ALBANY, ENY, July 6 (HNS) -- Representatives of the Los Angeles megacorporation United Fruit Producers (UFP) announced today that the Empire of New York has granted them the right to sell a version of the Hiver drug known as "Hype" in the Empire, with virtually no competition and very little taxation.
"We plan to have two versions of the drug available," said Charmian Baxter, UFP's Special Executive Assistant and former "United Fruit Girl," to a gathered crowd in Albany. "Demon, short for Speed Demon, will be an industrial strength version, accelerating movement and thought at three times normal for human beings. Overclock will be the over-the-counter version, which will double a person's speed and provide a very... pleasant... sensation."
Both UFP and the Imperial government refused to comment on how such an unprecedented deal was made."According to my sources in LA, this is the result of an exchange of favors," said Dr. Terence Simonds of the Political Science Department at Penn State. "The Empire owed someone 'big time', and this person wanted something from UFP, and this was the deal that was struck to get that person what he or she wanted."
Hype is a bleeding-edge TL 6 drug developed in the early days of the Hive, before the Thread was fully TL 7 on the Penn State Technolgy Level Scale. It allows someone to think and move at five times the rate of a normal human, but members of the Hive Scientist caste believe that it may cause heart attacks in non-Hivers.
UFP's version of the drug, Demon, was re-tooled for non-Hiver physiology, speeding someone up two to three times faster than normal (effects vary) and causing euphoria, what UFP literature refers to as a "marketable side effect." UFP doesn't recommend being on Demon for longer than 24 hours (objective time), and claims that there is "minimal risk" of heart failure if "all label instructions are followed."
"In LA, Overclock originally referred to an adulterated, unsanctioned street version of Demon," said Dr. Fred J. Richardson of the Penn State Smeal College of Business. "In this case, I suspect the concern is that the brand name 'Demon' will not play well with the Catholic citizenry of the Empire, so they're hedging their bets without abandoning the established brand entirely. However, such action speaks of this being a rush deal, which fits the rumors of some sort of exchange of favors being involved, and UFP moving rapidly before anyone changed their minds."
Last year, the Hive purchased United Fruit Producers for an undisclosed amount, making it the only Los Angeles megacorporation owned entirely by foreign interests, though it is rumored that several of the primary holders of Paracentry recently fled Los Angeles after the left-wing coalition known as "the Movement" became a serious player in that Thread.
