BOSTON, ENY, Aug 23 (HNS) -- The Witch Finders of Boston's New Catholic Church have a new tool in their war on sorcery: A drug called Quiet.
"We only use it on witches who have volunteered for the program," said Father Melvin Seeley, a Witchfinder and a medical doctor. "And the pharmaceutical has been obtained legally from the Los Angeles shard."
Mrs. Teresa Norris was an early adopter of the program. When she caught local children bullying her developmentally disabled son, she lashed out with esoteric talents. According to the official report, witnesses saw her fire lightning at the bullies. One was merely singed, but the other had to go to the hospital. Under Boston law, committing a crime using witchcraft is punishable by death. But her sentence was commuted when she agreed to take Quiet for the rest of her life.
"Of course there are side effects," said Dr. Melynda Wright, a psychiatrist and devout New Catholic who is working with Father Seeley. "Dizziness. Muscle spasms. But Quiet completely suppresses the occult abilities of the patient, so she cannot even accidentally draw upon Satan's power."
"It's a small price to pay to know that I will not accidentally inflict damage upon my friends and neighbors," said Mrs. Norris. "I didn't even know I could do those things... One of the witches on Death Row with me said I had a 'wild talent,' whatever that is. All I care about is a second chance to get right with God and the law."
Other early adopters include men and women who have technically committed no crime with esoteric powers and cannot be prosecuted under Boston law.
"We just want to kick the addiction to magic," said one such early adopter, Arthur Sheehan, a 16-year-old high school student. "I was using witchcraft to become luckier at cards... Not divination, that would get me killed, but just luckier... A so-called blessing."
Some are not as pleased with the program. Arthur Sheehan had taught his girlfriend, Amanda Terry, the same card-blessing spells that he used, and she also volunteered to take Quiet for a time.
"She was like a zombie," said Joseph Terry, Amanda's father and a local pharmacist. "Listless. Weak. She could barely stand. Once she even had an epileptic fit. We took her off the Quiet, and just had her sit down with a priest, since nothing she'd done was technically illegal."
"It says United Fruit on the pill bottles, but who knows what really counts as legal in Los Angeles? I hear it actually comes from some raver group called Les Invisibles," said Mrs. Ann Terry, Amanda's mother.
"Father Seeley says that the Imperial Federal Drug Administration has vetted the drug as safe," said Mr. Terry, "but I read the report... It's full of substances that are considered inert from a pharmaceutical point of view, but who knows why they're there, and how they interact with witchery to do what Quiet does."
Due to extreme problems with the supernatural after the Event and before annexation by the Empire of New York, in the Boston shard, all crimes committed by supernatural means, or with the assistance of supernatural means, are punishable by death. Additionally, the practice of certain forms of magic, even when not in the course of committing another crime, are crimes punishable by death.
The Witch Finders are an arm of Boston's New Catholic Church with legal powers to enforce law with regard to supernatural crime, but only within the Boston shard. Their authority can be over-ridden by either the Governor of Boston, or the Emperor of ENY.
