Agents, Holophones, & You

There has been some confusion about what phones in Cyberpunk 2080 are like. This guide seeks to fix that. Whatever is listed here is the going standard for holophones and agents in Cyberpunk. It is based on Cyberpunk RED's description of Agents, combined with how Holophones appear in 2077, Edgerunners, and the Cyberpunk Edgerunners Mission Kit for Cyberpunk RED.

We'll keep this part quick.

• In 2013, the cellular phone was the go-to device for phones. A large brick of a wireless phone, it was capable of making calls, putting calls on hold, and auto-dialing (think of it like your contacts list, but way simpler). Cheaper models could hold one call at a time, while more expensive models could hold multiple calls at once.
• In 2020, the flip phone was the new rage. Brick phones were now shrunk to the point where it could fit in your pocket! There was even a mini version which could "fit in a cigarette pack." New with this was the ability for netrunners to use these phones to interface with the net wirelessly through the phone.
• But the beginning of what would become the holophone did not come out until the 2040s with the Agent. Agents were flat smart phones, just like your real life Android or iPhone. What put them a step beyond however was their built-in AI known as a Self-Adapted Artificial Intelligence or SAAI. This, of course, was a marketing term. The SAAI is not a true AI, but a highly advanced machine algorithm which could act on your behalf.
• Briefly following the Agent was the Internal Agent a version of the agent that was implanted directly into your Cyberaudio Suite and could take calls internally, via sound. Too bad you couldn't see your actual phone like this!
• Then came the Rocklin Augmentics Neuron This attached the Internal Agent to your eyes via an attachment to your retinal nerves, allowing screen projection without needing cybereyes. Sound familiar? It should, because we're quickly moving to the modern day.
• Finally, by the 2070s, the Holophone With the invention of 3rd Generation Cybernetics and the incredibly popular Neuroport (that's putting it lightly), the phone was now truly implemented into your head- though lost many of its Agent capabilities.

The holophone is a phone, first and foremost. Part of the Neuroport, it is capable of:

• Making and receiving calls.
• Sending and receiving text messages.
• Browsing the NET.
• Scheduling.

Holophones are advanced in that they work entirely off your brain, requiring no verbal speaking - to include calls.

Thoughtspeak

Your Holophone is capable of "thoughtspeak." In short, your thoughts not only control the Holophone, but also speak. It takes a bit of practice to get the hang of, but eventually it becomes second nature. When talking to someone on a call, you don't need to speak out loud. If it's in your neuroport, you simply think what you want to say, and it is said. Just be careful not to let your mind wander. Jim in management probably doesn't need to know your fantasies of strangling him to death. Of course, you can disable this feature, meaning you have to literally speak what you want to say, a common selection for the paranoid and careful.

Limits of the Holophone

The Holophone, while a newer technology- is the beginning of thought-oriented tech. This means it was scaled back heavily for both affordability and ease of implantation. Holophones are only available via Neuroports, being built into them.

Furthermore, Holophones cannot record external audio or video without a cybernetic that it can link to, such as MiniVids or an Audio Recorder.

Perhaps by the late 2080s or 2090, Holophones will be like the next device we're talking about...

Who has a Holophone?

Everyone with a neuroport. Anyone with a neuroport will have a Holophone. That's a good quarter of Night City, but not most people.

Agents are external phones held in your hand. They possess a powerful component known as a "Self-Adapted Artificial Intelligence," or SAAI. SAAIs are not true AIs, but highly advanced machine algorithms. Essentially, it's the moment right before something can be called an AI. In short, it's ChatGPT. Regardless, its capabilities can easily fool you into believing it is a true AI.

Capabilities of the SAAI (and by extension, your Agent)

The SAAI, first and foremost, is a data collection and displaying platform. It is capable of searching open source information and presenting what you are looking for. Down below is a list of things the SAAI is capable of:

• Make (and take) calls on your behalf.
• Handles your messages.
• Filtering your news.
• Ordering your groceries.
• Recommending and/or buying clothes to match your style and modern trends.
• Acting as a personality construct, with you choosing from a set of premade personality templates (with additional templates available to buy!)
• Being your best friend.
• Being your lover.
• Being your secretary.
• Creating a near-perfect 3D replica of you based on scans you provide it. This is how you see people's face when talking to them in 2077, even if they aren't holding a phone!
• Learning and adapting to your preferences and actions to better serve you.
• Handling all communication: voice, video, email, and instant messaging.
• Creating and sending messages on your behalf via a simulation of your voice and typing style.
• Filtering out low priority calls, spam, and otherwise unwanted callers.
• Learning and storing your schedule so it can accomodate you via recommendations (usually purchases).
• Gathering any info about someone that has been made public which you request, including your contacts.
• Subsequently recommending purchases based on that info. (Your friend is having their birthday party soon. They appear to like Samurai based on their public photos. Should I buy this collector's Samurai album as a gift for them?)
• Automatically send gifts to loved ones.
• Sifting the NET for what you are looking for.
• Recommending you content from the NET based on your preferences and patterns. (The Dreaded Algorithm...)

AltLink | Linking your Agent to other Devices

Your Agent is also capable of interacting with the world around you, to a limited degree. Via its "AltLink" function, it is further capable of:

• Linking to multiple devices to provide basic control (if allowed), from printers and refrigerators, to sex toys, drones, and cyberware.
• Linking to vehicles to gather diagnostic reports and performance readings. (Only modern vehicles!)
• Directly transferring money and files to other Holophones.
• Forming a direct radio communication with someone nearby, up to 20 meters/yards away by line of sight. No service or tower needed.
• Manage household gear and supplies.
• Warn you when you are low on something, and order it for you if allowed.
• Display, record, and download from your cyberware such as your Biomonitor readings, Microvideo, Neuroport readings, etc.
• Wirelessly broadcast to screens around you.
• Download new styles for techhair and "upload it" to your techhair.
• Create "damage displays" in your vision for when you shoot a gonk in the head. (Big with solos!)
• Linking with your Holophone to pair up as an addition to your basic holophone functionalities.

"There's an app for that."

Just like the smart phone, Agents can download all sorts of neat and nifty little apps. From games, to small utilities and more. Of course, you're gonna have to pay for anything of real quality. But, for internal Agents in your Cyberaudio, not all apps are compatible. Some require an attached keyboard (via your interface plug) or controllers for things like games.

There are downsides.

An Agent is a miraculous tool in the dark future, but this is a dystopia after all. Not everything is great.

No Cloud Storage

Because the world is still reeling from the DataKRASH to this day, cloud storage is not a viable option outside of hardwired networks that often pay a pretty penny. That doesn't include your Agent. Everything your phone does, from its personality, to its settings, gathered info, pics and more, are all stored locally. This makes holophones very valuable targets for thieves and info sleuths.

Internal Features, Internal Problems

Agents are initially secure against basic Netrunners, requiring a device known as a "breacher" to hack. This requires line of sight and minimal obstruction (at most, it can wirelessly get through bags and clothes, but nothing more). Breachers are connected to your own agent as a modification. However, a device known as a Crunch Whistle can link a Breacher Agent to a netrunner's Cyberdeck. This allows netrunners to hack any agent via netrunning. This sucks for you, because any netrunner who is interested in agents is getting both a Breacher and a Crunch Whistle.

What can an Agent not do?

An Agent is very impressive- but it can't do everything. Here's some things it cannot do:

• Directly operate security measures like controlling a turret. It can send a basic command at your behest and parameters if you have access (shoot anybody without this ID, etc.) but it can't buddy up with you and man turrets, or explode charges with what it thinks is your enemy, etc.
• Directly operate and drive vehicles.
• Act as an independent, individual entity on the NET. This requires the SAAI to become a true AI, and a potentially rogue one at that if it is independent.
• Hold true AIs on the device itself.
• Independently operate your cyberware.
• If an Internal Agent, it cannot record video or audio without related cybernetics being implanted that can do so.
• Hold true emotions or feelings. Sorry, you'll have to delude yourself into thinking that the lover in your phone has feelings - though that can be true for more than your SAAI.

Who has an Agent?

Only the most paranoid or the most dirt poor of individuals lack one. A crappy agent (often bought for kids or the extremely poor) is about 50 eddies. A standard quality agent is 100 eddies. A good quality agent is 500 eddies. The exceptionally stylish have a designer wristwatch Agents, which run you for about 1,000 eddies- though are considered very fashionable.

Most people who have a holophone also have an agent. Some do not- either cause they can no longer afford tech like that (having had their neuroport paid for as a child and have now lost it all) or believe the holophone gives them all they need.

These phones are ancient- but they do have a use. Disposable cell phones are extremely cheap, often bought up in bulk from trash scavengers and refurbished by an independent, rookie techie looking to make a buck. Why are they still useful? Burner phones, of course. Gangers, criminals, clandestine mercs, and especially fixers are notorious for buying and using burner phones. They still work - with dirt cheap service. A cell phone costs about 10 eddies, with the service being an additional 10 eddies. Now you can make all the threatening calls you want without being traced.

Alternatively, those paranoid of modern tech or are practically homeless can usually afford a flip phone to use.