Postdated to after the rescue

[butthemiracleneverhappen]

It has... come to my attention that my Overlay, while... under the influence of that foul thing... inflicted several Travellers with a particular form of madness that I am all too familiar with.


It's original vector is not Eldritch but rather parasitic, and I have reproduced a treatment from my world of origin.

I am a carrier, immune, and my presence suppresses it.

I will provide this treatment without obligation or any strings attached, for the safety of all Travellers, myself not least of all.

...no one should have to suffer it's effects.

I regret that it must be injected, as I know that is... a... a common feature of the paranoid phantasies of those affected. This is important enough that I have been forced to confirm it in the Red.

Comments

[neverfeltthatway]

Oh.

Hinamizawa Syndrome is... the impulses related to the visions he induced? [For that is not the sum total of Armin's madness from this jaunt, though it is the majority.]

CW: gore, formication, madness

[butthemiracleneverhappen]

Yes. It is named for the village where my mortal self was born and raised, the only one where the parasite is known to live.

The sensation of crawling things under your skin, the paranoia, the phantom "footsteps of Oyashiro-Sama" behind you, vivid hallucination... All of these are known symptoms of that disorder.

There are other madnesses and eldritch, foul magic that the Crawling Chaos may have used - including that damnable, blasphemous Ritual of the Drifting Entrails - but thanks to that terrible being's meddling and the inspiration he took from Oyashiro-sama, I can say with certainty which symptoms are magical in origin and which are the syndrome.

[neverfeltthatway]

[Though she can't see him - he's taken to thoughts and text only on the network until he's more himself again, lest he reveal more than he means to - Armin shudders at the description of many of his symptoms.]

That's... good to know. [He feels like he should speak more about the specifics of his madness and its source, find out more about this syndrome - but he just can't bear to. Not so soon.

Perhaps after the symptoms are being treated.] How does the treatment work? And... you said it's an injection? How often must it be administered?

CW needles, medical procedures

[butthemiracleneverhappen]

I believe that the medicine manages the levels of hormones that the parasite manipulates into destabilizing patterns. The ideal dose is 100 milligrams, every 12 hours. You can likely get away with waking and sleeping; those from my world did. I can conjure a vial with hundreds of doses, and will provide the means to make more to others, in case I cannot be reached.

Do you know how to inject yourself from a syringe? I would create a simpler autodosing pen or pump but lack the mechanical knowledge. [There's a note of frustration, there.]

[neverfeltthatway]

Every 12 hours... [He quietly hopes the medicine helps his memory, too, otherwise he may have difficulty remembering to take it.]

I... I don't imagine it's difficult? But I have not done so, before.

[butthemiracleneverhappen]

...I would rather a friend show you how, or administer it for you, than the face of your enemy last Jaunt. It is sharply painful, but only for an instant.

[neverfeltthatway]

...I'm sure Thorne or someone knows how. It shouldn't be hard to find someone who can show me.

[butthemiracleneverhappen]

Thorne would absolutely know, given her era of origin. Most others of her time, as well.

[neverfeltthatway]

I'll ask her, then.

Is there anything else I should know about the treatment? Are there any side effects? And what's likely to happen if I don't get it on time? [Because they're Travelers, and things are going to go wrong. That's just something Armin accepts as fact, and would prefer to be prepared for.]

CW chronic psych disorders I guess??

[butthemiracleneverhappen]

Some muscle pains and fatigue are certain side effects. If you do not get it on time... missing it by an hour is unlikely to matter. Missing it by a day...

I suspect you should take normal doses and hope for the best. Second-stage Hinamizawa Syndrome for a day is much more bearable and lucid then Stage Five for any length of time.

(In other words, it's going to suck. But it's not going to suck as hard as continuing to miss doses.)

[neverfeltthatway]

All right. [Muscle pains and fatigue aren't ideal, but he's used to them - and even if he weren't they're a million times better than experiencing the Syndrome without the treatment.] So if I am forced to delay or miss a dose, I'll get the symptoms of the syndrome, the intensity increasing along with the length of the delay. Right? And there are no other side effects to going off the drug?

I don't ever plan on missing a dose - I'll do everything I can to take them, and on time. But from my experience as a Traveler, I can say it's all but bound to happen sooner or later. I just want to know what to expect if it does.

[butthemiracleneverhappen]

That is by far the most probable effect, yes; an early stage manifesting. Possibly as an itch, or as a feeling of dread with no real cause.

...I am almost certain but cannot assure that your overlays will not require the medicine. The question of what happens to our forms while Infiltrating have just become important...

[neverfeltthatway]

...I doubt we can ask the Arcana to administer the drug in my absence, so one way or the other, I expect we'll find the answer soon enough.

I'll... take precautions before the jaunt. I can lock away most of my psychic and magical abilities - as well as the memory that I had them in the first place - and set a contingency to unlock them if I'm investigating, or a full day into next liminal space if I'm not. That way, I'll be much less of a danger to those around me if the disease progresses while we can't reach my body.

[butthemiracleneverhappen]

...I will speak to the more medically inclined about an automated pump, as well. In case that particular black swan takes wing.

[neverfeltthatway]

Ah - yes. Good idea. [...After the first time, so they can learn for sure what happens.]