Aoka Yairoi

Transmission & Vectors

The aoka yairoi is a drug supposedly created in Tuhra but mass-produced in Welkwu, and sent to every corner of Wouraiya. The aoka is a liquid and is passed via drink.

Causes

The aoka temporarily reroutes the connection between the right lobe and the left. Instead of subconscious communication, the right lobe is visualized as an external, separate entity.

Symptoms

The user visualizes a copy of himself. Without sudden or quick movements, the copy can walk around and perform actions in the general vicinity. With sudden movements, the copy begins to defy the laws of physics, orienting itself in awkward angles, ignoring friction, and floating. The user and the copy can converse, harmonize in song, and even play games together.

Treatment

The yairoi typically wears off after about an eighth of a day, but can be extended for longer depending on the quantity of drug consumed. However, the experience can be cut short by diluting the aoka with a large glass of water, assisted with closed eyes.

Affected Groups

Aoka yairoi is most popular with people in lonely professions, notably farmers, stay-at-home parents, and sheltered nobility.

Prevention

The Wlitowa Authority made aoka yairoi an outlawed chemical alongside glass and kelwuw, moving smuggling underground. Because the drug has no addiction or side effects in small, dispersed quantities, the market remains otherwise unregulated.

History

The first recorded use of aoka yairoi was when a professor of neurology talked to a colleague in biochemistry about cures for depression. The chemist gave him the formula, saying she "got it from a friend." Of course, the professor could have jokingly been referring to herself, but she never clarified. The formula was developed and perfected on willing students. One student moved to Welkwu and started up his own business about the drug.

Cultural Reception

While it's a saving grace for people with no social life, it's mildly reduced the need for social gatherings. Social life was dulled after the invention of yairoi but only slightly. Users were rightfully pegged as friendless but wrongfully mocked for it. Besides, there's only so many new conversations one can have with oneself, after all!

Type

Chemical Compound

Origin

Engineered

Cycle

Short-term

Rarity

Rare