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Sanitization

Sanitization is a lethal process in which cephalings are "zombified" via killing their beneficial bacteria. The process also wipes the mind, resulting in victims not remembering anything prior to sanitization, and more often than not instilling a sort of mind control.
Kamabo was and is notorious for this, leaving hundreds of cephalings in a state of living death, for better or worse.

Sanitization comes with a lot of problems, which get especially bad for the escaped sani, since most were sanitized while the method was still pretty experimental.

I'm lucky to have a ton of experience with this, y'know, being sanitized myself, but also because I've gotten to befriend so many other sanis and do loads of research into our shared condition.

- Methods

Sanitization is done through a number of methods.

Most common is through a number of the many machines on the Sanitization line in Kamabo Co.'s facility. This produced sanitization "batches" while the method was still being researched. Some batches are less stable than others, health-wise.

IV infusion is a slow but more meticulous method, for when a sanitizer wants more control over the process. Kamabo has a medical wing dedicated largely to this. Infusion will get brought up again later.

Syringe Chargers, the signature weapon of a sanitizer, can also sanitize with a number of well-aimed shots, normally to the head. However, this method is notably HIGHLY painful, as the Syringe Charger's shots are piercing.

Sanitized Gel

Sanitized "ink" isn't ink at all. Ink is an oil-based substance, where the sanitized variant is an alcohol-based one. It's more accurate to call it a gel rather than an ink. This cyan-green-teal gel is a non-color-changing default for all sanitized, where ink production organs produce heavy amounts of alcohol instead of oil. A number of sanitized (not all) can produce normal ink, but it always has hints of alcohol in it even then.

Sanitized gel is a very powerful base known for causing chemical burns. It consists of many chemicals, but is mostly high-pH isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol) and lye. Even brief contact with sanitized gel can cause severe chemical burning, nerve damage, and dermatitis. But getting it in you will do a lot, lot worse.

- What it Does

Sanitized gel works by targetting all the bacteria in your body. As cephalings, we have a mutual dependancy on the beneficial bacteria that lives around, on, and in us. Without it, we would die. The high alcohol content of sanitized gel kills this bacteria, and most other things it touches.

It's completely unknown how it puts people into a state of living death though, nor how it makes people lose their memory. Leading theories presume that the beneficial bacteria we share a symbiotic relationship with have very important roles in our brains.
Not every sanitized is brainwashed off the bat, it's assumed this is something Kamabo proper has some hand in.

- The Pros (Sanitized Medicine)

For the sanitized, however, sanitized gel can be a boon. Even if it caused and causes a lot of the medical issues sanitized suffer, infusions via IV can mitigate symptoms, the same way a normal ink IV can help treat a few conditions in non-sanitized.
This puts sanitized in a weird state of both relying on their gel and being hurt by it. Functionally, to us, it's identical to normal ink, and it's not caustic to sanitized the way it is to non-sanitized. But by having killed all bacteria in our bodies and continuing to do so, it destroys the body.

While sanitized can create their own gel, we all have limited amounts, the same way a non-sanitized has a limited amount of ink in their lifespan. To infuse yourself with your own gel is to have a net gain of zero. You can infuse with another sanitized's gel, but that's often at their expense.
The best practice, while unsustainable in long-term, is theft: stealing IV bags which Kamabo Co. produces themselves yields best results, and this is most likely due to a difference in chemical makeup of Kamabo IVs versus the gel from a sanitized. It's hard to explain and there's lots of unknowns, but it's most likely that the gel stored in Kamabo IVs come from a place where sanitized gel was originally created, instead of being gel extracted from a sani.
Getting IVs from Kamabo, of course, is dangerous work. With my knowledge of the facility, I'm lucky to keep a lot in stock in general, and like many Kamabo objects, these IVs sometimes find their way to the Surface through other means and may end up in stores. If you ever need any, please do contact me!

The science of "sanitized medicine" is a delicate one with a lot of mysteries to unravel. While it's an art perfected by the Kamabo Co. sanitizers and scientists, it's unknown on the Surface. I've been making great strides in studying it through self-treatment and helping out others.

Symptoms

Sanitization comes with a whirlwind of symptoms that range in severity.

- Massive Organ Failure

Rarity: Universal
What's most noticable about a sanitized is the lack of a heartbeat. And when the heart stops, everything else shuts down.
Clinically, sanis are dead. All sanitized present with clammy skin that's cold the touch, and lack a pulse. Our heart does not beat and every organ in the body is no longer functioning. At least, they don't function properly.

A weird trait of sanitized organ failure is that, on occasion, some organs still function to a degree, just not well and/or correctly. Many sanitized can still eat, for example, though often times our internal gel is so caustic it just melts food. The nervous system of sanitized still functions, as does the muscular system, but both are more often than not damaged and painful.

Most sanitized can continue living without many crucial organs, such as the liver, kidneys, lungs, and more.

All sanitized have nonfunctioning and dead respiratory and immune systems, as there's no need for either.

The only truly functioning part of a sanitized's body is the brain. Sanitized, in this manner, are in a state of reverse braindeath. Sanitized will normally always present with some sort of neurodivergence, brain trauma, and/or unique brain disease however.

- Chronic Pain

Rarity: Very common
Chronic pain in the sanitized comes from many, many sources. Partly-functioning organs, nerve damage, and muscle/ligament/carilidge damage are usually the culprits. Sanis often walk with limps or have a bad limb or two and many have poor posture.

Chronic pain can be managed by means of IV infusion, or painkillers if one can process medicine. It can also help to get disability aids like walkers, wheelchairs, crutches, rollators, and splints or braces.

- Amnesia

Rarity: Universal
All sanitized lose their memories of any events prior to their sanitization. Remembering one's sanitization is possible, but uncommon, meaning memory is lost somewhere in the sanitization process, it's just unclear where, if there's a concrete point.

It is possible to return memories through hard work with a person who shares the memory of those events, but not everything will come back. For those with a "returned" memory, their pre-sanitization memories will remain spotty and mostly gone.
It is believed some sanitized have an inherent, underlying memory of some things in their past. Sanis have been shown to be very good in certain fields they've never had experience or practice in post-sanitization, and it's theorized that's because they were good in those fields pre-sanitization. It's unknown why this occurs, but it's probably a sort of bodily memory.

Amnesia of memories post-sanitization is also very common, particularly short-term amnesia, though this is usually due to neurodivergence or brain traumas.

- Neurodivergence

Rarity: Universal
All sanis have some form of neurodivergence. All have the aforementioned amnesia, for example. Autism, ADHD, PTSD, and psychosis are exceptionally common. Depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, and mutism or semi-mutism are also frequently seen. Of course, having one almost always means they have several others as well, as comorbidity between neurodivergent conditions is high.

- Neuropathy

Rarity: Very common
Nerve pain is quite common in sanitized and is the root of most chronic pain, and neuropathy often accompanies. This can be a pins-and-needles feeling, a burning sensation as if the affected area is on fire, a tingling pain, and more. This also results in muscle spasms and twitching as the nerves misfire.
Pain may be eased by IV, nerve pain meds, painkillers, and mobility aids.

- Fibromyalgia

Rarity: Common
As a result of chronic pain and neuropathy, many sanitized end up with a fibromyalgia diagnosis. This appears as full-body muscle pain and fatigue, attributed to misfiring nerves.
Pain may be eased by IV, nerve pain meds, painkillers, and mobility aids.

- Chronic Fatigue

Rarity: Very common
Being in pain all the time makes you extremely tired. Chronic fatigue and CFS/ME diagnoses are very common in sanitized. No amount of sleep makes one feel rested and doing even slight physical activity is physically painful, sometimes resulting in post-exertional malaise. Sanitized typically sleep for extremely long periods and aren't physically active. Many are bedbound.
Depending on other factors in a sanitized's health, this can also manifest in other forms, such as a squeaking-wheezing sound, burning sensations in stressed muscles, muscle paralysis, and more.
Symptoms can be managed via IV.

- Muscular Dystrophy

Rarity: Uncommon
Muscle degradation is frequently seen in select sanitized, though a little more uncommon compared to other symptoms. Sanitized who experience this lose muscle mass and progressively get weaker. This can be slowed with IV and medication, but not completely halted. Most sanitized who experience this come to rely on mobility aids.

- Arthritis

Rarity: Common
The sanitized body often inflames the joints, resulting in arthritis and sometimes joint degradation. Sanitized are often noted as walking stiffly, with limps or clearly bad joints, or as if they are in pain otherwise. Arthritis is normally the culprit.