Mouse by N. Scott Stedman

Author:N. Scott Stedman [Stedman, N. Scott]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: River Grove Books

“PHREAK! It was right in front of us the entire time,” Ada said. She grimaced. “I can’t believe it; if anyone should have noticed. It should have been me.”

“Phone phreakers were the original hackers,” Mouse continued, ignorning her. “Instead of code, they used sounds to hack into pay-phones. They figured out the exact tone assigned to each number on a telephone, which phone companies used to connect calls to the right place. Then they used whistles that imitated the tones telephones make when you dial in to place a free long-distance call. You just need a thing called a ‘beige box,’ which creates the perfect tone to take control of a phone line. Since we don’t have one, I’m trying to build it, but I can’t get this stupid thing right without a phone cord, and, sorry, they’re a little beyond landlines at Rickum.”

Ada nodded with a knowing smile. “Trust me. I don’t need a lecture on the history of phone phreaking.”

Mouse hardly noticed and shook her head. “If I only knew a little more about how to create the perfect pitch. Instead, I’ve got to build a beige box, but don’t have the right tools.”

“You don’t need a phone cord.” Ada shook her head. “All you—”

Mouse interrupted. “Sorry, Ada, I don’t have time. Just go find a cord and I’ll figure out the rest.” Mouse shot back into her hovel and ignited a small welding torch she’d taken from the Fab Lab.

A moment later, when Mouse realized she hadn’t heard the door close, she turned off her torch and peaked back out at Ada, who was still standing next to her bed with a look of irritation.

Mouse paused. “Okay. I’m missing something. Aren’t I?”

“You sure are,” Ada replied. “As I was saying, you don’t need a phone cord. What you really need is a kid who watched the movie War Games and then bugged her mom’s friends to teach her how to phone phreak.” Ada giggled. “The kid would just need a Cap’n Crunch whistle, which is actually what real phreakers used to hack into public phone systems, not some beige box.”

Mouse gave Ada a baffled look. “Where are we going to find this mysterious person with her cereal whistle, and why would she help us?”

Ada rolled her eyes. “Wow, you really do miss the point. Obviously, I’m talking about me!”

Mouse’s jaw dropped. “Seriously. Miss Perfect was a phreaker?”

Ada nodded with pride. “I did get into Rickum, Mouse. You’re not the only one with secret talents. Remember this is a school for kids obsessed with coding. Phreaking was one of the earliest ways to hack into big public systems.”

“I guess … but I still don’t fully get the clue,” moaned Mouse. “We’re at the most advanced tech school in the world. Phreakers hack old-fashioned telephones. Who has a landline anymore? Even the Rickum internal phone system is all VoIP-based.”

Ada smiled. “Ms. Farnaby has one! On the wall at the back of her office is an old payphone that they must have installed a thousand years ago.

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