ENN Live broadcast, December 12, 2028

I doubt the full history of drug #M45397, a.k.a. "Nirv", will ever be published.
   Our mistake was allowing standard double-blind testing in the FDA trial. I released the first users into the community. Like children, we couldn't imagine the things that are hiding behind the gray facade of reality. The power of beta-thalamoids.

   Addiction is too weak a term. Our language has no words for joy this deep, but every user believes they've found the meaning of life. While profoundly changed, they still function normally for the first few weeks. The number of hidden users follows a Fibonacci sequence as the die-off proceeds.
   Let me repeat: nothing matters to users but the drug. It's dangerous to even talk to them. That's how it spreads. I'm not being paranoid. Despite our precautions, HHS has been infiltrated.
   We never captured any of their labs intact, but we know they use mind slavery to manufacture Nirv. Users have no fear. All preexisting values are gone.

   What I can't understand is the denial as our society collapses. The Super Depression hasn't slowed Nirv's spread at all, only caused more anxiety. Our disintegrating government and this widespread irrationality are symptoms of the infection. People can't think straight.
   According to projections, the number of users has crossed the 6% threshold. It's irreversible now. I don't want to see the horrors to come.
   This talk we've been hearing, about speeding the spread of Nirv, accelerating the collapse with a few survivors is absurd. And implanting human DNA in apes so they can eventually replace us . . .

   I've seen the future. End-stage users are catatonic. Memory pathways erase themselves as the brain becomes a lethal void. I'm not sure, but I think users want everyone to experience Nirv. If we go extinct, there'll be no new users. I think they'll stop in time.
   All users think alike, so we could theoretically negotiate by capturing one alive, but will they compromise?

   Can you hear me? We want to live. We'll do whatever it takes. You've won!