+        return _targ.readBoolean();
+    }
+
+    public function readByte () :int
+        //throws IOError
+    {
+        return _targ.readByte();
+    }
+
+    public function readBytes (bytes :ByteArray, offset :uint = 0,
+            length :uint = 0) :void
+        //throws IOError
+    {
+        _targ.readBytes(bytes, offset, length);
+    }
+
+    public function readDouble () :Number
+        //throws IOError
+    {
+        return _targ.readDouble();
+    }
+
+    public function readFloat () :Number
+        //throws IOError
+    {
+        return _targ.readFloat();
+    }
+
+    public function readInt () :int
+        //throws IOError
+    {
+        return _targ.readInt();
+    }
+
+    public function readShort () :int
+        //throws IOError
+    {
+        return _targ.readShort();
+    }
+
+    public function readUTF () :String
+        //throws IOError
+    {
+        return _targ.readUTF();
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Used by a Streamer that is reading an array of Streamable instances.
+     */
+    protected function setCurrent (streamer :Streamer, current :*)
+    {
+        _streamer = streamer;
+        _current = current;
+    }
+
+    /** The target DataInput that we route input from. */
+    protected var _targ :IDataInput;
+
+    /** The object currently being read from the stream. */
+    protected var _current :*;
+
+    /** The stramer being used currently. */
+    protected var _streamer :Streamer;
+
+    /** A map of short class code to ClassMapping info. */
+    protected var _classMap :SimpleMap = new SimpleMap();
+}
+}
diff --git a/src/as/com/threerings/io/ObjectOutputStream.as b/src/as/com/threerings/io/ObjectOutputStream.as
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ebd41e202
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/as/com/threerings/io/ObjectOutputStream.as
@@ -0,0 +1,182 @@
+package com.threerings.io {
+
+import flash.util.ByteArray;
+import flash.util.IDataOutput;
+
+import com.threerings.util.ClassUtil;
+import com.threerings.util.SimpleMap;
+
+public class ObjectOutputStream
+//    implements IDataOutput
+{
+    public function ObjectOutputStream (targ :IDataOutput)
+    {
+        _targ = targ;
+    }
+
+    public function writeObject (obj :*) :void
+        //throws IOError
+    {
+        // if the object to be written is null (or undefined) write a zero
+        if (obj == null) {
+            writeShort(0);
+            return;
+        }
+
+        try {
+            var cname :String = ClassUtil.getClassName(obj);
+
+            // look up the class mapping record
+            var cmap :ClassMapping = _classMap[cname];
+            _current = obj;
+
+            // create a class mapping if we've not got one
+            if (cmap === undefined) {
+                var streamer :Streamer = Streamer.getStreamer(cname);
+                cmap = new ClassMapping(_nextCode++, cname, streamer);
+                _classMap[cname] = cmap;
+
+                // TODO: if _nextCode blows short, log an error
+
+                writeShort(-cmap.code);
+                writeUTF(cname);
+
+            } else {
+                writeShort(cmap.code);
+            }
+
+            // now write the instance data
+            _streamer = cmap.streamer;
+            _streamer.writeObject(obj, this, true);
+
+        } finally {
+            _current = null;
+            _streamer = null;
+        }
+    }
+
+    public function writeBareObject (obj :*) :void
+        //throws IOError
+    {
+        try {
+            // get the streamer for objects of this type
+            _streamer = Streamer.getStreamer(ClassUtil.getClassName(obj));
+            _current = obj;
+
+            // now write the instance data
+            _streamer.writeObject(obj, this, true);
+
+        } finally {
+            // clear out our current object references
+            _current = null;
+            _streamer = null;
+        }
+    }
+
+    public function writeField (val :*) :void
+        //throws IOError
+    {
+        var b :Boolean = (val != null);
+        writeBoolean(b);
+        if (b) {
+            writeBareObject(val);
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Uses the default streamable mechanism to write the contents of the
+     * object currently being streamed. This can only be called from
+     * within a <code>writeObject</code> implementation in a {@link
+     * Streamable} object.
+     */
+    public function defaultWriteObject () :void
+        //throws IOError
+    {
+        // sanity check
+        if (_current == null) {
+            throw new Error("defaultWriteObject() called illegally.");
+        }
+
+        // write the instance data
+        _streamer.writeObject(_current, this, false)
+    }
+
+    public function writeBoolean (value :Boolean) :void
+        //throws IOError
+    {
+        _targ.writeBoolean(value);
+    }
+
+    public function writeByte (value :int) :void
+        //throws IOError
+    {
+        _targ.writeByte(value);
+    }
+
+    public function writeBytes (bytes :ByteArray, offset :uint=0,
+            length :uint = 0) :void
+        //throws IOError
+    {
+        _targ.writeBytes(bytes, offset, length);
+    }
+
+    public function writeDouble (value :Number) :void
+        //throws IOError
+    {
+        _targ.writeDouble(value);
+    }
+
+    public function writeFloat (value :Number) :void
+        //throws IOError
+    {
+        _targ.writeFloat(value);
+    }
+
+    public function writeInt (value :int) :void
+        //throws IOError
+    {
+        _targ.writeInt(value);
+    }
+
+    public function writeShort (value :int) :void
+        //throws IOError
+    {
+        _targ.writeInt(value);
+    }
+
+    public function writeUTF (value :String) :void
+        //throws IOError
+    {
+        _targ.writeUTF(value);
+    }
+
+    // these two are defined in IDataOutput, but have no java equivalent so
+    // we skip them.
+    //public function writeUnsignedInt (value :int) :void
+    //public function writeUTFBytes (value :int) :void
+
+    /**
+     * Used by a Streamer that is writing an array of Streamable instances.
+     */
+    protected function setCurrent (streamer :Streamer, current :*)
+    {
+        _streamer = streamer;
+        _current = current;
+    }
+
+    /** The target DataOutput that we route things to. */
+    protected var _targ :IDataOutput;
+    
+    /** A counter used to assign codes  to streamed classes. */
+    protected var _nextCode :int = 1;
+
+    /** The object currently being written out. */
+    protected var _current :*;
+
+    /** The streamer being used currently. */
+    protected var _streamer :Streamer;
+
+    /** A map of classname to ClassMapping inffaro. */
+    protected var _classMap :SimpleMap = new SimpleMap();
+}
+}
diff --git a/src/as/com/threerings/io/Streamable.as b/src/as/com/threerings/io/Streamable.as
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..351b6c84b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/as/com/threerings/io/Streamable.as
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+package com.threerings.io {
+
+public interface Streamable
+{
+    function writeObject (out :ObjectOutputStream) :void;
+        //throws IOError;
+
+    function readObject (ins :ObjectInputStream) :void;
+        //throws IOError; /** ClassCastException equivalent. */
+}
+}
diff --git a/src/as/com/threerings/io/Streamer.as b/src/as/com/threerings/io/Streamer.as
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ecaf58a33
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/as/com/threerings/io/Streamer.as
@@ -0,0 +1,97 @@
+package com.threerings.io {
+
+import com.threerings.util.SimpleMap;
+
+public class Streamer
+{
+    public static function getStreamer (className :String) :Streamer
+        //throws IOError
+    {
+        if (_streamerMap == null) {
+            createStreamers();
+        }
+
+        var streamer :Streamer = _streamerMap[className];
+        if (streamer == null) {
+            streamer = new Streamer(className);
+            _streamerMap[className] = streamer;
+        }
+
+        return streamer;
+    }
+
+    /** This should be a protected constructor. */
+    public function Streamer (targ :Class)
+        //throws IOError
+    {
+        _targ = targ;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Return the String to use to identify the class that we're streaming.
+     */
+    // TODO
+    public function getClassName () :String
+    {
+        return "TODO: javaname";
+    }
+
+    public function writeObject (obj :*, out :ObjectOutputStream,
+            useWriter :Boolean) :void
+        //throws IOError
+    {
+        // TODO: check use of isProtoTypeOf, it's unclear if it's
+        // going to do what we want
+        if (useWriter && obj.isPrototypeOf(Streamable)) {
+            obj.writeObject(out);
+            return;
+        }
+
+        // TODO: cope with arrays
+
+        // write out the fields... this is bogus because
+        // we just want to call the streamer method
+        obj.writeObject(out);
+    }
+
+    public function createObject (ins :ObjectInputStream) :*
+        //throws IOError
+    {
+        // actionscript is so fucked up
+        return new _targ();
+    }
+
+    public function readObject (obj :*, ins :ObjectInputStream,
+            useReader :Boolean) :void
+        //throws IOError
+    {
+        // TODO: check use of isProtoTypeOf, it's unclear if it's
+        // going to do what we want
+        if (useReader && obj.isPrototypeOf(Streamable)) {
+            obj.readObject(ins);
+            return;
+        }
+
+        // TODO: cope with arrays
+
+        // read in the fields... this is bogus because we just
+        // want to call the streamer method
+        obj.readObject(ins);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Creates our streamers table map and registers streamers for
+     * basic types.
+     */
+    protected static function createStreamers () :void
+    {
+        _streamerMap = new SimpleMap();
+
+        // TODO: fill in with the basic streamers
+    }
+
+    protected var _targ :Class;
+
+    protected static var _streamerMap :SimpleMap;
+}
+}
diff --git a/src/as/com/threerings/presents/dobj/DEvent.as b/src/as/com/threerings/presents/dobj/DEvent.as
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e5b10e304
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/as/com/threerings/presents/dobj/DEvent.as
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+package com.threerings.presents.dobj {
+
+public class DEvent extends Object
+{
+    public function DEvent ()
+    {
+    }
+
+    public function DEvent (int targetOid)
+    {
+        _toid = targetOid;
+    }
+
+    public function getTargetOid () :int
+    {
+        return _toid;
+    }
+
+    /** The oid of the object that is the target of this event. */
+    protected var _toid :int;
+}
+}
diff --git a/src/as/com/threerings/presents/dobj/DObject.as b/src/as/com/threerings/presents/dobj/DObject.as
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3df856b78
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/as/com/threerings/presents/dobj/DObject.as
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+package com.threerings.presents.dobj {
+
+import flash.events.EventDispatcher;
+
+public class DObject extends EventDispatcher
+{
+    public function getOid ():int
+    {
+        return _oid;
+    }
+
+    public function postEvent (DEvent event) :void
+    {
+
+    }
+
+    protected var _oid :int;
+}
+}
diff --git a/src/as/com/threerings/presents/net/Credentials.as b/src/as/com/threerings/presents/net/Credentials.as
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0b6964a73
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/as/com/threerings/presents/net/Credentials.as
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+package com.threerings.presents.net {
+
+import com.threerings.io.*;
+import com.threerings.util.Name;
+
+public class Credentials
+    implements Streamable
+{
+    public function Credentials (username :Name)
+    {
+        _username = username;
+    }
+
+    // documentation inherited from interface Streamable
+    public function writeObject (out :ObjectOutputStream) :void
+        throws IOError
+    {
+    }
+
+    // documentation inherited from interface Streamable
+    public function readObject (in :ObjectInputStream) :void
+        throws IOError
+    {
+    }
+
+    /** The username. */
+    protected var _username :Name;
+}
+}
diff --git a/src/as/com/threerings/util/ClassUtil.as b/src/as/com/threerings/util/ClassUtil.as
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..91077e191
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/as/com/threerings/util/ClassUtil.as
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+package com.threerings.util {
+
+import flash.util.*;
+
+public class ClassUtil extends Object
+{
+    public static function getClassName (obj :*) :String
+    {
+        return getQualifiedClassName(obj).replace("::", ".");
+    }
+}
+}
diff --git a/src/as/com/threerings/util/Name.as b/src/as/com/threerings/util/Name.as
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c74f1cce3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/as/com/threerings/util/Name.as
@@ -0,0 +1,101 @@
+package com.threerings.util {
+
+import com.threerings.io.ObjectInputStream;
+import com.threerings.io.ObjectOutputStream;
+import com.threerings.io.Streamable;
+
+public class Name extends Object
+    implements Streamable
+{
+    public function Name (name :String = "")
+    {
+        _name = name;
+    }
+
+    public function getNormal () :String
+    {
+        if (_normal == null) {
+            _normal = normalize(_name);
+        }
+        return _normal;
+    }
+
+    public function isValid () :Boolean
+    {
+        return !isBlank();
+    }
+
+    public function isBlank () :Boolean
+    {
+        return Name.isBlank(this);
+    }
+
+    public /*override*/ function toString () :String
+    {
+        return _name;
+    }
+
+    // TODO: needed? I'd think so. Maybe we need to create OOObject
+    // that all our classes can extend that define a reasonable
+    // equals().
+    public function equals (other :Name) :Boolean
+    {
+        return getNormal() === other.getNormal();
+    }
+
+    // TODO: comparable?
+
+    // documentation inherited from interface Streamable
+    public function writeObject (out :ObjectOutputStream) :void
+        //throws IOError
+    {
+        /*
+        // TODO: oh shit, this is wrong. We need to write a boolean out
+        // indicating whether the object that follows is null or not
+        out.writeBareObject(_name);
+        */
+
+        out.writeField(_name);
+
+        // we need a way of doing the following automatically:
+        /*
+        var b :Boolean = (_name != null);
+        out.writeBoolean(b);
+        if (b) {
+            out.writeUTF(_name);
+        }
+        */
+
+
+    }
+
+    // documentation inherited from interface Streamable
+    public function readObject (ins :ObjectInputStream) :void
+        //throws IOError
+    {
+        // TODO: oh shit, this is wrong
+        _name = ins.readField(String);
+
+        /*
+        var b :Boolean = in.readBoolean();
+        _name = b ? in.readUTF() : null;
+        */
+    }
+
+    protected function normalize (txt :String) :String
+    {
+        return txt.toLowerCase();
+    }
+
+    public static function isBlank (name :Name) :Boolean
+    {
+        return (name == null || "" === name.toString());
+    }
+
+    /** The raw name text. */
+    protected var _name :String;
+
+    /** The normalized name text. */
+    protected var _normal :String;
+}
+}
diff --git a/src/as/com/threerings/util/SimpleMap.as b/src/as/com/threerings/util/SimpleMap.as
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..8ee795d5e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/as/com/threerings/util/SimpleMap.as
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+package com.threerings.util {
+
+/**
+ * Marker class that allows us to use ActionScript's built-in hashing
+ * function without hassle.
+ */
+public dynamic class SimpleMap extends Object
+{
+    // nada
+}
+}