KICK, the drug mentioned in our advert, our main plotline, and now has been brought up in several threads…let’s give a better introduction to it, shall we?

KICK originated in the laboratory of Dr. Nathaniel Essex, a name well-known within the medical community for his work with mutants. He created it after Dr. Kavita Rao announced that she’d found the ‘Cure’ for mutation, perhaps because he felt the Cure should be reversible, perhaps just because he could. After all, getting rid of something is one thing, creating is another.

KICK was first distributed only through Dr. Essex’s Clinic. One of the first clients he prescribed it to was John Allerdyce, AKA Pyro, as a cure for the boy’s headaches that occurred whenever he used his powers. It was also directly distributed to Dominic Petros.

From John’s pocket it went into the sewers, due to a clever Morlock pickpocket named Elias Graham, better known to his Morlock peers as Erg.

And from there it went to the streets.

It quietly started circulating in mutant circles, but it didn’t get news coverage until human teens started taking it and finding out what excellent effects the pill has.

Just like any drug, it’s easy to find if you have the cash and you know where to find it. Back-Alley peddlers are common, usually mutant, and always with a keen eye to their potential customer. The pills are expensive, the price rising the more in demand it is. Dr. Essex continues to give the drug out to those who visit his clinic while a bastardized version runs rampant on the street due to some mutants with just the right mutation to know how to produce it. A well-known distributer is Krista Harrison, AKA Paint, who gets her supply direct from Essex himself, the price of her pills is a bit higher but quality is ensured.

KICK is a small, cylindrical, gel caplet with powder inside (the easier to snort or dilute in liquid). Any pills coming directly from Essex’s Clinic are two-toned. One side red, the other white. The ones produced in back rooms are clear, the white powder within clearly visible. The pill takes effect within a few minutes and lasts up to 4 hours. Usually it’s taken one dose at a time, though the ultra-adventurous throw caution to the wind and take more than one at a time, boosting the pill’s effects but cutting the time it’s effective in half. So, if you take 2 pills instead of 1 you’re more powerful, but it only lasts 2 hours instead of 4. Take 3 and you’re cutting it in half again, down to 1 hour.

What are the effects?
-The most pronounced effect is an increase in power- both in strength and control. (So much so that it gives humans a brief kick-start into being a mutant. The effect is not permanent.) Example: If you could lift a car before, an oil tanker should be no problem. If you ran fast before, watch out for breaking the sound barrier now. If you could read minds before now you’re getting all the info via direct download. Nothing’s sacred. You are definitely the master of your abilities and then some. Think ‘better. stronger. faster.’
-Euphoria. Many people experience giddiness, a ‘power trip’ if you will. It is commonly accompanied by reckless behavior and increased aggression.. Over time the euphoria isn't as pronounced, hence why a person might take more than one at a go.

Side Effects?
-Just as the high is awesome, the crash back to being a ‘mere mortal’ sucks. This plummet back to Earth can cause the following side effects: depression, headaches, irritability, nausea, diarrhea, restlessness, shakes, muscle weakness. These side effects may take place immediately upon coming down from the high or while waiting for the next fix. Not necessarily all of them, but you can pretty much take your pick.
-This pill is HIGHLY ADDICTIVE.

Prolonged Use: Considering this drug is Highly Addictive count on your character relying on it (needing it) more and more as time goes on if they don’t ‘kick the habit’.

Info that your character doesn’t know yet: Because the drug creates false strength and control this has an adverse effect on the character’s actual power. That is to say, over time your character’s natural ability to use their powers will suffer, because they aren’t actually learning to control it, they’re augmenting instead.

As hinted in the adverts and MainPlot this drug is deadly. The side effects increase the longer the person uses it. This means they’re essentially popping pills instead of food (or not keeping said food down). Restlessness cuts into their sleep patterns. Man can only live so long on pills alone.

We’re currently still working on how quickly the addiction progresses. Obviously we’re working with different time frames as well, and we’d like to be able to milk this for as long as possible before releasing reports of the first associated death because let’s face it, we need to give every character proper opportunity to have contact with it, whether they take it or not is up to your character. Rest assured, we’ll figure it out and let you all know how to figure out how addicted your character is, how bad the side effects are, all that good stuff.

I have one favor to ask you all: Please, if your character does start using the drug on a regular basis PM an admin (Cessily Kincaid, Dominic Petros, Ororo Monroe). We’d like to keep track of who’s using and for how long they’ve been using so that when we say something like “Oh, those of you who’ve been using since June should really be feeling withdrawals in between pills” we know who those characters should be.