Scared yet?

The condemned ipod

The innocently sold iPod.

I'd like to start off by saying, never trust anything but the 100%, name-brand, official seller. I learned this lesson the hard way. A way that no one should ever have to endure.

Let me tell you my story.

It was a nice day; no rain or snow or anything of that nature. It was mid summer, and it was showing, with temperatures in the mid-90's. Being the 14-year-old kid that I was, I was into what everybody was referring to as the 'electronic age'. I had no cellphone, no 52" Plasma HD TV. The only thing I was lucky enough to eventually save up enough money for was a PS3. The only reason I chose the PS3 was because it provided a free online service. Money wasn't something I could be throwing away like it was nothing.

Another thing I should add is that I was incredibly tech-savvy. I was fluent in computer coding, building and restorations of computers and technology, such as iPods and iPhones, Nintendo DS', etc. I was always looking for new projects and I had even advertised myself before as a "technology repairman." It came to me as no surprise whenever I'd have friends come up to me with their broken cellphones or a 3DS, and ask me to fix them.

I was happy with what I did. It was how I saved money, and I liked my "job," so to speak. Like they say, "If you do what you love, you'll never work a day in your life." So, I continued on doing what I did. It wasn't until I came across the one object that scarred me for life that I never wanted to touch another piece of technology again. God have mercy on your soul, should you ever come into contact with what I did.

The only reason I found this item was because of what I was doing. I not only fixed things for other people; I fixed damaged things people were selling for pennies on the dollar and kept them for myself. A wise investment, which saved me literally hundreds, if I got the right deals. So, when I saw a 2G iPod Touch on eBay, claiming minor damage such as a broken LCD and needing a new battery, it wasn't anything new for me to pay the $20.00 they were asking for. It wasn't until I started tinkering with it that I knew just what I had gotten myself into.

I was an impatient kid. I hated waiting, and if I could find any way that I could get my hands on something quickly, I'd do it. So, I paid for express shipping, and, what do you know?. I got that son of a bitch in two days. I planned ahead and express ordered a new LCD screen and battery off of Amazon. The total project was about $50 with all new parts in it, so I didn't mind, because it saved me about $150.

First things first. I got out my tool kit, popped off the broken LCD, replaced it in a snap, put the new battery in, and in less than 20 minutes, I had myself an almost-brand-new iPod. Curious as all hell, I decided to see what the guy selling it on eBay had put on the iPod. Grave mistake.

The biggest pain in the ass is connecting the iPod to iTunes to turn the iPod back on. So, I dug through my cable box (doing numerous jobs can get you a nice little box of handy cables), and pulled out a 30-pin connector. I plugged the USB end into my computer, the other end into the iPod, and hooked it up. The guy had named it Jared. Nothing too skeptical; it was probably just the name of the guy who had sold the iPod.

I let iTunes do its thing, and it didn't take long before the iPod was fully functional again. I almost panicked when it hit the unlock screen, but for some reason, there was no passcode lock on it. Lucky for me. He had a black lock screen background, and a pentagram drawn in what looked like blood for the icon background. Creepy as fuck, right? That turned out to be the least of my worries. The iPod had been jailbroken, so it came as no surprise when I saw numerous apps that were... well, illegal.

He had put a specific code lock on one folder on the iPod. It had one app in it that I couldn't make out the picture to, with it being in the folder. The folder was titled "STOWAWAY". Puzzled and already creeped out by the unnerving background of the iPod, I decided to look through the documents he had stored on it before I completely wiped this thing's memory. He had that one app from Cydia that allowed you to delve into the iPod's hard drive and mess with the actual files in it. You know, iFile. I shoved it off until later and headed for his photos/videos.