I've been playing in a diceless on line version of Dark Heresy, and recently created a new character, Aurora Raynes, a doctor, experimental pharmicist, and callidus assassin. She is currently working a problem similar to the one Wicke, Wolf and company are working in Rob's game. Something is forcing the population of an Imperial planet to go zombie and march against the rest of the planet. In Aurora's campaign, though, it has been determined that absolute faith in the emperor is a defense against the contamination.
I thought y'all might want to see Aurora's recommendation to her inquisitor...
Subject : Research Progress
To : Inquisitor Sabbath
From : Lady Aurora Raynes
Inquisitor
We have encountered a minor difficulty in the 'Emperor's Tears' project. Due to time pressures, it seems prudent to blend existing drugs in order to duplicate the 'religious revival' emotional mind pattern, rather than work a new designer project from scratch. There have been a few interaction difficulties. The desired combination of euphoria and suggestibility is not generally required, and mixing two or more strong mind altering substances does create delicate balancing issues. Still, we have several plausible mixes which may well serve our purposes. Further testing would be advantageous to perfect the mix before large scale distribution should be attempted.
I would note that the more effective mixes are based on drugs designed to be addictive. Once a subject has been brought into a desirable life style and cultural orientation, it is generally desirable to motivate the subject to self maintain proper dosage. There could be a difficulty in that the 'revival' emotions are far more intense than used in the factory to maintain productivity. The higher dosages could induce emotional burn out. Withdrawal will be very difficult. Maintaining the doese could result in burn out. Total detox, even after the initial emotional and physical transition, could result in sustained state of apathy, depression and withdrawal.
While we might continue work to minimize these side effects, a variant that will work well in the short term will be available shortly.
We had a slight difficulty with the preacher selected to program the early trial batches. He asked many questions about the nature of the drug, and I made the mistake of answering truthfully. He took extreme exception to the notion that perfect faith in the Emperor could or should be induced by suppressing or destroying an individual's higher cognitive functions. The 'could' part has been essentially proven in the preliminary tests. He was able to bring our first trial subjects into a full and frenzied froth of faith.
He had difficulties with the 'should' part. He seemed to think he should save the population of the planet with words alone, without pharmaceutical support. I allowed him access to a control group, who had taken placeboes only. I can say with medical certainty that he is wrong. I believe it proper and necessary that we should fight zombies with zombies.
He did not appreciate this perspective. He accused me of heresy. I diagnosed him as delusional, emotionally unstable, and unfit for command. During the brief discourse on jurisdiction and authority that followed, he somehow managed to impale himself on my sword. As we were in the medical labs at the time, we did manage to save him. However, as I had been unable to detect any signs of higher cognitive function, it seemed necessary and appropriate to replace his frontal lobe with an artificial implant. We have already programmed him to swing incense burners. If a list of similar simple rituals tasks can be provided, I believe he could be made effective and useful.
It seems prudent to drop the 'faith drug' paradigm. Instead, it would be better to develop a purely medical drug that produces a purely medical protection. I have thus instructed the lab personnel to print new labels for the drug containers. It should be understood that the functionality of the drug increases greatly if dosage is followed immediately by religious blessings.
I believe I have done as much as appropriate on the medical side. Your people are quite competent, if lacking somewhat in imagination and access to data on certain appropriate mind altering substances. If you wish to proceed, you will need to give a green light for a significant production effort.
I, however, have special interests in one of your people, and may be interested in the investigation and elimination mission discussed in the prior memo. If you could attache me to his unit and forward personnel files for him and his squad, this would be appreciated.
Lady Aurora Raynes
