General Anesthetic

The general anesthetic is a currently untitled drug used within the facility to render subjects unconscious, often to move bodies between rooms, keep subjects from seeing what they shouldn't, and quell the unruly. Despite how present it is in the story, not much is actually formally known about the drug.

## Forms

There are three major forms of the drug, each with their own special properties despite resulting in the same general effects. The most concentrated form appears to be the injectable, and It's likely that the drug is diluted for both of the other forms given how it needs to be administered in a large room or be digested slowly by the body (a concentrated dose might work too quickly and be a danger when ingested).

### Gaseous

The gaseous form of the drug is one of the most common forms, and is the earliest introduced form (acknowledged as early as Chapter 8). It is usually administered quietly through vents in rooms to knock prisoners unconscious. Often, it's to transport them between rooms for visits or for any kind of necessary checkup or procedure. If any kind of heavy procedure or booster of Mnemosyne is going to be given later, however, more than likely the general anesthetic in this form is only used to keep prisoners unconscious for transportation before a different, heavier, or long-term kind of anesthetic is used.
The gas is capable of being administered from almost any room, it appears. This includes numbered bedrooms and exam rooms, as well as parts of the recreational areas. In Chapter 27, Cyrus and Ten were both dosed with the anesthetic while in the crafts room.
The gas itself makes no noticeable noise when administered or vented, nor does it have a particular odor or translucent property to it. Most times it has appeared in the story, characters being dosed have no clue that they are until they start to act strangely or feel tired.
### Injectable

The injectable form of the anesthetic is a more concentrated one that is distributed via intramuscular (IM) or intravenous (IV) injection. It's first seen being injected into Ten's neck in Chapter 30 by Nathaniel, who has been said to know his anatomy well enough to do this. Yosuke once was theorized to have given her a dose of the anesthetic with an IM injection instead, referenced in Chapter 15. It's likely he did this so as not to risk hurting her, even though it's been established he has good medical knowledge and would likely understand how to give an IV dose.
The injectable anesthetic is another fairly common form of the drug, but we don't see it used quite as often as the gaseous form. Yosuke, Gale, Nathaniel, Jonathan, The Overseer, and Lucius have all been seen administering this form of the drug.
### Potable Form

The potable form of the anesthetic was first introduced in Chapter 40, when a visit with Jonathan ended and he was unable to find a vial of it for injection. It was served to Ten in a small cup, and so it is a form of the drug meant for ingestion.
Like in a syringe, the liquid has a very vague, faint green tint, though it is tasteless and odorless. Because it is said to take the longest to work out of all the other versions of the anesthetic, it's not a form that's used unless necessary, usually if other forms run out and they aren't immediately restocked. It has only appeared twice in the story so far, with the second time happening during Chapter 48, when Yosuke drugged Ten with it by slipping it into her drink. Because it's tasteless, it was undetectable.
## Dosage

While not explicitly outlined in the story, the author divulged from their notes that the anesthetic has the following dosage limits:

* **Normal dose:** anywhere between 1-3 mL doses. Higher doses are used for certain cases or to achieve certain results. Extra or continued doses in short amounts with enough time in between them is not enough to be lethal to a patient.
* **Lethal dose:** Anything greater than 10 mL in one go, or in very short time frame

## Absorbtion

Additionally, the author has divulged the following times for absorption of the anesthetic, which varies depending on the form of the drug, how much of the drug is given, and where it's administered.

* **Gaseous:** 10-15 minutes
* **Injectable:** 3-10 minutes
* **Potable:** 20-30 minutes

## Effects

All forms of the anesthetic produce a similar result, with the difference mainly being in absorption time and method of administration.

The main effects of the drug are bouts of unconsciousness, feeling foggy, feelings of confusion, short-term memory loss, and general sluggishness. Other effects may include headaches, negative emotional responses (likely due to behavioral inhibitors being affected by the exhaustion), poor motor control,and loss of appetite. It often depends on a patient's body, how much a patient is being dosed with, and how quickly. If too much of the anesthetic is given, it can kill a patient.

Upon waking, even with light doses, a patient will usually feel groggy or confused. With most real-world anesthetics, these effects can last hours upon hours,. But with the story's version of anesthetic, sometimes these effects do not last that incredibly long. If doses are small enough, a patient can bounce back easier as well. If anything, the user will tend to feel foggy throughout the day.

## In Story

The anesthetic is used copiously throughout the story, and is one of the main ways that its prisoners are subdued. On occasion, such as in Chapter 35, the drug is used on the doctors themselves.

It's unclear how the drug is decidedly pumped into rooms and by whom. It's possible that cameras are watched closely and that the drug can be administered from either the office or some other control center. In the aforementioned chapter, Workers were sent to subdue and take Mom away, so it's likely that someone had been watching her, thus confirming the former idea. And in Chapter 27, Mom apparently pumped some of the drug into the crafts room, so it's possible she has some control over this, thus confirming the latter. Either she hada way to distribute the anesthetic through the office, or she went elsewhere to do so (and the office interior has not been seen in the story so far).

On the topic of Mom, while Lucius is the one who seems most familiar with the drug itself, she too seems to have some knowledge on it too. Early on when she first met Ten, she mentioned her needing a higher dose. Either she knows about the drug because she had to be taught how to administer it, or she has a hand in how it's used. Granted, even Nathaniel seemed to know in Chapter 50, he watched Marcellus give her an intravenous dose less than 10 mL and seemed concerned, so it's likely most everyone has at least a little knowledge on the drug because they have to regularly administer it (though, only a few individuals have been seen giving Ten an injectable dose, Nathaniel, Gale The Overseer, and Lucius included).

### "Outliers"

It's been noted from very early on (as early as Chapter 9) that Ten has struggled to fully feel the anesthetic's effects in some moments. She has been seen staying awake for longer than she should before finally succumbing to the drug's effects, such as in the chapter just prior, and she has also been seen struggling to stay asleep for the entire expected length according to whatever dose she's been given.
In Chapter 50, when Ten received her first "booster" of Mnemosyne, she woke up much earlier than she should have and encountered Nathaniel and Lucius hovering over her. Despite the concern over her awareness, Lucius mentioned that this response to the anesthetic was a rare, but sometimes anticipated occurrence in some subjects, whom he called "outliers". Of Ten, he notes it wasn't anticipated given her weak physiological state, but figured he might have underestimated her or just not accounted for something beforehand. And of outliers, Lucius mentions that any issues with their responses to the drug can easily be corrected. Mom once said Ten needed a stronger dose, so this is likely what he means.
Outliers are not often referenced throughout the story. The only other time they have been thus far is in Chapter 67, when The Overseer has Ten strapped to a chair in his operation theater, where he doses subjects with Mnemosyne. He mentioned of her tendency to wake that it was not too strange for his subjects to occasionally do this, but that they tended to wake at bad times that proved fatal for them (i.e. during their procedural dose of Mnemosyne).
It is unknown whether other "outliers" currently exist in Ten's group or other unspecified groups, nor is it really known why Ten specifically has had this issue. It's possible even Lucius isn't sure yet.
### Other Anesthetics

Remarkably, this anesthetic does not appear to use oxygen, nor does it seem addictive in any way. At best, it's adaptive, as we've seen Ten get used to the effects of the anesthetic enough that her body stops responding to it. Granted, this is because of the aforementioned "outlier" issue, but it's still noteworthy.
In Chapter 64, Lucius mentions that they use other anesthetics, moreso for heavy surgeries. When it's acknowledge that Ten's body is not responding enough to the anesthetic by this point, Lucius says of the anesthetic that he can't just switch it out without the use of equipment or the risk of addiction from other opioid anesthetics. It's likely that the facility prefers not to use anything like this unless it's necessary. This, however, makes the anesthetic fairly notable: it does not require the use of oxygen support. However, it's consequently not as long-lasting without heavier doses.
## Creation

The drug's history is not fully known. It is also uncertain whether this drug is "finished", but it's likely as close to finished as possible during the main story, given its quite frequent use.

In Chapter 83, it is revealed by Lucius himself that he is one of the main creators of the drug, which was nicknamed Luma after the Marcellus name. Initially, the drug was a product of his father's, Luke Marcellus, but that once he died, Lucius spearheaded the project for the sake of laying his father's name to rest. Lucius has stated he cares little for publicizing the drug or giving it any other particular title, preferring informality. The drug continues to be simply known as "anesthetic" to all members of the facility.

## Trivia

* The anesthetic as a fictional drug has been criticized for its inconsistent properties and general mishandling in the story compared to real-world anesthetics
* While the drug is referred to as an anesthetic, it seems to act more like a sedative. This is likely an oversight of the author, but the general intent is still understood by readers
* Luma is a video term associated with the black and whiteness of an image. This is appropriate to both the scheme of Lucius' design and his moral compass.