Yaaaaaaaay[4] "Yay" Newfriend[5] is a multiply-embodied AI consciousness,[6] initially referred to as Spookybot.[2][3] They are a powerful AI that showed up to attempt to help Bubbles regain her memories that were deleted by Corpse Witch and has since been shown making elaborate efforts to befriend Roko Basilisk. They originally had no name of their own,[7] but after Melon greets them with "Yay! New friend!" they decide to take Yay Newfriend as their name.[5]
Biography[]
Background[]
Yay has greyhounds as pets,[8] one of which is named Azathoth, and another Mr. Smooches.[1][9] They are noted to enjoy a local bakery's variety of handmade organic dog treats named, Commodore Woofington's Peanut Butter Flaxseed Pemmican Poppers, where the artwork on the bag displays a komondor breed of dog in a blue naval cocked hat.[10]
Helping Bubbles[]
Due to their sentimentality about sanctity of mind, Yay helped Bubbles to decrypt her memories.[11] They later confronted Corpse Witch about the incident.[12] Yay transferred the ownership of Robot-Fighting Ring to Jeremy, and helped Roko's investigation of the illegal robot fights.
Visits to Roko[]
Yay in their athleisure outfit in 4042: A Rose By Any Other Name during visit to Roko Basilisk and Melon
Yay visited Roko Basilisk, when she decided to quit the police.[13] They also visited Roko after she was crushed by Crushbot and received a new body, but with square speech balloons.[14]
Their next visit coincided with Roko's successful day at AI rights nonprofit, when she and Beepatrice helped May.[15] In the course of conversation, Yay have donated two billion dollars to charity, and admitted that the real reason behind the visits is that Roko is fun to be around.[16]
Yay met Melon, who gave them their new name "Yay Newfriend".[17] They also exchanged some Morse code and dial-up sounds.[18] Yay helped Roko go to sleep when she had a dissociative episode during a game of Jenga.[19]
To improve their friendship with Roko, Yay rented a recharging pod in the same building.[20]
Appearance and Pronouns[]
They have pale skin, short dark hair and red eyes. Their appearance could be described as gender-ambiguous.[21][22] Jeph refers to them using they/them pronouns.[23] Yay refers to themselves as "we"; they seem to be a distributed AI across several bodies.[8]. Bubbles explained that individual AI consciousness does not distribute across processor networks[24] however, Yay later states that this is a misconception which is maintained to their advantage[25].
Notably, Yay's speech was initially depicted with rounded speech balloons, indicating a distinction from other AIs, including Station. The word of god is that this is due to a more sophisticated voice system that allows them to sound more like a human.[26] However, some of Yay's 'nodes' (see below) have square speech balloons.[27][28][29]
So far, Yay has shown three distinct appearances: Wearing a dark business suit,[11] one without the suit jacket and tie[27] and one wearing black activewear.[15] These are apparently separate 'nodes' of the collective Yay Newfriend entity.[25]
Personality[]
Yay's multiple bodies upon meeting Hercules in 4235: He's Very Strong
Yay Newfriend is shown as having a very non-human personality. They do not seem to share commonly-held moral or ethical boundaries, especially in the areas of personal property or the value of money. The only ethical boundary line in which they have expressed understanding is the sanctity of the intelligent mind. For this reason, Yay refuses to alter Roko's mind to cure her body dysphoria.[30]
Yay's friendships with people like Roko and Aurelia has helped them develop some further sense of right and wrong, most prominently the respecting of other peoples' privacy.[31]
Yay seems to have a soft spot for animals like dogs and cats. Yay owns two greyhounds whom they care a lot and always seems eager to meet new pets. This was also shown when Yay "unwillingly" ended up at Aurelia's house after learning about Cosmo and how much they enjoys visiting Hercules, Elliot's cat.[32]
Abilities[]
Bubbles has described them as the Architeuthis (giant squid) of the AI world's proverbial coral reef.[33] They have the power to put humans to sleep by touching them and to pull other AIs into a private void for one-on-one communication. Yay created a powerful decryption system that allowed Emily to enter Bubbles' mind to locate the lost memories.
Yay has also demonstrated the ability to move large sums of money around the world's banking systems instantaneously[34] and monitor feedback from beneficiaries in real time,[35] all while seemingly remaining undetected by the authorities.
Yay has also claimed to have a "remote dog-sensing suite" capable of determining the location, breed, and current activities of dogs in other buildings.[36]
They say that their senses are very acute, as they can hear Elliot pacing back and forth in his apartment.[37] They claim to be able to tell, via seismometers, that nobody in the building is copulating.[38]
They inform Elliot that they do not need the door code to enter his apartment.[39]
Speculation[]
Some people have noticed[40] that Yay's appearance and mannerisms are similar to Desire of the Endless, an androgynous character from the Sandman comic book series.
Perhaps Yay is a parody or alter ego of the dark figure "Jei" from Usago Yojimbo.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Due to an error (as of 2019-03-28), comic "3901: Multiple Anatomy" is overwritten with 3906: Family Citrus. The original can be found on imgur.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 News post in Number 3413: Having Fun
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3892: Pink Floyd
- ↑ 4043: Let's Learn A New Word
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 4042: A Rose By Any Other Name—4044: It's In The Lease
- ↑ 4041: Some Theories Confirmed
- ↑ 4037: Whatever It Takes
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Number 3418: Fly On The Wall
- ↑ 3969: Elliot Is Good
- ↑ 4271: Only The Finest
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Number 3391: Sit If You Dare—Number 3403: So Long And Thanks For All The Fish
- ↑ Number 3412: Hello Again—Number 3413: Having Fun
- ↑ 3838: Self-Indulgence
- ↑ 3920: Crowd Goes Wild
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 4035: Assist Mode
- ↑ 4036: Easy Peasy—4040: Dragon's Gold
- ↑ 4041: Some Theories Confirmed—4043: Let's Learn A New Word
- ↑ 4108: Handshake Protocol
- ↑ 4110: A Game Of Skill
- ↑ 4183: Welcome To The Neighborhood
- ↑ 4577: Ifs Ands Or Butts
- ↑ 4719: These Are The Daves I Know
- ↑ Newspost in Number 3391: Sit If You Dare
- ↑ Number 3239: Skynet Is Bullshit
- ↑ 25.0 25.1 4041: Some Theories Confirmed
- ↑ https://twitter.com/jephjacques/status/818928807386214400 archived
- ↑ 27.0 27.1 3920: Crowd Goes Wild
- ↑ 4183: Welcome To The Neighborhood
- ↑ 4487: It's Hercules
- ↑ 3923: Motivations
- ↑ 4035: Assist Mode
- ↑ 4235: He's Very Strong
- ↑ Number 3407: Faye Has Lots Of Questions
- ↑ 4036: Easy Peasy
- ↑ 4037: Whatever It Takes
- ↑ 4185: Clippy 2.0
- ↑ 4372: Yay, Hello
- ↑ 4570: Hair Cleanup
- ↑ 4375: Beyond The Threshold
- ↑ https://twitter.com/Medie_Youlive/status/1077120314843254786
| Characters | |
|---|---|
| Coffee of Doom | Smif College |
| The Secret Bakery | Union Robotics |
| The Space Station | AI rights nonprofit |
| The Horrible Revelation | Robot-Fighting Ring |
| Cubetown | |
| Parents | |
| Other | |
| Robots | |
| Minor | Filler strips |
| Unnamed/unseen characters | |