Slug

PUPARIA

Item No. 9781

Submitted for catalogue and analysis. Reel contains an Low-Vis High-Impact (LVHI) investigative report covering drug use throughout Prospero's Dream. Reel #9, unreleased, working title:  

S L U G H E A D

The transcript of Reel #9 follows, Analyst [] inputs noted.

[LVHI logo scrolls across screen and intro plays. Intro resolves to shot of synthsilk clad LVHI reporter, Ray Temple.]

TEMPLE: In our previous eight reports, we have examined the wide-ranging drug culture that blooms here on the Dream. We broke the news on widespread Method use amongst high scoring students throughout elite institutions, saw first hand the impact of a Liquid Sword-enhanced Tempest Co. raid, met with Triumph thrill-seekers risking it all at the Court, and documented the widespread Soma addiction in Doptown.

TEMPLE: Today, we are shining a light on a new narcotic spoken of in whispers by slickjockeys and doptown junkies alike: Slug.

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Drugs, APoF p.23

APof does this cyber-slick job of at the same time guiding the reader piecemeal into the depths of Prospero's Dream as well as acting as a Warden's game-running resource put together in a functional and easy to reference way. Something I've noticed in the best resources I have is that they are stories unto themselves, both a tool for running game and a silhouetted story for the Warden's own secret enjoyment. 

Like the best of fictions and game resources, it sprinkles hooks around for the Warden to flavor their game with as they see fit- not explaining in concrete detail every single item but instead leaves them to the reader to figure out. 

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[A revolving holo of a clear canister filled with luminescent color-shifting smoke fills the screen. Matches database records of Slug appearance, casing is homemade and intended to release the full contents with a button press.]

TEMPLE: Slug is a hallucinogenic inhalant with all the ego-dissolving effects that come with its class. What makes it special compared to your convenience store brand hallucinogen though is the purported shared experience. Slug-users report being transported to another world where they can interact with anyone else under the effects of Slug- regardless of distance. 

[Scene transitions and the sweating face of an addled man appears. Background suggests an overcrowded tenement of an outer ring deck.]

ADDLED MAN: It's like a real slickworld- but without the game stuff. I've met people there from whole other star systems- it's massive inside. The first couple of times you take it you're just wandering and taking it all in but like, you can get the hang of it after awhile and figure out how it works.

TEMPLE: Why do they call it Slug?

[The man convulses briefly. Retinas flood with shifting colors- inconsistent with known implant brands.]

ADDLED MAN: That's what it's like. Taking a slug to the head. One second you're here and then bam. Somewhere else. Slug world, man, whatever you want to call it. And things over there? They're not the same- rules are different inside.

Cyberpunk: Edgerunners

[Interview dissolves back to Temple.]

TEMPLE: As we learned with our last episode's investigation into the "telepathic" claims surrounding Stimspice, these sorts of claims and rumors are hardly ever the full story. 

TEMPLE: Unlike our previous investigations, however, Slug has proven unnaturally resistant to probing. After extensive time and credits spent on some of the best databrokers, LVHI was unable to turn up much on on the drug other than rumor and myth. No known manufacturers, limited slickside retail, it seems like finding concrete data on Slug is like grasping at the selfsame smoke. 

TEMPLE: We were able to find a lead, however, and made contact with someone using the handle Shaman who has agreed to be interviewed. Stay tuned as we head to the downspire slums just this side of Doptown and get an exclusive look at this mystery hallucinogen. 

[Temple gestures to cut. Footage continues to roll. Off camera voice ID'd as producer Idra Thompson.]I

IDRA: So just how sure are you about this Shaman guy? 

TEMPLE:  Gut feeling- and Angus vouched for him being legit. Did try and warn me off Slug though- that's pretty much what any reputable source among the underground says. Steer clear. 

IDRA: There's too much smoke and mirrors around it. Fuck- Slug is practically advertised in the visitor's guide and yet no one wants to tell us anything about it. Even that Tempest lab we sent the sample to didn't tell us anything worthwhile. 

TEMPLE: All the better this reel will do when we blow the whole scene open. Probably some doped up slickjockey fermenting this shit in a chemfab down there for Golyanovo- they could keep this quiet. Figure it this way- linking to them would be a great run up to the finale reel on Sycorax.

IDRA: Don't get too giddy on me, we almost ate it stumbling into that Ruckus den. Let's get in and out without any gunplay this time- our security guys bumped their prices up after that. 

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"Final Wound Table" just means make a Death Check

The benefit of taking Slug is straight on the tin, share a world with anyone else taking Slug. Even in a setting where virtual realities are a dime a dozen, Slug can serve as an additional means of extremely private (if lengthy and sanity costing) communication and communion. Get Slugged and join with the hive of other Slugheads for consultation.

Slugworld, as the recreational Slugheads call it, presents initially as a trippy vortex of emotion and light where the user has to will into being their own form to use and communicate. It is massive and instantaneously travellable, as long as you don't dip your toes in too far. For a recreational Slughead not trying to meet or converse, they can treat it as a stay in an A-class port, meaning it can convert 2d10 stress (on a successful Sanity Save) into improved Saves. 

If you take the description to its logical extreme, this is even a method of faster than light communication- surely that's something that the Company would want to exploit for profit. So, the question then is, why aren't they?

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[A large woman, Shaman, reclines on a futon in a junk-filled apartment. Temple, Idra, and their merc contractor, Clover, are shown crammed into this near lightless back room. The occasional vibration from some nearby machinery causes a stack of plates in the corner to rattle loudly. Dozens of vials of Slug litter the room- mostly empty. As the camera is fixed in place, the woman smiles serenely and stares directly into the lens for the duration of the interview.]

IDRA: Alright, audio and visuals look good. Ready when you are Temple. 

CLOVER: Givin' you guys 5 minutes for this. Intel says rippers or somethin' are 'bout to tear through this block any minute now. 

TEMPLE: We'll be quick. Now, Shaman, are you sure you don't want to relocate somewhere safer? 

SHAMAN: My home is safe. 

[Idra sets a timer on the recording which begins counting down. Temple is visible on the other side of a small coffee table filled with Slug vials- Shaman's head is turned and staring directly into the lens.] 

TEMPLE: Here we are downspire meeting with local legend- Shaman. What can you tell us about Slug?

SHAMAN: Do you dream? 

TEMPLE: I.. of course. 

SHAMAN: What happens to you in the dream when you wake up? 

[Temple looks off screen and rolls his eyes.]

TEMPLE: I suppose nothing? 

SHAMAN: You're in the dream now. Slug is the smokekiller, it inverts the shadow of your consciousness and wakes your dreaming self into the greater Id. 

TEMPLE: That's... something. What can you tell me about how you started using Slug? Or where it comes from?

SHAMAN: The mirror is a reflection of truth- your realm here is an echo of the ideals- imitations of imitations. Greater Id is the conceptual realm- the Ur-mind where truth is seated and the minds make their idols. Through the shamans can you parley with the constructed gods...

[Temple shakes his head and waves to get Shaman's attention. Shaman continues to stare into the lens.]

SHAMAN: Whispers of ascendance- the Tempest storms and the machine takes root. 

TEMPLE: Are you even listening to me?

[Distant banging and shots ring out, they appear to be coming closer. The lens is knocked off kilter towards the door- Shaman still stares into it from the corner of the screen. Clover levels a combat shotgun at the bead-curtained doorway.]

SHAMAN: These words are not meant for you. Be quite afraid; the isle is full of noises. 

CLOVER: Can you shut her up? Lost contact with the boys outside- whoever that is they're moving fast and hitting hard. There a back way out of here? 

SHAMAN: The idols are constructed, strung of the thousand-thoughts and dreams of the dead and the living- the living dead. The living are bright and strong- but dreamless dead barter for keys to the shadowgate.

IDRA: There's no other way out- just piles of this crap. Should we barricade ourselves in? How many are there?

TEMPLE: The fuck do you mean you lost contact with the guys outside- what the hell are we paying Tempest for? 

CLOVER: Shut the hell up and get down- keep quiet and we've got a shot. Fuckin' shoot if you see anythin' move. 

SHAMAN: We are such stuff that dreams are made of- know this and learn to spin the dreamstuff.

[The dull bulb in the room flickers. The scrape of tearing metal comes from the doorway. Shaman's unblinking eyes fill with varicolored smoke. Idra and Temple cower behind towers of junk and send vials of Slug clattering around- Temple aims a pistol at the door.]

SHAMAN: ... this rough magic I here abjure. 

[Furtive whispers from Temple and Idra are garbled. All eyes are on the doorway as a shadow takes form beyond the curtain. Shaman's eyes still look to the lens and are now balls of colored smoke. Their jaw goes slack and a wet squelching is heard as a large, three foot long slug slides out of their mouth and disappears to the ground. Varicolored smoke pours out of Shaman's mouth and fills the room as a husk tears through the beadcurtain and gunfire is heard before the reel cuts.]

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Heavy Slug users, those facing addiction and still using, begin to grasp what Slug is really doing. It pulls the conscious mind of a user out and into the collective unconscious. Rumors, myths, gods, devils, and stories are manifest entities stalk this space between minds- formed of thought and affecting it. A heavy Slug user can ask the Warden a question and, on a successful Sanity Save, recieve the answer as long as it is something that can be or was known. Alternatively, a heavy user can manipulate the local unconscious into forgetting or remembering an event, twisting a rumor, or other suitable changes. 

Shamans can be contracted for these services if they can be found and are amenable to it. 

The collective unconscious contains not only the known ideas of the Diaspora of Mankind, but also those dead constructs of alien make- that look for an opportunity for revival and reentry into baseline reality.

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 Slug.