Post by Pawel on Aug 22, 2021 11:42:22 GMT
Tandem
A novelty pushbike invented in the late XIX century, the tandem was designed to be ridden by two or more persons sitting one behind the other, pooling their pedalling power together. Nowadays just a nostalgic artifact of a bygone era, it can still be found displayed in several museums on Earth and Luna, as well as in some Incorporate holiday resorts offering outdoor activities.
The tandem that reached Poseidon at the end of XXII century evokes a slightly different kind of nostalgia. It is a recreational drug, currently unregulated, sharing certain functional and structural similarities with methamphetamine. Typically consumed by couples or small groups, it provides its users with a heightened sense of togetherness and intimacy, by stimulating numerous key regions of the limbic system. Its response accuracy and effectiveness are often enhanced by preliminary cognitive training and basic neural conditioning.
Aside from the more conventional bedroom and dance club usage context, tandem’s target market includes families and friends corresponding via the Sol-Serpentis message pod system, couples engaged in 39 light-years long distance relationships and countless Poseidon newcomers eager to form interpersonal bonds on a planet full of professional loners. For some, the drug complements multi-sensory messages recorded and dispatched by their loved ones in a fortnightly cycle. Others use it to enrich or spice up their time spent together, or to explore and perhaps entrench their personal attachments. For others still, it’s a psychochemical compatibility tester, used to cut corners and save time in their search for friends or romantic partners, though the drug was designed to augment existing affections, not to kindle new ones.
Small tandem doses, administered orally, elevate the user’s feeling of emotional closeness to another person for approximately 30 minutes, along with a more general sensation of excitement and satisfaction. This is followed by a relatively mild comedown, though this may vary considerably depending on the user’s life circumstances and mental wellbeing. The drug may have adverse effects if used outside of its social interaction context - be it authentic or simulated - but with sufficient training even a simple memory can serve as a conduit for its primary function.
As with most psychotropic substances, abuse of tandem can lead to a range of biopsychosocial disorders, including addiction, excessive codependency and various neuropathological changes in the brain. Though side effects of tandem are classified as moderate, numerous GEO member states are considering introducing control measures for the drug’s manufacture and distribution, even if just to spite its current patent holder: the largest pharmaceutical division of Anasi Systems.
- Form: tablet
- Dosage: a single dose lasts half an hour, suggested interval between doses: minimum 12 - 15 hours
- Availability: common
- Cost: 20cs per dose