Phreakers
Way back, and I mean way, way back Juves, there were these people who called themselves Phreakers. Without them, there probably wouldn't be any hackers, the precursor to current day 'runners. A lot of you don't understand what the phone system was like in the day, don't know about Alexander Graham Bell or Captain Crunch.
Here's a short history lesson for you interested Juves.
One day this gato opened up a box of Captain Crunch, an old time cereal that tasted like sweetened kibble, and took out a little toy whistle. He blew the whistle and noticed, because of his perfect pitch and perfect ear, that this was the same as the 2600khz frequency that completes a call after payment. I remember when I once heard that he ended up making a fourth of the calls that came out of San Francisco. I doubt it.
It was probably more like a third.
But the Captain got famous fast, he was on the cover of magazines. Like the newest, hottest weapon on Solo of Fortune. This isn't good for someone who's a criminal--didn't you know? Back then it was illegal to phreak the phone system, especially since it usually involved vandalism. What with the cell network being nonexistent. Do I anticipate gasps coming my way? Why, yes, I do. That's right, this was before the 'net, before the cell, before Virtuality.
The judicial system, but not the corps, although Ma Bell, a phone system MegaCorp, did have a big hand in it since he lead a small revolution to slag 'em all out. The jail system back then wasn't as bad as it is now, but it was much worse than the juvenile detention system is now. There was no braindance to shorten your sentence: so you got fines, beatings, and probably ended up raped by Big Bubba down the cellblock.
Captain Crunch ended up joining Apple, a hot new company trying to sell 'computers.' Again, little like what you now have. Then there was Joe the Whistler, blind since the day he was born, who could whistle the 2600khz sound perfectly. Other phreakers used to call him to tune their boxes--which we'll get to later.
But, anyway, that was about 1970 when the first computers were starting to come out and the ESS just started showing up. ESS stands for 'Electronic Switch System'; basically like a program that allows instant number identification, call location, and can connect you to anywhere. It was a big hassle to phreakers, but there are ways around it. Anyways, as time went on Ma Bell was broken up, and has since been absorbed into parts of the government and left to rot in other places. Become public domain in others, unnoticed and forgotten. Like in most parts of Night City, actually.
Since you've got the rushed history lessons, which most of you aren't interested in, here's the lowdown on what phreakers do, exactly, and why it's so useful to do those things now -
1) Phreakers "hack" the old-style, and sometimes newer, phone systems and switchers. This can cause feedback through-out the whole system, get you free calls, put bugs on a phone line, knock an operator off a system, using loop lines, creating party lines, crash a system's tones, and amplifying the sound on a phone.
2) To do this, phreakers use a variety of 'boxes', any sort of device that can be used to take advantage of the phone system. The kind I'll be talking about for Juve use in the revolution would be Blue, Scarlet, Silver, Black, BLAST, Cheese, and Lunch boxes. Most of these boxes are named for either the color casing (box) they were initially built in, however the BLAST Box was named thus for its use, and the Cheese and Lunch boxes were named so because they were the first boxes the devices were ever found in.
3) Phreakers in 2027 have it at once easier and harder than they used to. Because, for the most part, phone lines are unwatched and yet still switched through, it is a federal crime to be caught using any sort of box. Not to mention that it raises ire, as Ma Bell was the first MegaCorp to ever be broken up for being a monopoly. Oh, you didn't know that ever happened? That's what happens when you don't pay attention to your elders.
BOX SYSTEMS -
Blue: Karl Marx once said that blue boxing was the most noble form of phreaking. As the Blue box uses actual interaction the Bell toll system, it is advisable to exercise CAUTION in case you're caught. Basically, Blue boxes keep you from paying for your calls, and also allow you to triangulate someone's location because of the cell system by creating a small feedback in the system that any competent V-Punk could track if she knew what she was looking for.
Scarlet: This box, really just a few wires and a pair of alligator clips, has to be used within the phone system of a household or business to really work. And if you can pull it off, within a Night City or corresponding system to really screw it up. If you apply this to a phone system (be it phone or switcher) properly, you'll destroy their tone system, rendering the whole thing unusable until they find and fix the problem, which seems nothing more than a ghost in the system.
Silver: Cell phones and old-style touch-tone phones are both upgradeable with the Silver box. This device allows you to add a few more functions to the phone, such as automatic number identification from where you're entering it, and four new tones labeled A, B, C, and D. No one really knows what A, B, and C do. But if you press down D you can close a party line and, if you're lucky, piss off an operator real good.
Black: At any given time, the voltage running through your phone is about 20 Volts. When someone calls you, this voltage goes up to 48 Volts and rings the bell. When you answer, the voltage goes down to about 10 Volts. The phone company pays attention to this. When the voltage drops to 10, they start billing the person who called you. However, when you use the Black box the voltage stays at around 36, the phone company is then fooled into thinking you never picked up so there's no bill. This also allows for being able to call without leaving tracks.
BLAST: Is your ex- still calling at odd times of night and doesn't get the message? Does your deaf old grandma never hear you? Do you want to pop someone's ear dreams? Install this box. Basically, it's a cheap five watt amplifier that can blow out someone else's phone when yelled into, and probably shatter someone's inner ear.
Cheese: This box allows you to make calls as if from a pay phone with random number generation.
Lunch: This is a very simple transmitter that can be held in any cell phone. It's much cheaper than most transmitters on the marker and if activated by another cell phone can be triangulated.
Most of these boxes are tied into the back or underside of a cell phone or touch tone, however some of them can plays tones into the phone itself for an affect, such as the Blue and Cheese boxes. The following diagrams have been attached...
Well kiddie's, that's the end of the Pygalgic Man's little lesson for the day.
