DY (Short for DYnamic Industries) is a company ran by Sylvester Cobra and Professor Viper. It produces many things, including machinery, small robots, computer software, prosthetic limbs, computer games (See: Polybius) and baseball hats.
It has been the target of multiple court cases after 'malfunctions', including prosthetic hands trying to strangle their owners, software becoming sentient and taking over the network, and computer games brainwashing players into engaging in real-life combat. The owners, as many Cobra family members are known to do, have succeeded in weaselling their way out of every incident without consequence.
Headquarters[]
There is a false DY headquarters in Bristol, which is a large building covered in solar panels with two wind turbines either side. It is actually abandoned, and is used by rebellious youngster Johnny Cobra to host sleepovers and rave parties.
The real DY headquarters is deep underground on a deserted island in the middle of the ocean. It can only be found by another Cobra family member, as there is a DNA Scanner hidden in a palm tree next to the entrance to the elevator (disguised as a mountain, of course).
Providing Cobra DNA will grant you entrance into the HQ, which is partially a clean, sterilised laboratory littered with petri dishes, test tubes the size of marble columns, books on the human body and steel cages marked 'DO NOT POKE', and partially a highly technological lair covered in interactive surfaces, bits and bobs of projects and steel cages marked POKE IT, I DARE YOU.
These two areas tend to mingle, as it is partially Professor Cobra's design and partially Professor Viper's, but constant renovations and extensions have turned the lair into a labyrinthine system of laboratories that is easy to get lost in.
Retail and Sales[]
The troublesome duo tend to rely on Johnny Cobra for advertising ideas, as he's 'in tune with this generation' (and asking the twins usually ends in tragedy). This means a lot of their adverts are either super-radical and awesome, featuring skateboards, singing animals and memes, or very darkly poetic and edgy, something only a moody teen could dream up.
There are few stores that exclusively sell DY products, and they can normally be found in all good retailers. Their website, designed by Viper, is very sleek and modern. They have a no return policy.
Professor Cobra's more 'genetically modifying' medicinal products (such as muscle-growing pills and drinks that greatly enhance eyesight) can be bought from most pharmacies.
Most DY products come in purple packaging. Their slogan varies, but the following have been used;
- DY - Do you?
- DY - The voice of the future.
- DY - Barely dangerous!
- Don't ask why - DY.
- DY - Out of prison, at it again!
- DY - We're in your home.
- Are you ready to DY young?
Manufacturing[]
Most of the initial projects or one-off creations not for public sale are created in the laboratories of the headquarters. Once the original project (or Item Zero) has been produced, blueprints are sent to the DY factories. There are five- one deep under the arctic ice, one at the bottom of the Atlantic ocean, one hidden in a Hawaiian volcano, one in a hidden bunker beneath the Australian outback and one in Slotham city.
The factories are run by robots created by Viper that do most of the heavy/dirty work, and low-maintenance genetic hybrids created by Cobra that do assembly, testing and packaging, as well as working with chemical/medicinal products. Viper often considers Cobra soft, because he allowed the genetic hybrid slaves to form a sturdy worker's union.
Normally, a limited amount of the product is released to the public, to predict demand and do last-minute bug tests. Afterwards, if the demand is high, more is made and shipped to retailers everywhere.
In case of a raid/incident that could compromise the entire company or its owners, each factory has a self-destruct system. The Arctic factory flash-freezes and collapses, killing everyone inside. The underwater factory floods itself with seawater. The Hawaiian factory sets off a minor volcanic eruption. The Australian factory implodes, creating a massive sinkhole. The Slotham factory explodes with the potential to blow half of the city sky-high.
Each self-destruct button can be accessed from the HQ.
Trivia[]
- The HQ does not have a self destruct button, but the Plan-Z instead consists of releasing every creation into the wild (robots set to 'Y2K', genetic experiments set to 'primal') and the two owners either freezing themselves in carbonite (Cobra's idea) or slapping on as much weaponry as possible and going to town (Viper's idea).
- Although Johnny Cobra is technically Viper and Cobra's successor, and the heir to the DY throne, he is not overjoyed at the prospect of following in their footsteps.
- Viper does not appear in adverts, as she is, quote herself, 'cursed with the evil face'.
- The company has a friendly rivalry with Bio-Slime Corps, run by Bill Large, with Tybalt and Cassandra Cobra working for it.