I. Starting out.
So you want to be a decker? It's not an easy life. People kill you every chance they get, oftentimes
just because they know you can't fight back well, most of the time for your high end implants and
hardware. It also costs quite a bit to get yourself started. Death is common and unless you're really
really good, frequent. Replacing burned out hardware as well as upgrading to the best you can get
will run you hundreds of thousands of credits. However, if you persevere, the payoffs are worth it,
in terms of credits, power, repsect and fear.
First things first. Get yourself a clone. Always get a clone first. Then worry about a deck. Don't
bother with an Ono or Trailblazer or even the upgraded Ono. Start at the minimum with a Gothix
Mindseye One. It's only about 5000-6000 credits for a basic model. You may be able to find one
cheaper. The starting suite of software it comes with is standard for all Gothix decks. However, you
want to load yourself up with this suite to start with. Gothix Icescan, Gothix Shadowdialer, Gothix
Krunch, Gothix Chainsaw or Epoch Sledgehammer, Gothix FractialArmor or Epoch Crusader,
Spider, Telnet, Gothix Search and Kryptech. You'll also want to buy a ramcard. At first, something
from NWE or a Gothix Ramcard is fine. They allow you to store multiple softs that total size 10 or
15 respectively. Later you'll want a better one.
Always upgrade your hardware. It's your biggest priority after upgrading your clone. A safe place to
deck is very important as well. An apartment or a friend's place is fine. Don't deck in public. It's
hazardous to your health and could cost you a fortune in hardware and implants.
II. Making cred.
Starting out poor and needing expensive hardware is a daunting task. If you want the expensive
toys, remember that cred is cred and no job is beneath you. Deliver packages, get a real job and deck
when you're not at work or pick things up that others toss out and resell them to people who may
need them. I worked as a courier when I came to New Carthage and later as a reporter and editor for
NCI. Never turn down easy money because you think you're too good for a job. Excessive pride is
not a beneficial asset.
JobNET offers usually low level delivery jobs that can net you anywhere from 150-600 creds once
per day. Kryptech, the primary moneymaker for the begnning decker, is a system in which you run a
program called Kryptech Pickpocket in a special type of node, it steals a datafile and sends you to
deliver it to another node. You're able to make anywhere from 1000 to 6000 creds a day doing this.
Note that Kryptech will only allow you three jobs per day and the value depends on the toughness of
the security in the node you pick it up from, deliver it to, how quiet you are while doing it and how
long it takes you. Oh, and if you lose a packet, the next one goes to paying off Kryptech, so deliver
them no matter what.
There are other ways to make creds on the matrix, but I'll leave them for you to figure out. After all,
it's a tough job and you're not going to get any better at it if I spoon feed you all that you need to
know.
III. Where to start.
A few places of interest:
DDS: As the meat has gangs and organizations, so does the matrix. The Dead Deckers Society may
be able to help you in your endeavors.
dev/null (2,7,1): Check the Datavault and the CPU for some software for beginners. There are a few you'll
want to pick up.
SlackNET Checkpoint Alfa: The good people at Slacksoft, creators of Goldmine, have a few
freeware programs that you can download in their node.
Temple of Enki: Always looking to help, Enkians sell some quality warez at reasonable prices if
you're so inclined as to pay for software.
Stimusim Security: Check out the Underground for more freeware.
Kurita-Hillman: If you're feeling good about your skills, snoop around K-H and look for a few
copies of old Gothix softs, along with some other warez.
IV. Getting in.
Breaking into a system as as simple as running an icebreaker (ICEB) on the ICE that guards the
entrance. Doing it well involves a simple process. Scan, Judge, Break. Scan the ICE with a security
evaluation program. It will give you a strength level for the barrier. Judge which ICEB soft you
believe is of the appropriate strength to deal with the ICE. Run the ICEB on the portal protected by
that ICE and viola. Simple as that. Note that all ICEBs are rated for different strengths, so while
Grind will be ineffective on a Void 5.0, not to mention dangerous to you and your hardware, Rhino
may have a different effect altogether.
V. Staying alive.
That squishy brain of yours is protected in the meat by your thick skull. In the matrix all you have
are your wits and your shield program. ALWAYS KEEP YOUR SHIELDS UP. Especially while
trying to force entrance to a node. Hostile ICE (HICs) are designed to mess with your squishy gray.
A good shield will prevent that. However, shields do degrade with every impact they take, so you'll
want to fight back. To do so, you'll need an ICE Killer (ICEK). My personal favorites are Hand of
God v2.0 by Shadowhawk and Silk v1.0 by Harliequinn. You'll likely not be able to find these for
now, so I suggest something like Blammo Zero which can be found as freeware, Gothix Chainsaw,
which you can pick up from me if I'm around, or at the local Gothix Download or Epoch
Sledgehammer, which Epoch Electronics matrix site stocks. (Incidentally, so do I. And cheaper
than them!)
Fighting the HIC is as simple as booting up your ICEK with the HIC as the target. Note that it often
takes more than one shot from an ICEK to de-rezz a HIC, so as soon as the ICEK has finished
running, you'll want to repeat the process.
It doesn't always behoove you to fight to the bitter end. Cutting and running (jacking out) is as good
a strategy as any. Live to fight another day. Don't risk your brain cells or your hardware for your
pride.
-FIN-
-Devine Luminescence Rainforest Moret, a.k.a. Asmodeus.
Decking For Dummies Part II.
I. Complants and YOU.
Now that you’re a bit more experienced, have a few thousnad credits bankrolled and are running on an
upgraded deck, we, my weasel Stretched Rat and I, will offer you a bit of advice on hacking complants.
Hacking the Matrix International Complant Node is a favorite pasttime of deckers all over New Carthage.
As well as being incredibly entertaining, it is also a source of credits, information and an easy way to start
a skirmish or two. I remember during the gas attack when I remained in the complant node and sent several
people to their deaths via the complant of a certain cybermedic and Parallel Resurrection employee who
happened to sleep with her complant online….
Before you design your latest effort for disrupting corporate life, there are a few things you’ll need as well
as a few things you’ll need to know.
First, if they see you in the complant node, they can use the meatside node to sic HICE on you. Solution –
Don’t let them see you. A soft like Invis will keep you from view as long as you don’t make too much
noise.
Second, sitting all day in the matrix can end up costing you quite a bit of your hard earned credits. If you’re
not good enough to hack MI and modify your account, I suggest logging in via a black box. Not only does it
cost nothing to operate, it masks that nasty registration signal.
Ok, to gain entrance to the Complant Node, you’ll need a good midrange deck with at least a level 20 CPU.
You’ll also need a copy of the ICEB Gothix Krunch. See previous tutorial for info on obtaining it. Telnet to
the Matrix International node at 722192. You’ll begin at the MI/CSS Login Portal. Now I’m not going to
walk you through this. I’m no Enki and RandomAccess House Publishing is paying me for this regardless
of if I tell you how to hack or how to bake cookies. So, stop reading here and go practice!
If you’ve gotten this far, you’re either good, or you didn’t take my advice and read right down from the
above paragraph. If you’re the latter, I hope you get clone failure. If you’re the former, you have potential
and I hope you live long enough for me to meet you when I come home to New Carthage. In either case,
here is how you navigate the menus in the Complant Server Node. First, say aloud, “Monitor (target). If
they’re on the comgrid, you will be switched to a display of their complant. All you have to do now, is take
the complant commands that you would activate by thought to use your complant in the meat, and speak
them aloud! MI may hold all the cards, but they’re severely lacking in the creativity department.
One nifty little utility they came up with, is the poster command. This enables you to see who posted a
message to the annonymous board. Simply bring up the message you wish to inspect on the complant
you’re monitoring and say poster. The node will show you the name of the person who posted the message.
Note well: You cannot post from or delete messages or mail with other people’s complants.
For security reasons, it’s a good idea to leave a complant the way you found it. That way they’ll never know
you’re there. I mean, if you read their new mail before they do and you don’t back up to the beginning of
the list, they’re going to start turning their complants off; and that’s one less target for you.
Did you know ---- You can see the location of the person you’re monitoring by looking at the map in the
node!!!! It will show you an approximate location via an X,Y grid provided the comsig is not blocked.
That’s all for now. It’s time for a security sweep. Next installment is going to be fun. I’ll teach you some
tricks that only the top deckers know, as well as share some of the tactics that make me the best that there
is.
-Fin-
-Devine Luminescence Rainforest Moret, a.k.a. Asmodeus.