UNUSUAL OR MEDICINAL DRUGS
These drugs are often used to induce odd effects or for various medical purposes.
This is a drug associated with the
Neo-Boreals. It induces species-atavism and is used as part of the Neo-B's quasi-ritualistic explorations of complex ecologies and systems. Naturally, a disturbing amount of recreational usage has been found for it too.
For a cheap, dangerous and much less sophisticated high than software drugs (see
Digital Intoxicants), some droids 'spark' or 'spark up' by applying high voltages to themselves, either directly through their circuits or indirectly through their chassis. The 'buzz' in the latter case comes from voltages induced in their circuits.
Electricity at high enough wattage is known to alter mental circuits in any mind which transmits its data via electric signals. This includes organic brains.
Related jargon: "Eddy" (from "Edison"; as in "to do some Eddy") - 120-volt power. "Two-four" - 240-volt power.
"You know that moment when you're working on a problem, really immersed in it, right, and suddenly -- click! -- for a moment, everything makes sense, and you feel full of enthusiasm, you love the problem, you could work on it forever? Perfectly satisfied? That's what Epiph does. Doesn't give you the idea... but makes you love your work, and feel like you could happily plunge yourself into it forever."
A taste of history, dating back to when the Datasphere was young... or at least more of a wild
[frontier] than it is in these post-scarcity days. Still potent stuff, especially for those with unaugmented and unexpanded neural structures, it'll get you thinking faster and better than ever before. Pop a cap, grok the vacuum-sealed EULA, and find out why "It's like there's
[All Tomorrow's Parties] in my mouth, and everyone's invited!"
Halcyon is a mild mood-alterer common in
Up (where it's taken as a gentle recreational relaxant) and
Top (where it's commonly used to smooth out inelegant and unseemly strain and irritation). Halcyon is served in the form of pale pearls, which are chewed to release a sweet-salty liquid. It leaves its user feeling serene and calm, pleasantly detatched from their surroundings; it also causes them to drift a few feet off the ground, as though buoyed in calm water. Larger doses induce avian traits, which wear off gradually as the drug wears off.
An engram-fixation drug designed to be delivered to the central nervous system by injection or infusion. Applied, the first use of the drug takes a current snapshot of what's happening to / is surrounding the user. From then on, the user will have a deeply rooted desire to return to those environmental conditions, as closely as possible. Further doses of the drug will reinforce the snapshot, and how strongly the user will want to return to that ideal, based on how much of the drug you take. Have a little, and there's an inclination to try and return to that snapshot ideal, but not a very strong one. Have a whole lot, and you'll become obsessed, trying to return to or recreate all of the exact conditions contained in the snapshot. Not taken at all, the drug and it's inclinations are normally flushed out in about ten days, plus or minus.
One of its common uses is intense fetish play.
This is a chemical substance that forces the user to confuse words with the concepts that they represent, ultimately leading to a blurry line between reality and the written word. When presented with a signifier, the user directly perceives its referrant. The map becomes the territory. (Reference: [The Invisibles] by [Grant Morrison])
A nameless substance, applied through the skin via small squares of something paperlike. It linearizes one's thought processes, especially where language is concerned, and is used by the otherwise incomprehensible
Far-spire to help communicate with air-dwellers.
Causes the user to break down into a puddle of protoplasm. Two (or more) users can share a tub and experience a form of intimate telepathy during the melted period. The body reassembles itself in some arcane manner as the drug wears off. Usually. (From Rudy Rucker's Software et al)
- Mirror-Muse {MM} and Logic-Liaison <LL>
Mirror-Muse {MM} is basically a schizophrenic episode inducing drug, with a very specific attunement: It causes the user's subconcious right-brain creative urges to strengthen and manifest in a clear voice, whispering, urging, and encouraging. The opposite of Mirror-Muse, Logic-Liaison <LL> affects the user's subconcious left-brain intuition, analytical, calculating, and uncompromising in the same manner. {MM} has limited popularity with artistic types looking to flatten self-doubt and <LL> has found its way into the hands of exceptionally desperate
Upwarp logicians. Using both together can be exceptionally disconcerting, leading to being a near-helpless observer to watching your own two 'purified' mental halves argue endlessly over what should be done. Prolonged usage can lead to permanant psychotic break, leaving the voice separation permanent.
A spray-on empathogen with a taffy-like consistency, absorbed through the skin. Invented by the
Bubble Dolls to end needless conflicts.
White ceramic squares, two inches on a side, a third of an inch thick, inset with a button on the center of one side, two contacts of inlaid silvery metal on the same side. Storage devices for anentropic energy invented and manufactured by
System. When the button is depressed, the stored energy is released through the contacts, resulting in improved efficiency of function combined with additional available energy for both biological and technological sentients, marked by an initial rush of tingling cold through the entry path of the energy. Effects include a feeling of physical invigoration, a slight calming of extreme emotion, increased clarity of thought, suppression of minor aches and pains, relief of fatigue, and a generalised sensation of well-being. Very regular long-term use can result in a permanent lengthening of attention span and somewhat reduced tendency to whimsicality. Only known distribution sources are
Kayle, of
Downwarp, and Aaliith, in the
Data Exchange complex marketplace in
Zeta Sector of
Upwarp.
Comes in a generic white tablet. Place under the tongue to for use; wait one second. You will reset and feel great!
(WARNING: Reset causes immediate death in any organism; its claims rely upon a functioning backup system. Refrain from use if you do not have a recent backup!) Manufactured by Tritus Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
A living drug, literally a fist sized squid-like organism which relies on its use as an intoxicant to proliferate it. Active on land, sea, or wide ranging atmospheres (varieties existing in near void have been noted as well), this creature generates a drug consisting of its very cells, which can be drawn out of it by simple contact along its tentacles, though actually shaking and breathing the powdery cellular substance is the preferred method (AKA, Huffing Squid, accomplished with head raised and squid spun immediately above). When chemically potent, the squid's bioluminescent interior flashes a variety of colours, attracting various users fond of its effect, which is addictive to unprotected lower species. Some of the cells collect and form new Squid within their hosts, and are released harmlessly later, through coughing, sneezing, or are otherwise passed before they become too large. The effects in higher order species include: A universal desire to share and introduce Squid (while high) to those around the individual, euphoria, physical stimulation, vastly increased pain tolerance, and a face powdered with the slight glow of bioluminescent. As per its role in biological reproduction, usage tends to be overall quite benign, or even beneficial to the user, to encourage repeat usage and thus species proliferation.
- Huffing Squid actually started at a Puzzlebox party, when I put a spinning flashing rubbery toy squid to my nose and literally 'huffed squid'. Soon, the whole party had huffed squid, and it was nothing but giggling and passing of Squid from thereon! -Ataxia
Stable is heavily used in
Up, whose
Gamma Sector prescribes it as a daily cure-all. Unlike the more powerful, temporary mood enhancers (like Conviviality or Halcyon) or performance enhancers (like Logic-Liaison or Epiphany) that the
Sector distributes for recreational use, Stable is intended to be taken regularly -- daily, in fact. It is, in fact, a nanopharmaceutical, usually taken in the form of a pill; when ingested, the nanites determine the psychic and biochemical balances within the user, and flood their system with a dose of mixed stimulants, relaxants and mood enhancers precisely calibrated to bring the user to the
Upwarp ideal: cheerful but not manic, relaxed but alert, well-adjusted and productive and, well, stable.
- Certain disruptive elements, anarchists, and mischief-makers have reverse-engineered Stable, creating a lookalike drug, identical in everything but effect. The nanites in UnStable are compromised; instead of bringing the patient to Up-ideal balance, they flood the system with an overdose of one of the drugs -- with often unpredictable results. Most variants of UnStable are entirely temporary, causing inconvenience and embarassment but no long-term damage. The insidious thing about UnStable is that UnStable pills are present, albeit in small numbers, masquerading as Stable pills: there is a slim but present chance that any user of Stable might accidentally ingest UnStable.
A very complex multi effect drug. Typically it takes the form of a stamp sized microchip, with an induction adapter for biological lifeforms. It was designed to aid people wishing to visit
Strangewarp safely to do so. Mostly. The main effects of Strange Passport are heightened senses, reflex and response time enhancement and fear suppression. Also built into it is a virus scan trait, allowing the user to identify buildups of Strangevirus. The oddest attribute, and apparently a side effect of the combination of effects, is an increased resilience to Strangevirus infection, though by no means a complete immunity. A previous glitch in Strange Passport was that it would overstimulate the brain, making the user very jumpy/twitchy/easily excitable. A few of these are still in the current supply of Strange Passport, and its rather difficult to tell the difference between a "calm" passport and one that's not.
A medicinal compound given to someone who has just gone through a traumatic event, to prevent emotional scarring. This drug is given within a few hours of the negative experience in question, preventing the formation of negative-stimulus pathways (but not otherwise affecting long term memory). At normal dosages, the memory of the event is clearly retained, but with a distancing effect, stripping away strong emotion and blurring impressions of pain. Has no effect on positive experiences. Invented by
Flyte. Or perhaps Albus Dumbledore.
Induces an exhilariting sense that reality is very simple, all morality is black-and-white, and the user just happens to be on the side of the good guys. Sometimes used by malcontented factions to provoke conflict. (Gratefully cribbed from Atlas Games's Over the Edge RPG.) (From the word 'Zoroastrianism', a pre-Christianity religion from which Christianity took the idea of good and evil --pedagogical
Zoe