Chemical H-12

H-12, or Hexednium Acid, is a synthetic organic compound used as a food preservative and medicine. It has the chemical formula CH3(CH)4Ed2H. It is a colourless solid that is slightly soluble in water and sublimes readily. It is primairly synthesized from Carbon, Hydrogen, and Edmundium.

First marketed as a medicine in the mid 2050's, and eventually as a health additive in the 2060's, H12 soon cemented itself as part of everyday life. The trace amounts of Edmundium that infested all walks of life at first rocketed humanity into a very brief golden age. Ailments such as general muscle pain was eradicated, and while the rates of cancer suspiciously rocketed, the softening of other illnesses meant that the human lifespan skyrocketed. Soon, however, the element 115 inside Chemical H12 built up inside the bodies of all that consumed it, and in 2074, a significant portion of the human race developed what would be known as the first case of stage 2 Edmundium poisoning at almost exactly the same time, after stage 1 Edmundium poisoning was mostly ignored. It was here that society began to split down the middle, with a significant portion of the population becoming obsessive of the various health bars and shakes that contained Chemical H-12.

The "Corrupted" as they were labelled by the media, fled from the cities, most of them ending up in the large swathes of land that were rendered infertile and 'unlivable' by the various years of pollution and war. The edmundium withdrawal played out, and eventually, hundreds of thousands of people slowly came to their senses. They couldn't return, no, many had burned what bridges they had when they left in the throes of element poisoning. Instead, they did the only thing they could do, carve out their lives here, in the wastes where no others lived.

In the rest of the world, H12 was all but abandoned, save for black market operations, and where food once boasted "Now with H12!" it now proudly toted "H12 free!".

It was not easy to cause half of an entire nation to quit an addictive substance, cold-turkey, although eventually it was successfully done. By 2083, the vast majority of people were repulsed by the mere mention of H-12, although rumors still persisted of individuals living in the under-city, scavenging for whatever H-12 remnants they could find.