1. A computer-executable method for assembling a reconstructable content stream and delivering the reconstructable content stream over a network, comprising: obtaining, by a computer, a content collection that includes a plurality of content components; generating a manifest for the content collection, wherein a respective entry in the manifest corresponds to a content component; obtaining a set of stream-construction rules; generating a stream-construction manifest by attaching the set of stream-construction rules to the manifest; constructing a set of stream objects for the content collection based on the set of stream-construction rules, wherein a respective stream object may include an embedded chunk of a content component; cryptographically signing the set of stream objects; and assembling the reconstructable content stream by including the stream-construction manifest followed by the set of stream objects, thereby enabling an intermediate node in the network to extract and store embedded chunks of one or more content components and to reconstruct, at a later time, stream objects for the one or more content components based on the stream-construction manifest and the stored embedded chunks.