Basement Transactions

by Bryan Linn Schuler

So, you want to be a Shadowrunner neh? Alright, pop quiz, first question, how do you go about getting in touch with your armorer?

Wrong answer if you said "I call him up on my trid." chummer. That's what I'm here for. Let me introduce myself, my name is Frobozz, and I've been doing this biz longer than I care to remember. I'm going to tell you how to get in touch with people and not get monitored. I'll tell you how to get the things you need to complete your runs. And lastly, I'll explain to you how you can watch your back when doing shady dealings.

Part One - Contact

Sad but true, big brother is here to stay. Depending on whichever megacorp owns your phone lines, or the pizza shop down the street with the strategically placed broadband radio receiver on the roof, people are watching you, listening into your most intimate conversations. In this day and age, there is one maxim and that is information is power. This section is how to carry on conversations and remain anonymous and unmonitored.

While nobody will suspect you calling up the local Chinese joint and ordering take-out, things can get interesting when you call your shadow mechanic and ask him to mount a chaingun under the hood. Phone lines have been around for a hundred years. During that time, they have changed quite a bit. Originally, they were copper cables and mechanical switching systems. Around the end of the 20th century, an amazing device was introduced to the consumer that changed phone history forever, the modem. Computer communications changed phone systems almost overnight. Electronic switches quickly replaced the older mechanical ones, and copper was replaced with fiber optic to handle the increasingly higher transmission speeds. Up until 2015, this fiber-optic net provided incredibly clear audio, high-speed electronic transmission speeds and even some basic video. This all suddenly changed again though when another hot product suddenly slammed the market, trideo. The consumer demand for trideo teleconferencing forced a phenomenal load on the phone systems of the time. Suddenly, it was apparent that more powerful equipment was needed. And, in 2017, Fuchi Industries introduced the F-9 Fiber Trunk System. This system included a wide fiberoptic cable to handle over fifty times the current system load, state of the art router electronics and a powerful, decentralized computer system that could handle billions of complex electronic exchanges per second. Today, the F-9 standard is still being used. Unless something else really interesting in the telecommunications industry comes up, F-9 has enough power to provide the planet with crystal clear, fast trideo and data communications for the next hundred years. The principles of the phone system have never changed though. When you enter in a person's phone code, you are entering in an electronic address. The phone company's computer then scans the address, splits it up into it's various components, contacts various other computers in the network, and figures out the route your transmission is going to take. This all takes place from the time you click "enter" to the time the message "ringing remote party" flashes on your screen. Once your chummer on the other end picks up, a loop is made and data channels are opened. These channels may include video, audio, fax, mail, ECT (Electronic Credit Transfer), various datalines and so forth. When you open a connection, only the data channels that are actively being used are open. Thus, if your trid has fax capability, and all you are doing is talking with video active, you are only using 2 channels on the phone system. Now when you put a sheet of paper in your fax and click "Transfer", a third channel is opened up between you and your party, the information is transmitted, and the channel is then closed.

Now that you are all experts in phone system, here are a few bits of equipment, some new, some old that will make contacting your shadow chummers a little more secure.

Translator Box

This innocent little box that hooks in between your trid and the wall, will, when activated, effectively encrypt all outgoing channels and decrypt all incoming ones. The box uses a scrambler key that is known to both parties ahead of time. This is an effective device for short conversations since even the low powered models will buy you some time before your encryption key and algorithm are discovered. Note that this will also work on portable phones, and there are even encryption circuits made small enough to fit into the wrist models.

>>>>>[This little bugger's real useful most of the time, but if you're under active surveillance then those fraggers will KNOW you're up to something and probably bash in your door right then and there.]<<<<<

-Quicksand (01:46:18/9-27-57)

>>>>>[A good use for a Translator Box is to make a chip recording of your message, run it through the Box and onto another chip, and then put the chip and a cheap phone someplace with a timer.]<<<<<

-Manic Compression (02:10:03/9-27-57)

Game Data

The Data Encryption System in SRII p.243 can be considered older technology being the size of a briefcase. The newer models are generally the side of a modern day VHS tape.

Passcard Circuit

This is a small modification you can do to any existing phone. This small bit of electronics will filter out your phone's identity number from your transmission and insert a pre-programmed fake. Now you may be thinking, "Uhh, why not just remove it altogether?" The answer is simply the telecom system will not accept your call and will flash you back a "Faulty Equipment, please have your equipment serviced" message in a microsecond. Nicer versions of this circuit have a link to your phone's keypad so you can change the fake ID anytime you want, but most just have a preprogrammed number that require a new circuit ROM to change.

>>>>>[Again, chummer, if you're under active, they'll be on you.]<<<<<

-Quicksand (01:50:17/9-27-57)

TRAC System Modification

There exist in all portable phones, a small feedback algorithm that is used to trace the location of the unit when it is in use. This simple routine called TRAC (Threshold Range Algorithm Code) transmits a "signal quality check" to all surrounding remote receivers, and by judging signal clarity, can compute distances to each one. This in effect is used to triangulate your position and can be as accurate to 100 square meters. Thus, many of us in the shadow community either have this "feature" removed or more likely (for fun or to look less suspicious) has the circuit modified to transmit a set of false location readings. Some examples of modifications I've seen are having a wrist phone report that it was always being used from a public latrine in the dirtiest section of Tacoma, one which reported it was 400 meters offshore, and mine, which I've had modified to displace my position approximately 500 meters in a random direction from my true position (close enough to see the helicopters and hear the sirens but far enough to not be noticed).

Game Data

There is no way to locate a portable phone with this modification using TRAC. since it will not be able to compute signal strength anymore.

Sidebander Box

This is an advanced version of the standard "Translator Box". The most notable difference is how it manipulates channels. The "Sidebander Box" will take over the audio and video channels of your connection, and will play pre-recorded data over them. Meanwhile, it opens up two more channels (usually disguised as mail and FAX) and sends encrypted audio and video over them. The results are impressive. On your screen, you could be talking to your fixer, and anybody listening would see a pre-recorded play of you and your Auntie Bertha. A low level scan of the dataline will detect the encrypted channels, but most listeners won't bother checking if they are already monitoring the primary channels.

Just remember to change your recordings often. The best types of recordings are usually long, electronic conversations with a public BBS, since you aren't limited by conversation time.

Game Data

Those attempting to view the call must make an Intelligence test vs. the unit's rating +4 or be convinced that the false signal is real.

Pong Box

This is a device for re-routing your signal to prevent tracing. Remember, even if you have a passcard circuit installed on your phone, you can still be traced by brute force means.

Depending on the level of the unit, your "across town call" could appear as if it was coming from the next city or across the world. The way it works, is during the connection loop, the box transmits fake router instructions to the telecom's computer. The end result is a nice wide loop bounced off of a thousand different routers. Pong boxes usually also includes encryption which can be activated at any time.

Tracking Unit

Those attempting to trace someone using a pong box must have available to them either a special tracking unit or a modified cyberdeck. These units can backtrack a call and must be connected via a tap (see below). Cyberdeck units include system software and can be installed on almost any cyberdeck.

Satpong Box

If somebody is trying to trace you, then this will frag them over pretty nicely. This is an advanced version of the pong box that works on the same principle, but takes a more airborne route. The box will instruct the telecom's computers to bounce your signal off of several satellites. Since these types of transmissions are difficult to trace, anybody attempting to do so will be trudging from one satcomm relay to the next for hours trying to figure out where the call is originating from. This device can buy you about an hour's worth of communication at a fairly decent level, but they can also slow down system time dramatically. Conversation will generally be unaffected, but data transfer and video will usually be slower than usual.

Game Data

Rating of one of these units counts as double that of an appropriate Pong box. Data transmissions take Rating times as long to complete. See rules on satellite transmissions in FASA's Virtual Realities 2.0.

Fiber Optic Tap

Most people have argued that fiber-optics are impossible to tap. This has been a fallacy since the twentieth century when they first came out. It is impossible to make a tap in a fiberoptic line without cutting it and disturbing the data. But, one can easily cut the line and terminate each end into this little box. The device takes any data passing through it and sends it through an output line. The listener then connects this output line to a computer and uses software to select the active data channels to monitor.

There are several problems with this box in that first, since fiber optic communications are transmitted with such high-powered micro-lasers, this box usually needs to be plugged into an external power source. Second, it takes time to install and remove. To install it means breaking the fiberoptic line and re-terminating it into the box. To remove it means to unplug the tap and re-plug the wires into a fiberoptic passthrough. Both require time and skill to do. Third and most importantly, breaks in the phone company's lines are usually immediately detected. Depending on how much nuyen your target is paying the phone company to watch his lines, an investigation team (usually accompanied by law enforcement) will usually arrive on the scene in a few minutes. One way around this is to plant the tap in a line as close to the target's phone as possible, so that the least amount of data is interrupted (and if nobody's using their phones or trids, you're pretty safe.) Lastly, of course, unless you replace the entire length of fiberoptic cable you cut, it will be obvious that something occurred at the site of the tap.

These taps can be very versatile and usually have many optional extras. Some of these features include battery power (although I've never found one to last longer than 2 days, and when the battery goes dead, your target's line goes dead) radio transmitters to send the transmissions to a remote receiver, and of course, encryption.

>>>>>[These things are usually tricky to attach. Most fiber datalines, even the ones installed in small corp's telecom system, can have a loop-back to determine if one of the phones has been disconnected. And it don't matter if the fraggin telecom is turned off either, I know some have some sort of battery-backup to keep the security net running.]<<<<<

-Big Schwartz (01:35:51/9-27-57)

>>>>>[A few chummers I know posed as a corp maintenance crew and had some forged documents that outlined them as datacomm technicians. They walked right up to the secretary of the department they wanted to bug, and explained to them that they were there to fix the phone troubles. Now naturally, there are always phone problems no matter how small, and they convinced her enough to show them where the phone closet was. Installed a few taps, tightened a few loose connections to make it look like they did something and left. Easy as pie.]<<<<<

-Kage (02:41:01/9-27-57)

>>>>>[Thank the powers that be that most corps are too large to notice little things like that. Sounds like smooth work.]<<<<<

-Guethrue (02:58:32/9-27-57)

>>>>>[Sounds more like luck to me.]<<<<<

-Spot the Ninja (04:44:06/9-27-57)

>>>>>[Say, call it a rumor, but I heard somewhere that some corps or something found a way to actually tap fiber optic without cutting it. Something about detecting the magnetic shifts and energy fields given off by the line and backward interpreting it to data. Anybody know anything about this?]<<<<<

-Guethrue (11:21:13/9-28-57)

>>>>>[Tapping fiber optic without cutting it? Hahaha! How much nuyen did you pay for that drek? Fiber optic is light, you can't tap it without breaking the line.]<<<<<

-G Money (17:38:57/9-28-57)

>>>>>[I've heard of it chummer, and quite frankly, it scares me.]<<<<<

-Frobozz (19:22:16/9-28-57)

Game Data

This is very similar to the Dataline Tap in SRII, p.243, but is used on fiber-optic lines which cannot be spliced.

Tap Detector

This small black box sends a pulse through a telecom line and measures its return resonance. This is done in an attempt to locate taps on your line, either active or inactive by the loss in signal strength. These units are not as secure as they're made out to be though chummer, don't fully trust them since most really high tech taps will BOOST the returning test pulse to compensate for it's added line resistance.

>>>>>[He's right about that one chummers. I used to have a scanner hooked up to my trid for years. Saved my rear about a half a dozen times. Then one month, it seems I have this guy trying to hunt me down. Real pro too, I could never seem to get close enough to take him out, and he always seemed to know my every move. After weeks of dodging sniper bullets and defusing bombs, I finally nailed the guy. Still a little paranoid as to how he always knew where I was going, I spent a week interrogating my contacts and inspecting my communications equipment. What I found was probably the wizzest little tap I've ever seen. Has a computer control module which dynamically compensates for it's own resistance. Scary world chummers.]<<<<<

-Kage (03:10:22/9-27-57)

Game Data

Slightly more advanced than the Dataline Scanner in SRII, p.243.

Equipment game stats

Part Two - Location

Now that you can call your contacts without getting traced or discovered, how do you actually receive your junk? Data and information are easily handled over the phone network, but trying to smuggle a heavy machinegun is another matter; especially if you suspect somebody is watching you.

Where you conduct your biz is one of the most crucial parts of any transaction. You want to look for a location public enough not to cause suspicion as to why you're there, and private enough that there won't be anyone around watching. If you're fairly sure nobody is onto you, an alleyway or any unpatrolled sprawl is more than decent to conduct a transaction. But if you're not so sure, clever methods must be used. Below is a list of some locations, ranging from poor to excellent.

• A private house. This is a poor choice to conduct a transaction. If either you or your contact are being monitored or under suspicion, this location will often be bug-ridden and will have a surveillance vehicle parked just down the street watching. It's not good for either you or your contact to have a Lone Star crackdown team break down the door.

>>>>>[I learned that in about two weeks of becoming a runner.]<<<<<

-Pheonix (01:02:19/9-27-57)

• A dance club. This is a good location to exchange information as loud music will make most listening devices ineffective. It is also a good location to exchange small packages out on a crowded dance floor or in the bathrooms. Major problems include a large number of people who may observe what is going down. Usually though, there are few who actually care enough to tell someone.
• A bar. The "classic" exchange location as depicted in trids and sims about shady dealings. A bar makes a decent location for biz. While you are far less suspicious for bringing in a briefcase or a large shopping bag than you would be at a dance club, the same "large number of people" problem and the (usual) lack of loud music makes listening devices a possibility. I've picked up shopping bags full of SMG's and briefcases loaded with military ammo at several bar transactions.
• A restaurant. Like the bar as described above but more secure. The more expensive the restaurant, the more privacy received. This is an excellent location for information exchange or meeting with Johnsons.
• A Stuffer Shack™. Also like the bar, but the large open windows usually incorporated in their design make them less secure. I had one joker pay the boy behind the counter to slip a datachip I needed into one of my burgers. I damn nearly swallowed it.
• At the mall. This is an excellent location to conduct a transaction. It's open enough to rule out listening devices, and one can almost always find a suitable location to conduct business. Most people at the mall are on the move and would never suspect a hand-off. I've had toy-boxes concealing assault rifles, and shopping bags filled with grenades handed off to me here. Christmas season is great.

At the car-wash. If you can make friends with someone at one of these locations, you can haul some pretty major equipment. A car-wash is an excellent exchange location. Your chummer A drives into the car-wash, and half-way through, chummer B shuts it down and unloads the equipment into some back room (usually a maintenance closet). Then, you come driving up, pay chummer B for his assistance and a "winter protection wash," drive through. Chummer B shuts it down, loads the equipment into your vehicle, and you're on your way. Very large equipment like drones and heavy weaponry can be exchanged this way.

>>>>>[I once had to wait for three weeks to pick up a certain large package, because my chummer was half an hour later making the delivery and the local cops decided to get all their cruisers washed daily for a while to work off some government grant.]<<<<<

-Big Schwartz (02:00:57/9-27-57)

>>>>>[Sounds like they might've been on to you.]<<<<<

-Chester (05:18:43/9-27-57)

>>>>>[We were. Local cops can be real damn easy to bribe.]<<<<<

-Datalife (12:54:18/9-28-57)

• At a warehouse. You can exchange some pretty large items here, but if you are being followed, this can get real suspicious real fast. Avoid it if you can.
• At trade shows, conventions. These also provide excellent locations to pick-up equipment. Who would suspect the large white box you carry out is not your Spiderman collection but actually filled with security armor, or that "ham radio" you bought has a few optional extras hidden inside.
• On the docks. Not too good. Docks may seem like a good place to conduct biz, but with the number of crates to ambush from and the number of gantry cranes to snipe from, this location stinks like week old soy.

Part Three - Transaction.

There are two simple transactions, passoffs and meetings. Passoffs are usually, small, quick exchanges such a passing off a pre-paid clip of ADPS at a nightclub or a new Remington pistol at the mall. Passoffs have little risk, and payment and discussion is usually handled in advance. Sometimes though, you will need to haggle prices or exchange information face to face. This is when a meeting takes place. With any meeting, there's always the possibility of either unexpected visitors or even a double-cross. Somebody may have it in for either you or the contact that you're dealing with. Your contact may not be as trustworthy as you may have thought. There are several ways to avoid unwanted visitors crashing your party. Here are a few guidelines on how to set up and conduct a shadow exchange.

1. Select the proper meeting place depending on the transaction. Review the above chapter. It is customary for the person who chooses the meeting place to show up first. Try not to make this mistake. Always try to get your contact to make the decision for you. Make suggestions about it. If you feel their location is inappropriate, tell them and suggest another. Only offer suggestions. If your contact is stuck up on a meeting place, beware. Any good contact will be as flexible with this as possible. Remember, they need your services and you need theirs. If they are so hard set on a meeting place they will not listen to your suggestions, drop the deal, it's most likely a trap. If you do get stuck with making the choice of meeting places, don't sweat it, you have the advantage of knowing the turf. Make sure your location has several back doors, the less obvious the better. Any location where you can quickly get to a populated area is a bonus. Always set up meetings as quickly as possible. This prevents others from having the time to set up an ambush or to plant bugs. Know what you have to do before the meeting and how long it will take.

2. Visit the location ahead of time and sweep it for bugs, strange items, etc. Be observant and suspicious. I have found bugs in wall sockets, light fixtures, centerpieces, and even in garbage laying on the ground. If the location is isolated, make sure nobody else had been there recently. Look for footprints, disturbed spiderwebs, cigarette butts and other signs that your location has been disturbed or is being used by others.

3. Before the meeting, secretly watch the location. Look for suspicious cars parked within viewing range. Take a walk around the block, look for police activity. I avoided one nasty encounter because the Lone Star Crackdown team was around the corner at the local Nuke-it Burger. Make sure nobody unexpected enters the meeting place before you or your contact do. When your contact shows up, make sure they have the right number of guards with them and they aren't being followed. Being "fashionably" late for a meeting (about 5 to 10 minutes) is expected of you if you didn't choose the location. Only the foolhardy are on time or don't take advantage of this time to make one last perimeter sweep. It's always good to have a chummer outside to watch for strange activity.

>>>>>[I guess I've been foolhardy all these years. And to imagine I thought being on time meant being professional...and that you did your final sweeps five minutes "early"...]<<<<<

-the Dark Stranger (11:10:23/9-28-57)

>>>>>[Oooh! Sarcasm! Biting wit aside, they're both right. Depending on your rep, being even a few minutes late to a meet can make the other principles very nervous. On the other hand, if I was on time, now that would make people nervous...]<<<<<

-Slugmonster (11:23:51/9-28-57)

>>>>>[Which brings up a quick point: if you suspect a set-up, do the opposite of what it expected of you. Obvious, but too many runners are creatures of habit.]<<<<<

-Xeno (11:29:03/9-28-57)

4. During the meet, make sure there is ample security to fit the exchange. You and your contact should bring a pre-arranged number of hired guards to secure the transaction. Make sure the security fits what is being exchanged. If something like a new Predator II and two clips of regular ammo are being passed off, a single guard for each of you should be fine. But, if a Panther assault cannon and a case of white phosphorus grenades are being exchanged, make sure you have several guards. The riskier the medium, the heavier the defenses. If you notice your contact has heavier security than needed, be suspicious of a setup.

5. During the meet, sweep the area for bugs before any transactions take place. This is a quick security measure that takes only a minute, but can save your hide. Always have on you a good radio jammer and a white noise generator. These devices are small enough to fit in your jacket pockets and are worth the price you pay for them many times over.

6. When dealing with your contact, watch for body language. If you notice your contact make a strange gesture, glance around quickly at the guards and make sure they are not taking bead on the back of your head.

7. Keep it short. Five minutes is plenty of time to discuss trade, bargaining, and to make the purchase. Make sure your contact is not trying to stall you.

8. After the meeting, watch your back. Make sure you're not being followed. Before you arrive at your final destination, stop somewhere remote and bug sweep your car.

Conclusions

Most of what is presented in this article may seem excessive. Most of it are just guidelines on the worst case scenario and to open your mind on being slightly more perceptive than you normally are. Most of the transactions you'll do are simple passoffs or are done with people whom you trust. But when the time comes when the drek hits the fan, my final advice to you is to be prepared.