SECTOR 001, HIVE, July 14 (HNS) -- Today a Hiver biologist announced over HiveNet that the Hive has returned to its pre-CANCaL levels of population, having yesterday reached exactly one billion people "with the birth of Remus-0000FF02."
Chay-00000FF3, a member of the Hive's Scientist caste with the equivalent of a PhD in Reproductive Science, said in his HiveNet announcement: "Without the aid of several Threads, co-ordinated through the JET, we would not have been able to defeat the biological and CQM-fueled threat that was CANCaL. The kindness and altruism of wild humanity is not to be underestimated."
Chay-00000FF3 followed up his announcement with a statement to the foreign press.
"Of course, many of these people are children, ranging in biological age from twelve years old to infancy. Contrary to popular Outsider belief, we prefer not to force-grow adult clones, though of course most of the children are hyped," Chay-00000FF3 told the assembled newsmen. "We prefer more natural breeding and birthing methods."
CANCaL stands for Cloaked Acute Necrotic Cardiovascular Lysis. CANCaL was a plague released upon the Hive which caused people's hearts to burst into flames. Released by survivalists from the Midwestern States holed up in Fort Knox, CANCaL had a spiritual component added to it by a cult from the alternate-history world-shard known to the JET as Axa.
CQM stands for Conscious Quantum Manipulation, and is what the Hive uses to refer to what is more popularly known in the post-Event world as magic.
Hype is the drug used by much of the Hive to live and work four times faster than normal humans. A version of the drug is sold by the United Fruit Producers corporation in the Los Angeles Thread (tho regulation varies by sub-nation) and in the Empire of New York.
