111 lines
4.6 KiB
Plaintext
111 lines
4.6 KiB
Plaintext
File: SCARRIEST # IN THE WORLD
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Read 22 times
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* *
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* The Scariest Number in the World *
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* [2600 -- December 1984] *
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* *
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Recently, a telephone fanatic in the northwest made an interesting
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discovery. He was exploring the 804 area code (Virginia) and found out that
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the 840 exchange did something strange. In the vast majority of cases, in fact
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in all of the cases except one, he would get a recording as if the exchange
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didn't exist. However, if he dialed 804-840 and four rather predicatable
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numbers, he got a ring!
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After one or two rings, somebody picked up. Being experienced at this kind
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of thing, he could tell that the call didn't "supe", that is, no charges were
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being incurred for calling this number. (Calls that get you to an error
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message, or a special operator, generally don't supervise.) A female voice,
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with a hint of a Southern accent said, "Operator, can I help you?"
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"Yes," he said. "What number have I reached?"
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"What number did you dial, sir?"
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He made up a number that was similar.
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"I'm sorry that is not the number you reached." Click.
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He was fascinated. What in the world was this? He knew he was going to
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call back, but before he did, he tried some more experiments. He tried the 840
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exchange in several other area codes. In some, it came up as a valid exchange.
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In others, exactly the same thing happened -- the same last four digits, the
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same Southern belle. Oddly enough, he later noticed, the areas worked in
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seemed to travel in a beeline from Washington DC to Pittsburgh, PA.
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He called back from a payphone. "Operator, can I help you?"
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"Yes, this is the phone company. I'm testing this line and we don't seem to
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have an identification on your circuit. What office is this, please?"
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"What number are you trying to reach?"
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"I'm not trying to reach any number. I'm trying to identify this circuit."
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"I'm sorry, I can't help you."
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"Ma'am, if I don't get an ID on this line, I'll have to disconnect it. We
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show no record of it here."
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"Hold on a moment, sir."
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After about a minute, she came back. "Sir, I can have someone speak to you.
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Would you give me your number, please?"
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He had anticipated this and he had the payphone number ready. After he gave
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it, she said, "Mr. XXX will get right back to you."
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"Thanks." He hung up the phone. It rang. INSTANTLY! "Oh my God," he
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thought, "They weren't asking for my number -- they were confirming it!"
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"Hello," he said, trying to sound authoritative.
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"This is Mr. XXX. Did you just make an inquiry to my office concerning a
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phone number?"
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"Yes. I need an identi--"
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"What you need is advice. Don't ever call that number again. Forget you
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ever knew it."
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At this point our friend got so nervous he just hung up. He expected to
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hear the phone ring again but it didn't.
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Over the next few days he racked his brains trying to figure out what the
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number was. He knew it was something big -- that was pretty certain at this
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point. It was so big that the number was programmed into every central office
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in the country. He knew this because if he tried to dial any other number in
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tht exchange, he'd get a local error message from his CO, as if the exchange
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didn't exist.
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It finally came to him. He had an uncle who worked in a federal agency. He
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had a feeling that this was government related and if it was, his uncle could
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probably find out what it was. He asked the next day and his uncle promised to
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look into the matter.
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The next time he saw his uncle, he noticed a big change in his manner. He
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was trembing. "Where did you get that number?!" he shouted. "Do you know I
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almost got fired for asking about it?!? They kept wanting to know where I got
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it."
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Our friend couldn't contain his excitement. "What is it?" he pleaded.
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"What's the number?!"
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"IT'S THE PRESIDENT'S BOMB SHELTER!"
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He never called the number after that. He knew that he could probably cause
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quite a bit of excitement by calling the number and saying something like, "The
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weather's not good in Washington. We're coming over for a visit." But our
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friend was smart. he knew that there were some things that were better off
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unsaid and undone. <>
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SF][G2:ba003.021785
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Cortesy of BIOC Agent 003, 2600 Magazine, & Sherwood Forest ][
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(914) 359-1517
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-----End of File
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