SugarCube

This box is covered in matte green paper and is about the size of the paper magazines you learned about in your [[Pre-Disaster]] U.S. History class. It's a few inches thick, so just about anything could be in there.\n\nYou hold the box up to your ear and give it a light shake. There's a light rustling as something soft inside slides back and forth inside. <<insertlink "Clothing?">>\n\nYou look at the matte wrapping paper and suddenly it hits you: this is a set of Nike ActiveWeev Body Mesh, must-have gear for any street-level runner. It's thin, lightweight, and capable of stopping any ballistic projectile smaller than an RPG. You've seen holos and this paper absorbs the light in //exactly// the same way.\n\nYou can't believe it!\n\n<span id="openred"><<click "Just one peek...">><<replace "#openred">><<timedinsert 2s>>\s\nYou can't believe it.\n\n<<timedinsert 2s>>It's pajamas.\n\n<<timedinsert 2s>>Plaid pajamas.\n\n<<timedinsert 2s>>Actually, you think you got the same pair //last// Christmas.\n\n[[This is the worst.|Presents]]<<endtimedinsert>><<endtimedinsert>>\n<<endtimedinsert>><<endtimedinsert>><<endreplace>><</click>></span><<endinsertlink>>

Most valuable data is protected from hackers by ICE, or Intrusion Countermeasure Electronics. There are several kinds of ICE:\n\n* Black ICE fights aggressively and attempts to harm the hacker's rig or brain. Appears spiky and dangerous.\n* Gray ICE fights defensively and repels the hacker using non-lethal methods. Calm on the surface, but dangerous underneath. \n* White ICE attempts to disguise itself as Black ICE in order to trick the compromised system into accepting it as "legitimate." The more vanilla the ICE, the faster it can adapt.\n\n<<back>>

The skinny red box is quite long and narrow. It's about the size of a baseball bat, but not even //your// parents are that clueless.\n\nYou pick up the box to get a closer look. Woah! <<insertlink "It's really heavy!">>\n\nCould it be a JAKKS Pacific "Golden" DataSpike? Those suckers are known for their sub-20 femtosecond response time and 80% "first strike" penetration rate.\n\n<span id="openred"><<click "Peel back the paper...">><<replace "#openred">><<timedinsert 1.5s>>\s\nIt's a telescope.\n\n<<timedinsert 2s>>Not even a good telescope, from the look of it.\n\nYou don't think that "Uncle Moony" is known for his precision optics, and his mustachioed cartoon face doesn't inspire much confidence.\n\n[[How disappointing.|Presents]]<<endtimedinsert>>\n<<endtimedinsert>><<endreplace>><</click>></span><<endinsertlink>>

Beneath the tree are three presents tagged with your name: <<if visited("RedBox")>>a mediocre telescope<<else>>[[a skinny red box|RedBox]]<</if>>, <<if visited("GreenBox")>>redundant pajamas<<else>>[[a rectangular green box|GreenBox]]<</if>>, and <<if visited("BlueBox")>>a TI-83. Really<<else>>[[a tiny blue box|BlueBox]]<</if>>.\n\n<<if visited("RedBox")>>\s\n<<if visited("GreenBox")>>\s\n<<if visited("BlueBox")>>\s\nYou're still reeling from how terrible your presents are.\n\nBut it's your own fault. You were complacent. You should never have trusted your parents to understand you.\n\nFortunately, it's not too late. There's still one way to get what you want--no, what you deserve. You know <<insertlink "what you need to do.">>.\n\nYou need to \s\n<<timedinsert 0.7s>>''HACK'' \s\n<<timedinsert 0.4s>>''THIS'' \s\n<<timedinsert 0.4s>>''MUTHA'' \s\n<<timedinsert 0.4s>>''TO'' \s\n<<timedinsert 0.4s>>''THE'' \s\n<<timedinsert 0.4s>>''GROUND.''\n\n<<timedinsert 0.6s>>[[HACK THIS MUTHA TO THE GROUND.|Hack]]\n<<endtimedinsert>><<endtimedinsert>><<endtimedinsert>><<endtimedinsert>><<endtimedinsert>><<endtimedinsert>><<endtimedinsert>><<endinsertlink>>\n<</if>>\n<</if>>\n<</if>>

Neo-Duluth, 2064.\n\nIt's 3:00 AM but you're not asleep, not tonight. There's too much at stake. You've taken off your [[eyePhones]], but your [[SmartWall]] still pulses with a dim blue glow, almost as if it shares your restlessness.\n\nYou know you should catch some shut-eye but you can't stop thinking about tomorrow. If your intel is right it //should// be the biggest score of your life. Just thinking about it has you salivating: A brand new [[RIG]]. The latest in [[ICE-breaking]] technology. And enough [[Bitcoins]] to make even [[AIan Greenspan]] jealous.\n\nYou've been setting up the dominos for months. The PsyOps campaign has been brutal and relentless. Your personal relationships have been strained to the breaking point. But you'll be reaping the rewards of all your hard work in just a <<insertlink "few short hours.">>\n\n<<timedinsert 0.25s>>After all... <<endtimedinsert>><<timedinsert 1.75s>>it's [[Christmas|GoDownstairs]].<<endtimedinsert>><<endinsertlink>>

A plain white business card. No name or number. Just three words:\n\n@@font-size:120%;KEEP IN TOUCH@@\n\n[[Activate the card.|Activate Card]]

Everything in its right place.\n\nTime to get to work.\n\n[[Let's do this.|Hacking01]]

Monsanto, again. Some fools just shouldn't be splicing.\n\n<<back>>

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You can't believe it. A whole year before you can get in touch?\n\nBut then you remember that this time next year, you'll be thirteen. Practically an adult, and ready to run with the real hacker crews.\n\nThis Christmas is a lost cause. Your gifts are all under the tree, and they are terrible. But <<insertlink "next Christmas?">> \n\n(You glance at the card in your Inventory, quietly ticking, full of possibility.)\n\nNext Christmas, you have something worth opening.\n\n@@font-size:150%;THE END@@\n<<endinsertlink>>\n

The blue box is very small and very shiny. You're not sure what it could be.\n\nYou pick it up and turn it over. There on the back is a small "[[Neoegg]]" sticker.\n\nNeoegg...that means it's a <<insertlink "piece of gear!">>\n\nIt doesn't really matter what else you get for Christmas. Your parents have come through where it counts.\n\nSomething this small could only be a new RIG. It's about time! Is it a NeuroMaster SE, with its sub-vocalizations? Or maybe it's the just-released PanoptiCool--that one rewires your brain so you can see in all directions at once. TotalRekall? M3MORIZE? Satori?\n\n<span id="openred"><<click "Find out find out find out!">><<replace "#openred">><<timedinsert 2s>>\s\nIt's...\n\n<<timedinsert 2s>>It's a TI-83 Graphing Calculator.\n\n<<timedinsert 2s>>There's a note that says "Good luck in algebra!"\n\n<<timedinsert 3s>>''It has buttons.''\n\n<<timedinsert 2s>>[[You take offense.|Presents]]<<endtimedinsert>><<endtimedinsert>><<endtimedinsert>>\n<<endtimedinsert>><<endtimedinsert>><<endreplace>><</click>></span><<endinsertlink>>

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ICE ICE Baby

SmartPaint lets you turn any flat surface into an ambiently-powered piezoelectric sub-quantum screen.\n\nPros: WHDMI 3.2 compatible, easy to apply, $12.99 a gallon.\nCons: You can't turn it off.\n\n<<back>>

"Once you implant the knowledge with Trepezane-4, you Neoegg."\n\n<<back>>

Your family's modest living room is dominated by an 8-foot holographic [[Christmas tree]]. The translucent image rotates slowly, throwing strange blue and white light patterns on the walls.\n\nGibson is fast asleep on the couch. He lost interest in the tree when he learned he couldn't pee on it.\n\nThere are some presents underneath the tree. [[Some of them are yours|Presents]].

A few years back, an overzealous Monsanto bio-tech accidentally spliced evergreens into extinction. The eventual court settlement included a soft-light holographic emitter for any American household who wanted one.\n\n"Your careless mistake has ruined our forests, our national parks, and our precarious ecosystem," wrote ∞-th Circuit Judge *Splinehold. "Don't ruin Christmas, too."\n\n<<back>>

No one's had an //actual// phone since 2038--once VR and haptics hit the mass market, material interfaces became très gauche.\n\nEven so, Apple's Neo-CEO Steve "Multi-Threaded" Jobs felt they'd invested too much in the brand to just drop it.\n\n<<back>>

A RIG, or R.I.G.^^1^^, is the primary driver for all non-cloud computing. It plugs directly into the Vishuddhi chakra. You got yours when you were five.\n\n<<back>>\n\n1. [REDACTED] Implant Gear. Nobody knows what [REDACTED] stands for, but the things are too damn useful to ask too many questions.

He turns back around. After a moment, he nods curtly. He's made a decision.\n\n"Yeah. You've got potential. No--you've got //talent//. And it's wasted here."\n\nHe reaches into his jacket and pulls out a small card. He folds it in half, then half again. <<insertlink "He snaps his fingers.">>\n\nYour RIG chirps. <<insertlink "Something's been added to your Inventory.">>\n\nWait a minute...\n\n<<timedinsert 1s>>The Christmas tree is back. The man is nowhere to be seen.\n\nGibson has gone back to sleep.\n\nYour RIG chirps again, more insistently.\n\n[[Check your Inventory.|Inventory]]<<endtimedinsert>><<endinsertlink>><<endinsertlink>>

He opens his hand and there on his palm is Birdie, fast asleep.\n\n"Fascinating. My shop should be untraceable, and yet..."\n\nHe strokes Birdie's chin. Birdie coos softly. He lifts up her wing and peers underneath. He sees something, or understands something, or maybe it's all the same when you're that deep in the code.\n\n"I see. I'll have to fix that. Thanks, kid. You did me a favor."\n\nHe puts Birdie inside his jacket.\n\n* [["...could I have her back, please?"|Hacker05]]\n* [["WHAT THE HELL, MAN! NOT COOL!"|Hacker05]]\n* [[Say nothing.|Hacker05]]

"Clever code, this. But using her for something as mundane as shopping is almost abuse. Isn't it, Birdie?"\n\nHe turns to leave.\n\n* [["Wait. Please, wait."|Hacker06]]\n* [["STOP!"|Hacker06]]\n* [[Say nothing.|Hacker06]]

He laughs, as if enjoying a private joke.\n\n"No matter. This will just take a moment."\n\nHe removes a datapad from his jacket and quickly enters a lengthy command string. Grinning, he submits the request.\n\n<<insertlink "A moment that feels like a lifetime.">>\n\nHe looks at the readout. Not what he expected. He types something else, frowning.\n\n<<insertlink "Another pause, another eternity.">>\n\nNothing happens.\n\nHe looks up from the pad and directly at you, seeing you as if for the first time.\n\n* [["It looks like my Daedalus blocker is working."|Hacker03]]\n* [["Ha ha! That's what you get when you hack Zero Cool, punk!"|Hacker03]]\n* [[Say nothing.|Hacker03]]\n<<endinsertlink>><<endinsertlink>>

Even through his mirrorshades you can see the light switch on inside his head.\n\nHe flips a switch on the side of the datapad and starts typing again.\n\n<<insertlink "A second later, it's over.">>\n\nHe laughs, and the sound is so unexpected it scares you. You never expected such a frightening-looking man to have such a friendly-sounding laugh.\n\n"Twelve years old! And you found your way to //my// shop? Stross almighty, how?"\n\n* [["Well, I wrote a shopper agent to help me..."|Hacker04]]\n* [["It wasn't that hard. I just followed the smell."|Hacker04]]\n* [[Say nothing.|Hacker04]]\n<<endinsertlink>>

He looks down at you and smiles. Slowly, like a serpent toying with its prey.\n\nHis teeth are definitely filed.\n\n"Well, well. What do we have here?"\n\nHe flicks his tongue. It's forked.\n\n* [["I was just trying to buy a RIG..."|Hacker02]]\n* [["Me? I'm Zero Cool. Who the hell are you?"|Hacker02]]\n* [[Say nothing.|Hacker02]]\n

AIan Greenspan was activated in May 2041. Within six minutes, his predictive network had identified the common problem with all previous economic models: people. He immediately seized total control of the world economy and locked out all bankers, traders, fund managers, and financiers.\n\nThings are much better now.\n\n<<back>>

You toss and turn for what feels like hours but is more like twelve minutes.\n\nWas your list clear enough? Your parents have had trouble <<insertlink "in the past.">>\n\nLike your 11th birthday, just last year. You dropped some obvious hints about wanting something small, black, and powerful you could use to <<insertlink "protect yourself.">>\n\nYou were hoping your parents would get you mega-lethal Black ICE <<insertlink "RazorDeath911.">>.\n\nInstead, you got <span id="dog"><<click "a Rottweiler puppy.">><<replace "#dog">><<insertlink "Gibson.">>\n\n<<insertlink "...">>\n\nYou're a hacker, aren't you? If there's an unknown, you need to <<insertlink "{{{#}}}define it.">>\n\nYou hop out of bed, ask your RIG to disable your room's latent Minder routines, and skulk downstairs.\n\n[[Skulk downstairs.|Tree]]<<endinsertlink>><<endinsertlink>><<endinsertlink>><</replace>><</click>></span><<endinsertlink>><<endinsertlink>><<endinsertlink>>

Like everyone else, you keep your Bitcoins on paper. Just because fiat currency is obsolete doesn't mean you're stupid enough to keep your cash in the cloud.\n\n<<back>>

You're not nervous. This hack is O(1) compared to what you've pulled off in the past. And round-the-clock drone delivery means your presents will be here before the sun comes up.\n\nStill, it's a poor decker who gets to work without checking his gear. Out in the Sprawl, there are just two kinds of code junkies: the ones who prepare, and the ones who are dead.\n\nSo before you hit the grid...make sure everything's in order.\n\n<<set $hackcount to 0>>\s\n<span id="hack1"><<click "Enumerate Chips.">></span><<replace "#hack1">>BBQ and Jalapeño.<<set $hackcount += 1>><<if $hackcount eq 6>><<replace "#breach">>[[Nice.|Breach]]<<endreplace>><<endif>>\s\n<</replace>><</click>></span>\n\n<span id="hack2"><<click "Allocate ICE.">></span><<replace "#hack2">>Highball glass.<<set $hackcount += 1>><<if $hackcount eq 6>><<replace "#breach">>[[Nice.|Breach]]<<endreplace>><<endif>>\s\n<</replace>><</click>></span>\n\n<span id="hack3"><<click "Administer Stimulant.">></span><<replace "#hack3">>Red Bull (20 oz. can).<<set $hackcount += 1>><<if $hackcount eq 6>><<replace "#breach">>[[Nice.|Breach]]<<endreplace>><<endif>>\s\n<</replace>><</click>></span>\n\n<span id="hack4"><<click "Secure Meatspace.">></span><<replace "#hack4">>Pepperoni sticks!<<set $hackcount += 1>><<if $hackcount eq 6>><<replace "#breach">>[[Nice.|Breach]]<<endreplace>><<endif>>\s\n<</replace>><</click>></span>\n\n<span id="hack5"><<click "Siphon Credits.">></span><<replace "#hack5">>Your dad's VISA.<<set $hackcount += 1>><<if $hackcount eq 6>><<replace "#breach">>[[Nice.|Breach]]<<endreplace>><<endif>>\s\n<</replace>><</click>></span>\n\n<span id="hack6"><<click "Spoof Identity.">></span><<replace "#hack6">>Mom's ID card.<<set $hackcount += 1>><<if $hackcount eq 6>><<replace "#breach">>[[Nice.|Breach]]<<endreplace>><<endif>>\s\n<</replace>><</click>></span>\n\n<span id="breach"> </span>\n\n

Andrew Vestal\n\n<<set document.title = "ICE ICE Baby">>

You select the card from your Inventory.\n\nAs you activate it, the [[text begins to change|TheCard]].