Juliet

Content Warning:Drug use Near-death experiences

Hold, daughter, I do spy a kind of hope,
Which craves as desperate an execution
As that is desperate which we would prevent.
If, rather than to marry County Paris,
Thou hast the strength of will to slay thyself,
Then is it likely thou wilt undertake
A thing like death to chide away this shame,
That cop’st with death himself to ’scape from it;
And if thou darest, I’ll give thee remedy.

— Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet, Act 4 Scene 1

A Thing Like Death

Juliet is used to instill a near-death, comatose state in its user. It slows all bodily processes dramatically, and though a physician or bioscanner could tell the difference between a true death and a Juliet mimicry, the average person may be mislead. The user can only be taken out of the coma with medical intervention. The longer they remain comatose, the less likely a full recovery is possible. Whenever Juliet is used, there's a risk its user will not recover at all.

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Uses

Medically, Juliet is used to slow a progressing illness or poison until a proper treatment can be administered. This is required if the patient needs to be transported to a more advanced hospital, if a medication needs to be synthesized or shipped to location, or if a specialist must be requested from elsewhere.

Outside of medicine, it's used in less savory ways. It's fast-acting and can be applied through most fabric, making it an expensive but effective means to disable a target. It can provide a slow, helpless death, and because of the time-sensitivity, is used to extract ransom money in exchange for a comatose loved one.

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Acquisition

When acquiring Juliet for medicinal purposes, a facility must go through layers of bureaucracy, with paperwork, approvals, and training sessions. The patches must be housed in a secure location that only trained individuals can access. Many claim these requirements interfere with the primary use of Juliet: in an emergency to save a life. Yet medical oversight boards insist it's necessary due to the risks inherent with the drug.
The extralegal means of acquiring Juliet pose even larger risks:

Black market Juliet doesn't follow safety standards, and their formulae might be even less safe.

Seeking out Juliet on the black market attracts the wrong kind of attention.

Medical facilities can be blackmailed into providing services they might normally refuse.

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When it's applied, it stings a little at first. Then you just feel... tired. Like micro-nap every time you close your eyes tired.
Next thing I remember is hearing people say my name a bunch. I had no idea how long it'd been. I heard my mom, and the doctor telling her I was awake. I didn't feel it, though. I could hear everyone, but I couldn't open my eyes or move. Took hours before I could wiggle my fingers, and a week before I could walk.
It was worth it. It slowed the poison and I didn't die. But man. Don't pet jellyfish, alright?

— Recounting a medicinal use of Juliet

Information

Uses

Emergency medicinal
Crime

Form

Patch applied to the neck, series of needles on the underside inject Juliet into the bloodstream. Can be applied through most modern vacsuits

Acquisition

Bureaucracy
Crime

Did you know?

The most common place to find Juliet is on Nisora. In Galendra, Cryptix supplies hospitals and clinics in their territories with the best-quality versions they can create.

Author Commentary

Romeo

In Campaign 1: The Night Knights, Juliet was used to save people from the aneurism caused by refusing orders sent to mind control chips, Emerald Legion Ghosttalkers. Tag Dodgestein saved his girlfriend's life with it.