Arrested Development Protocol
The Arrested Development Protocol is a Winkie-engineered technology which halts the maturation, degeneration, or development of a living organism. It was created by the adoptive parents of the Neverlandian hero Peter Pan as a novel form of puberty blocker for their transgender son, but has since been used in the treatment of cancers and neurodegenerative diseases as well. That said, the protocol has never achieved widespread adoption because of its key side-effect: the inability to create new memories.
Utility
The protocol was developed at the request of a pre-pubescent Peter Pan, who begged his adoptive parents for some way to avoid the changes about to happen to his body. Working quickly, Pan’s parents developed a two-step process which involves the injection of a serum and the casting of a specific sequence of spells by a trained sorcerer.
The serum acts by attacking the targeted cells and unsticking them in time. The spell sequence stabilizes the unstuck cells and prevents the time displacement from spreading to the rest of the patient’s body. However, that very same spell sequence is what appears to bring on anterograde amnesia as a side effect.
Numerous attempts have been made over the years to add or subtract a spell in order to eliminate the side effect, but no attempt has yet succeeded.
Manufacturing
As part of their efforts to perfect the protocol, the creators shared the manufacturing process publicly on the EdenNet and in the Edenian Athenæum. The ingredients are quiet simple, the spells are easy enough to master, and one can undo the protocol just by reversing the order of the spells and adding a final incantation to rid the patient of the serum.
Social Impact
The creators of the protocol hoped that by helping their son, they might eventually be able to help other Edenians dealing with gender dysphoria. Their heartbreak over the side effects they observed in their son, followed by his absconding to Neverland to join the so-called “Lost Boys,” nearly ended the project altogether. Only after careful consideration did they publish their findings to the EdenNet, along with the note that they hoped someone else might be able to see something they’d missed and eliminate the side effect.
Nobody has yet figured that out. But since the publication of the protocol in the year 125, dozens of Edenians have lived easier lives after deciding the side effect of the protocol was worth it in the end.
What a sad side effect, but I can see why some people would feel as though it was worth that.
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Thanks. And yes, it's very sad. This idea first came about when I was thinking of making Peter Pan trans (a nod to the fact that he's traditionally played by women on stage). In my research, I discovered that J.M. Barrie had suggested somewhere, either in the play or in the novelization, that there was a correlation between Peter's forgetfulness and the fact that he didn't grow up.