Cintamani (drug)

Once an unconscious content is constellated, it creates an illusory atmosphere that leads to continual misinterpretations and misunderstandings

Cintamani, or "Cint," is an extremely potent and volatile drug currently sold at street level. It is marketed as a cure for the pollution sickness but has also rapidly gained popularity for recreational use both because of the side effects of its high and the its significance as an icon within counterculture elements. Cint is highly addictive, though like most drugs 'how addictive' is a question both of its potency and of the individual in question's restraint and tolerance.

Cint generally is distributed in packets of dark gray, rocky-looking pills. It is typically taken orally in pill form, but can be crushed into powder for smoking or intravenous injection.

Creation Process

Cintamani's creation process is currently unknown; analysis of the drug itself would show it is made of a number of mundane compounds including ibuprofen, and extremely trace amounts of both mercury and lead. The combination of materials seems both slapdash and bizarre; its creation process, therefor, is more than likely supernatural in nature.

Effects

Foremost, Cint is a valid - and currently the only - way of curing the pollution sickness of Sumaru; it can go so far as to reverse the mutations it causes. It also has a number of physical and psychological side effects.

Psychological

Cint gives its user an incredibly boosted sense of confidence. Feelings of ambition and indestructibility aren't uncommon; euphoria and a sense that one can take on the world are frequent psychological side effects.

Cintamani will bring personality traits typically assigned to the id out to the surface if they aren't already, and will enhance and amplify these traits regardless. Because of this, Cint's side effects vary from person to person depending on what things they're repressing or what can be defined as their negative traits. For example, someone who feels resentment over being cast aside or ignored may go out of their way to try to make a name for themselves when normally they may not have the confidence or extroversion to even attempt such a thing.

Persistent or chronic use of Cint will typically result in feelings of dysphoria and delusions of grandeur, paranoia, and repressed traits becoming self-destructively, overpoweringly prominent. Hallucinations bordering on delirium can also occur in cases of heavy use, typically of a profoundly nightmarish, bad trip variety.

Physical

Cintamani use increases the users physical ability to degrees above what a normal person can accomplish. Strength, speed, endurance, and so on are all lifted above what a normal human can accomplish, and even what those on other, performance-enhancing drugs can manage -- in short, to a supernatural degree. This physical capacity is not quite at a level with a Persona-user (unless the Cint user is a Persona-user or Shadow Possessed already) but it is close, and easily noticeable as unnatural.

Long-term or heavy use of Cint will have physical side effects, most obvious of which is a slow appearance of sickly, yellow-colored streaks in the user's irises. Less common but still possible, skin may grow paler, and blood veins may become darker and more obvious under the skin.

Withdrawal

Withdrawal only comes after persistent use of the drug, but like anything else, acute withdrawal can occur if someone takes a lot in a short period of time or simply has a lower tolerance for drugs or alcohol. What happens during withdrawal from Cint varies from person to person, due to its nature: the common symptoms are a feeling of helplessness and weakness and an overriding sensation of feeling alone and unwanted. Physically, cold sweats are likely; migraines, hypersensitivity, and, potentially, frequent bloody noses are possible. Like most drugs, the craving for Cint grows stronger during withdrawal.

The id, during withdrawal, goes into a severe regression thanks to the wonders of the rebound effect, and any personality traits that might have been heightened/exacerbated during Cint highs will become practically non-existent during a withdrawal.

Overdosing

WHEN YOU GAZE LONG INTO AN ABYSS
THE ABYSS ALSO GAZES INTO YOU

The effects of overdosing on Cint are not completely known or understood. Unlike most drugs, overdosing is not fatal in the traditional sense. But what it does to both mind and space is harrowing, and comes with a host of nightmarish phenomenon. OOCly, if you'd like to discuss the consequences of overdosing on Cint in detail, just page or @mail Daisuke Itami.

Acquisition

Cint, as it is an unapproved substance, is currently only sold on a street level, but has become so popular and abundant that it is not difficult to come by at any socioeconomic level. Methods of distribution vary depending on one's status, but one constant aspect is mobility. Dealers do not stay in one place for long and move throughout Sumaru wards in set rotations. At the lower economic levels, dealers will take up at corners or use vacant buildings as makeshift "mobile clinics" that can easily be abandoned and re-established elsewhere. At more affluent levels, deals typically take place at colleges or through other, discreet methods. If desired, it is currently not difficult to find, and is continuing to proliferate throughout the city quickly.

At all levels, distribution is carried out by Hideo Matsuda's gang; all Cint inevitably comes back to them, though people unaffiliated with his gang may distribute Cint in their possession.