Yay!

Yay just got *humbled*.

Lex

Now I need to go to a con Jeph goes to IOT request the full body version of that panel.

Tara H

giving big Yzma energy. Love it

Colleen Dewis

They have that in common with Emmett.

Jay MacKinnon

Y/N is also Yay's intials.

Jay MacKinnon

It's a shame we didn't get the :3 face, but it's there in spirit xD

enchantedsleeper

Definitely! But the fact that he made it into something significant is awesome.

enchantedsleeper

They are??

enchantedsleeper

Jeph had fun with that one xD

enchantedsleeper

You're right of course and I have changed it. Thank you for pointing that out.

Paul Veselovsky

but what are it's pokemon evolutions???

Todd Perkins

Jeph, that panel of Yay entering full panic mode is high fucking art my dude.

AlexKorobeiniki

Oh fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck

AlexKorobeiniki

I'm assuming Liz was caught in the slipstream when Yay ran past, and that's why Bubbles is so wide-eyed :)

Stephen Wells

We have seen a whale AI before—allegedly Marten's actual companion AI match instead of Pintsize—so who knows, maybe it wants to go to the dance club and flip its flippers around.

Clarence the Liar

Haven't seen Steve in forever

Michele Williams

At least the Director didn't send unsolicited tentacle pics.

Afunnythinghappedtome

I'm assuming Liz made a break for it.

Aidan Derrico

Knowing that Jeph & John are pals, this definitely was on Jeph’s mind when making this cliffhanger.

Miyaa

I have never laughed so hard at one of your panels until that last one of Yay. The facial expression is just perfection!

Aidan Derrico

ohhhh yeah. thanks

MultiKoopa

I just read through all the comments to see if anyone had brought this up already...seems not.I only recently finished a 2018 book by John Scalzi, _The Consuming Fire_ (book 2 in the Interdependency series), and I'm amused by the very similar incident that arises near the end of that book. Avoiding spoilers, but basically two powerful autonomous AIs discover each other, and one sends an agent program to try to glean info about the other. The other detects the agent, sandboxes it, and "thought about everything that could be done with the agent, deciding at this point small steps were best, and sent the thing on its way with an invitation to its boss, to meet."

Donald R Woods

Yay doesn't like other beings being able to perceived them.

NightAngel

You are welcome. I AM a word guy by trade. I put worb in one language into eyeballs, and change them into worb in another language via brain creases. Also I thoroughly enjoy spouting nonsense, which helps with the neologisms.

Zig Justice

I-C-U…

Claudia D.

Zig:"woobly"! I do love a perfect neologism. Thank you!

Claudia D.

😆

Claudia D.

I was thinking about that myself. If Covid doesn’t kill ya, the sleepy, waking dreams are…interesting… That said we’re going today for our newest booster shots, once down the Covid rabbit hole was quite enough for me, even having been vaccinated.

Claudia D.

New here, Anders, and I’m feeling your pain; I just joined Patreon so I wouldn’t have to wait until MONDAY.

Claudia D.

She was the only one with military-grade reflexes so she's looking in the direction Yay went. The others are still looking at where Yay used to be.

Stephen Wells

Yay's Newfriend.

David Paul

Those blobs on her head stood up, too.

Carl G Knoblock

TL:DR- “Don’t confuse kindness with weakness” (or naivety).

Shane Wegner

Bubbles is designed to accurately assess danger and vulnerability. Yay trips the Threat Detector. Then Yay freaks out, runs away screaming, and there is an odor of sea foam and a sense of tentacles. The meter has fused into a sparking puddle

Todd Ellner

I think the thing about being a post-singularity artillect is, there aren’t many thoughts that aren’t accessible. So I for one don’t think it’s reasonable to think of the Director as only a naive goofus who could never even imagine being mean to anybody. It’s safe to say the Director has a tactician’s understanding of combat, Machiavelli’s understanding of Game of Thrones, and could easily outplay any human at every game. They just happen to find violence and warfare tedious and unproductive and would rather investigate quasars, string resonance, and the genetic makeup of a new species of orchid just discovered. Coming across as a lovable goober is surely better than coming across as a potential humanity-ending cyber threat. Case in point, deliberately steering Moray to meet up with the local branch of Xcom. I’m willing to believe the series of conversations leading up to that were calculated as a distinct possibility in the butterfly wings model of what hiring Claire as the Librarian would cause. I’m further willing to believe the Director geolocated Yay (or at least most of the Yay swarm) to Boston and casually modeled Yay’s psychology to realize meeting another multi-host artillect would be nearly irresistible to them. So Yay thought they were being sneaky, but Moray’s carefully worded message also shows the entire scenario, which Yay assumed was impossible due to being undetectable, played out exactly as the Director envisioned before Moray even left Canada. Yay got out-predicted and outplayed by an order of magnitude, and they’re both able to calculate what that means if they ever did go into conflict. I think that shocking revelation of Yay’s place on the food chain explains Yay’s horrified reaction. Unauthorized network access being a not entirely friendly act, although within the bounds of youthful curiosity, and conflict being wasteful and primitive to most AIs, the Director led with an offer of friendship. Although there being harmonic layers to AI communication, without being outright threatening, the Director is revealing the ability to detect Yay but also highlighting the gap in their abilities. There’s no need to be outright hostile about it. But it’s safe to say a matter of fact analysis that being enemies is not profitable for Yay was layered into the message of friendship.

Shane Wegner

$5 says there's another Moray waiting for Yay wherever she's running off to. Like Yay runs to Aurelia's house and not-Moray is there eating a cookie while Aurelia is talking about these new "IRL VTuber" Models being a bit risqué...

KiTA

There go a couple of the few comments to which my brain replies "Cain't yall speak yewnahtedstaytes??

Ursus Ridens

Great catch, BookBeard (as usual)! But I suspect -- subject to correction -- that the idea of Cubetown was, let us say, embryonic, nay, zygotic in Jeph's mind back then.

Ursus Ridens

Yup. Shy.

Ursus Ridens

I did NOT see that punchline coming, and it's perfect

Stu Reeh

Yay’s pronouns are they/them, Paul.

Runhildr Zaetl

Jeph, I hope you are feeling better!

marinotaur

Yep. He didn't mention it by name but Steve did indeed refer to Cubetown back in 2015. https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3055

BookBeard

No, I bet the director uses Planck units

Mark

Crippling anxiety! Yay is more human than human!

Greg Matyola

@BookBeard seems to me the right answer is no/no/no.

Joe

....where is Bubbles looking lol

MultiKoopa

I don't THINK Yay could simply dematerialize, but I have no doubt that from the outside that what looks like happened. Yay freaked out and ran, but wiped the memories of them running so externally she just went "POOF". This is not the same as what happened to Bubbles so the "sanctity of mind" thing may not apply. Plus to poor thing was panicked.

Paul Veselovsky

Now I'm waiting for a wizard to turn someone into a whale.

VideoBrew

I think his longest callback has to be cubetown itself. Steve mentioned it like 10+ years ago originally when he comes back from Canada with a tan

Zak Reichle

Moray plays Magic Of Friendship.

Daniel Drazen

This could be a big moment for Yay. Up to now they've never dealt with even a near-peer. They've glided around completely secure in their own power, knowing that all the social experiences that have caused them stress or discomfort are, at the end of the day, fully voluntary and that they could disappear without a trace probably within seconds. Now they're encountering another AI that's if not in their weight class at least close enough to compete and who is thus far out playing them at every step. Assuming they don't cut and run back into the safety of obscurity this will probably be a big growth moment for Yay.

Andrew L Butula

I found this strip, thanks to a pointer from David Paul: https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=4888 Yay says to Claire, with a slightly remote I-am-concentrating-on-something look, "We are currently eavesdropping on their open comm channels and the staff are very excited about your visit." This must be where the Director noticed them and got interested. That means Jeph set up this scene nearly 500 strips back, almost two years ago - playing the long game!

Clifton Royston

Aha! You nailed it, and the strip after that has the key information. Yay says, with a slightly remote I-am-concentrating-on-something look, "We are currently eavesdropping on their open comm channels and the staff are very excited about your visit." This must be where the Director noticed them and got interested. (That means Jeph set up this scene nearly 500 strips back, almost two years ago - playing the long game!) https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=4888

Clifton Royston

What level of the Backrooms is "Infinite Black Void" again?

Leak

Tonight on "If Pokedex Entries Were Literal"... #2501 - Yay Newfriendmon

Leak

Should be Roko reading it, going "When do they start toasting bread?!" That would make it a slow-burn romance.

Clifton Royston

@ValdVin: relay logic gates are totally mainstream in train signaling and other similar high reliability infrastructure (e.g. industrial floor control)

Comics Ladybird

If that's the case, the Librarian merits a two-boob-salut at least

Bagge

Yay's initial response to discovering an intruder would be to intimidate. The Director's is to offer friendship. The Director is benevolent and can afford to be. That scares the electrons out of Yay.

OldGoat

I rarely look at the future strips. But I need to know ho Yay will digivolve and for her to go into locogatomon is everything!

Ron Ron

Deep Cover Protocol #19 is just crawling into bed and hiding deep under the covers.

BookBeard

All of Yay's bodies, no matter where they are, just went up the nearest tree.

BookBeard

If there is a tree in/near the club, at least one of Yay's bodies is up it...

Hugh Eckert

Hahahaha admitting they want FRIENDS? Hahahahaha

Cynthia Moore

Nice Spamton impersonation.

lChronosl

Man I wish I was as good at turning words into acronyms.

Miyaa

Their first date will be at the restaurant at the end of the universe. Probably splitting a Michigan J Frog special.

Miyaa

Next strip is Steve reading “Stray Toasters” mumbling about how this isn’t a book about toasters.

Miyaa

I... think maybe Yay just experienced headsplody, a common internet phenomena composed of equal parts shock, terror and happiness.

YsabetJustYsabet

Moray's right boob stands at attention when the director is present.

Tony Pink

Looks like someone isn’t as high up on the food chain as they thought…

EnterTheHero

But I don’t think anyone was counting on Yays panel 5 reaction.

legobil

They are Very Agile and have flitted. Moray and Roko are looking at where they were; Bubbles is looking at where they went.

Stephen Wells

That Bubbles face... I didn't think she could get even cuter

Ben Wong

This was too much wholesome for Yay to bear.

Justin Seifert

Graydon - you and I have *very* different ideas of what's okay.

David Durant

Wow - I'd completely forgotten about that Bookbeard. Thanks very much!

David Durant

At least *one* of Yay ends up at Aurelia's. Their other bodies will be doing a combination of deep cover hiding and distributing around the world / space as much as possible. Do we even have any idea of how many bodies they have?

David Durant

Heck no. It's a shame some folks see things that way.

David Durant

I'm pretty sure one of Yay's bodies will be reflexively heading to Aurelia's. The others are probably executing Deep Cover Protocol #19 though.

David Durant

Alternate theory: Yay turned on the optical camouflage tech they "borrowed" from the invisible emu lab and now Bubbles is the only one who can see them. https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=4104

BookBeard

Is there? Because the impression I got was the Director's personality is pretty much the same as Moray's, only on a conceptual level that makes it impossible for them to communicate with non-Post-Singularity intelligences (i.e., AI Gods and the like). I give it good odds they literally were just like "oh Hi wanna be friends?"

KiTA

Split the difference, a full week of Momo and May eating cereal. Momo: "Wait... how are we eating?" May: "No idea, just go with it."

BookBeard

That does make a kind of sense, really. I mean, Yay snuck in to look around the "surface level" communications and learned about talk of baking a cake for Claire's arrival, as well as whatever they have heard or discovered about Cubetown when Claire and Aurelia questioned them about the place originally (see https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=4887). And since seemingly everything ultimately passes by or through the Director one way or another, Yay probably would have at least made the Director curious.

David Paul

Alternate title: "Shake Hands With Danger" (guitar riff plays)

Brian French

The flavor of Moray in this exchange is the whole “oh new experience, neat!” and “must clear my throat before talking” and “I’m gonna do X, but wait Y is such a cool thing going on right now, oh and Z as well!” Also, maybe there is some subroutine Moray can call upon to more closely represent the Director, because I bet that is what is going on when she got purple.

legobil

Ah! I see! Now we just need to check if the club had a tree inside (with this club, I wouldn't be surprised) for them to disappear into the branches of.

Czarzhan

Big same.

legobil

Same here.

David Paul

My guess would be a bit of both. I mean, Station was suitably mollified when he first heard about Spookybot at the time (see https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3418), and Yay's desire to remain anonymous is quite well known (besides apparently being known to a greater or lesser degree by a quarter of the cast by now...).

David Paul

Yay didn't turn into a vacuum bomb.... maybe something like a spooky action at a distance response for security when startled?

Carrie

I think it really is a testament to Jeph's ability to write nuanced characters that so many of us are both excited to see Yay taken down a peg or two while still feeling sorry for them.

Charlotte Grubbs

They are very nimble, after all: https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=4586 et seq.

Ilmari

They probably just flitted off to hide somewhere. They are very nimble, after all: https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=4585 et seq.

Ilmari

Yay just got an Emperor's New Clothes moment, they're NOT undetectable.

Stephen Wells

I need a panel 6 explanation. Did Yay spontaneously dematerialize? Can they do that? Is it within their endless capabilities? Are they now hiding in their secret base on the dark side of the moon?

legobil

I see that enchantedsleeper called it 2 days ago, suggesting the message would be: "Do you want to be friends? :3"

Clifton Royston

They saw Yay do her "flit" thing, previously only witnessed by Aurelia. She's now up a lamppost outside.

Stephen Wells

They're very agile.

Stephen Wells

Judging by how Cubetown is run and the envoys the Director sends into the world, I think he might just be a big jelly dork who didn't even think of implications outside of the direct statement.

Matthew Delahaye

WOW. I feel sorry for Yay, thrilled that they got shook, and nervous that the director was able to sense them. (So was Yay!)

Onyx

Ah. Femto, with an M. Thank you!

legobil

I suspect this may be leading to a 'Yay in crisis because they think they have have lost their edge by trying to make friends' situation.

Matthew Delahaye

Bill Sienkewicz is amazing. I've got a copy of Stray Toasters here, and it's just wow.

Clifton Royston

Tail sticking out from behind the curtain and swishing back and forth.

Clifton Royston

Maybe. Moray's comment on "they were very particular about [the exact wording]" still sticks in my head though.

StarsRShiney

Femto is cute and sweet!

Clifton Royston

I think it's Moray's equivalent of 'doing the voice'! "The director has purple, so i'm gonna purple, to more accurately report what it said"

Boots McGoot

The really terrifying prospect for Yay is that the Director might think they are cute and OMG what if they LIKE like me I don't know what to do

Clifton Royston

Newfriend! nominative determinism is a helluva drug

Boots McGoot

I think they just ran out of there as fast as their custom chassis super-legs could go.

Clifton Royston

Same.

jonesnori

"They", but yes.

jonesnori

Or we get a full week of Steve eating cereal! Either way, what bliss!

Grace Kieser

Yay doesn't exactly play nice with other AI or registers that they could be part of a community. Amusing as the kitten analogy is, Yay has always thought they were far beyond the capabilities of all other AI and suddenly they now have a boundary. Imagine the worst nightmare of a narcissist/egomaniac or possibly a clinical sociopath I'm not sure which but it comes close to that.

SpookyPenguin

hell of a Friday page, the looks from Roko and Bubbles suggest there was more to this than what ever Moray was seeing. ~<3

Mitsuki Ayane

While we don't know much about the processor architecture that AI run on, we do know that their memory and disk sizes are both measured in bytes, which suggests that their systems are at least partially digital. https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=629 https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1995

BookBeard

Gold Star! Friends! Feral but friendly is a workable POV.

Sparky

I know I get the strips a day early but now I have to wait until Sunday for the continuation.....aaaarggh!

Anders Rapp

My theory is that the "sneaking around" The Director noticed happened when Aurelia asked for Yay's opinion of Cubetown, after Claire had already been offered the job. Undoubtedly Yay was already keeping an eye on the place, but they may have gotten a bit reckless and dug deeper in their eagerness to please their friend.

BookBeard

I’m also headcanoning that Yay started as a military project KRAKEN (Knowledge-Driven Reactive Autonomous Kinetic Entities Network), that Bubbles is dimly aware of when she alluded to things like “you would too if your tentacles were that long”. And by Kinetic I’m picturing Yay ninja dashing and flipping out of the club at a speed that even Bubbles was surprised at.

Shane Wegner

She does indeed continue to be Femto. https://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=4301

BookBeard

This is probably me reading /far/ too much into things, but. . . the director doesn't/ can't communicate like normal beings. If it were just the verbal message, Moray wouldn't need to glow purple. I'm thinking the glow had an additional subtext/ message that Moray can't decipher but Yay could.

StarsRShiney

There’s an implied “BECAUSE YOU WOULDN’T WANT ME FOR AN ENEMY” in that Y/N

Shane Wegner

More like a !!

Shane Wegner

Next week we see something far less terrifying: Momo and May entering the club.

Miyaa

That’s what the director is saying! (Except in metric)

Shane Wegner

* drags cigarette * Aren't we all

Bagge

...in a fight, right?

Bagge

Yes

Bagge

Yes

Bagge

Jellyfish, to be precise

Bagge

"Y!!!!! Also, do you think I'm cool? Like, in a cool, mysterious way? Y/Y?"

Bagge

I think that the title of this one should have been "Danger Far Away" (or heck, maybe "What's Up, Danger" 😆)

enchantedsleeper

Absolutely. Someone else mentioned ART previously and the dynamic is veeeeery similar here xD I love it. Especially the part where the huge, "intimidating" uber-AI actually wants to be friends, which has freaked out the traumatised AI used to hiding and being sneaky.

enchantedsleeper

It's no more kidnapping than pulling someone into a side room, as long as in either case they're able to leave if they desire. Is it technically an assault, yeah, but I really wouldn't say the sort anyone should be concerned about.

Graydon Armstrong

Femto is friend 🥺

enchantedsleeper

Yeah, I think Roko is just a tad slower to follow Yay's trajectory.

enchantedsleeper

Yes, exactly! I think Yay was geared up for something huge and can't deal with the fact that it was so... ordinary.

enchantedsleeper

I suspect Aurelia will have a visitor in need of the mom vibes quite soon.

Ingrid Nordbø

They weren't so fast that Bubbles didn't notice, with her milspec perception. So I don't think Yay blinked anyone.

Graydon Armstrong

🎵 When the Abyss sends "Do you want to be friends?" That's a Moray!🎵

Jason Rock

I don't see it. Because while Claire was accepted to Cubetown, there's no particular reason to assume that this would lead to Moray visiting the area that Claire was from. Moray is pretty autonomous, and The Director didn't make her become attached to Claire or spontaneously decided to visit her. But they might have given Moray the message right before she was due to leave for Northampton.

enchantedsleeper

We already know that different Morays have different personalities, since Moray was the only one who decided not to be reabsorbed.

Graydon Armstrong

Yay is definitely no longer in the building, though

enchantedsleeper

Moray is her own person and I don't think she comes with Director powers. Sure, she came from the Director, and the Director would have her back, but that doesn't mean she could take Yay *herself*.

Graydon Armstrong

That's a great analogy. Yay: *sneak sneak sneak* The Director: "oh hello small friend!" Yay: MROW!!!! *Jumps 3ft in the air and vanishes*

enchantedsleeper

Someone was seen when they thought they were being stealthy and is not sure how to deal. Also, isn’t Yay chronologically quite young? I mean… I know time skips have happened but still. This is like watching your crush do normal things, then their little sis shows up days later with a note. “Sup? Saw you in the caf. Wanna hang?” Only you weren’t supposed to BE there. Also, I wonder if the color-glow-shift was indicative of like… the extension-ness of Moray being-the-Director even as she’s herself. (Which gives me Abyss vibes, gotta say.)

Katrina Urmson

It just occurred to me, how much of this Yay form came from a covid fever dream?

Graydon Armstrong

I think Yay is more disappointed that the message wasn't something ~cooler

enchantedsleeper

Of course the Director is a giant dork, Moray had to get it from somewhere.

Nulgar

The look of Yay reminds me of Fento. Fento that continues to be Fento.

legobil

Possibly never. We've seen her wide-eyed with surprise or concern on numerous occasions, but the narrowed pupils here really do give her a "freaked out" look that I don't think we've seen on her before.

BookBeard

love your work 🥰❤️🖤🙏🧡🤍

Cozy

Ahahaha, someone got busted! 🤣

Moritz Kohler

*they/them

djellafine

No bet

Zak Reichle

Yay ran into the bigger big fish. Oopsers...

Joseph Bonnar

Hahahahaha

Cole Blackblood

Uh oh

djellafine

Aw, honey! 🥺

Mandy Hoskins

The art reminds me of New Mutants Bill Sienkiewicz vibe. I dig it!

Nicholas Villa

THEY SHOULD BE NEWFRIENDS

Minzoku Bokumetsu

Mostly they are referred to with the definite article (i.e. *The* Director) but on the occasion that third-person pronouns have been needed they have consistently been they/them, including by Morays 21 and 44, who could be considered authorities on the subject. https://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=4955 https://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=4999

BookBeard

Can't remember the last time Bubbles was visibly freaked out.

Halloween Jack

Okay, I would not have predicted this result in a month of Sundays.

Jim Sharkey

Shy Yay is Cuterrifying

PsychOut

When her friendship invite Makes you run off in fright That's A Moray!

BookBeard

IMO Yay is freaking out because they were ready for the message to be something like "Let's do mischief," not just, "Hello! Nice to meet you!"

Joshua Bushman

Oh wow you're so right

Yonatan Zunger

I love how Yay is kinda slowly being dragged into maybe being a better person. Not that I ever thought of them as 'evil' per-se, but they've definitely got some Renegade points.

Yelling Bird

It must be jelly 'cos jam don’t shake like dat.

Holly Nelson

If Moray ever needs to fire somebody, that might be how she clarifies "No, no, the Boss said that." It also keeps her from crying in the process.

Bill Silvia

Jesus christ Jeph, I’m gonna have nightmares lol

chili sunrise

Indeed. Now I am curious about how Moray's chosen appearance and pronouns might be reflections of the Director. Does the Director have known pronouns?

Brooks Moses

I love everything about this!

Norman

Yay wasn't ready for that jelly.

BookBeard

Damn, ya beat me too it. That's what I get for scrolling through the comments before I posted 🫥

Not that Patrick Foltz

The comic says that Yay "hijacked [Moray's] sensorium." That is, Yay is overriding the signals that her optical and other sensors send to Moray's forebrain-equivalent. It's impressive, when you consider that nobody really knows how the Morays work, including themselves.

Carl Fink

For some reason, Yay and Director are giving me a Murderbot-ART vibe. "Do not attempt to penetrate my walls."

Sleepy John

Yay uses they/them, probably because they're legion…

Fay Roberts

Yay is freaking out because Moray didn’t include the question mark after “Y/N”.

Summer

awww yay has social anxiety

KapsLocked

A cool $50 says that Yay ends up at Aurelia's

Not that Patrick Foltz

At least Roko didn’t get run over.

Summer

Yeah that’s how I took it. I was half expecting to see speed lines and a cloud of dust left behind by Yay

Jono Hayward

Ok, this one wins the thread.

Mark Nach

Five bucks says that Yay's sonic boom will end somewhere around Aurelia's house.

John Van Aken

Well Moray does come from the director's substance...

Mark Nach

Well you beat me to that

Mark Nach

That's not a no.

Jose Alfredo Villalobos

Probably a long stare then Yay falling backwards and running screaming the other way. Or maybe since Yay can mess with other's sensors, she's gone invisible to all the AIs in the room (which would leave Marten being the only one in the club that can see her).

KiTA

Yay suffers drain bamage

WinglessRayven

Just be friends with the jellyfish Yay...he's lonely.

Ben French

The cryptid does not like being perceived.

Brooks Moses

I mean they did say "sneaking around on my network". But I have the impression of watching a kitten that thinks it is being sneaky.

Brooks Moses

I'm guessing it was the top right panel of 5383 for a slightly-too-long moment, and then from Roko's perspective Yay! just disappeared and from Bubbles's perspective Yay! ran out at a completely improbably speed that was barely trackable with her military-AI capabilities.

Brooks Moses

She broke Yay

maninblack

I don't think so; her body isn't turned in that direction, which makes me think she has just rapidly turned her head. (My guess is that the reason Roko and Bubbles are looking in entirely different directions is a reflection of Yay!'s speed, and the difference between human and military-AI reaction times.)

Brooks Moses

I really wanna know the perspective of the others during that.

Switchchris27

On re-read, I think that darklion is almost but not quite right. Roko is looking where Yay! was at the speed of human response times, and Bubbles is looking where Yay! was at the speed of military-grade-AI response times.

Brooks Moses

Or they might be hiding under a box.

Dean Reilly

And the prospect of a friend that sees them when they think they are being unseen is somehow even more overwhelming than the sum of the parts. (I mean, sees them in a literal sense, as opposed to Roko who reliably sees them in a metaphorical sense when they think they are being hidden metaphorically.)

Brooks Moses

Oh god it's perfect lmao. Poor yay!

SingingTurtles

Also wait, Morray know what is going on! Huh. I think this is one of the weird director things.

Davus Otho

Indeed. That's how you know it's subtle!

Brooks Moses

Yeah, this is going to be unexpected to Yay, but I think that this is like the best possible outcome. I think Yay would be more calm if the director had threatened them.

Davus Otho

BookBeard, you win one entire internet for that.

Brooks Moses

Oh god, what if the Director didn't even think Yay was trying to be stealthy. Like, it was so obvious to them that they didn't even consider "oh this little one is trying to hide."

KiTA

Meanwhile, to answer "What will the Director think?" -- without additional evidence, my guess is that Moray is a representative avatar, and as such, they will think, "Huh, neat." Possibly with rather more of a "that's fascinating how they did that with a minimal understanding of how our sensory system works" than Moray is showing, but I imagine the core being the same.

Brooks Moses

Especially when it appears to be an omnipotent benevolence!

Brooks Moses

Ha!! Yes! By their faces, clearly no idea! Lol. But that takes it one step beyond my thinking. What did they experience (before their computation centers receive the sensor inputs).

Joseph McGrath

That is an excellent way of putting it, indeed. A panic attack is exactly what it is. (The only trivial quibble I might have is that we have no evidence that the QCverse AIs are digital; we presume they are electronic, but even so they may be based on analog electronics.)

Brooks Moses

Hopefully after Yay finishes their freakout, they'll realize that this was probably the best outcome possible. Yes, another god-tier AI knows they're out there, but it's one that seems totally disinterested in humans, not a goody-goody that might feel compelled to reveal Yay's existence to any number of human government entities who would probably be very interested in an AI with their capabilities. And now they know they need to be more cautious. I do understand Yay's fear - even the slightest exposure is a great risk to them - but wow, this could have gone SO much worse.

Charlotte Grubbs

Yay just went thermonuclear and imploded. .. :-D

KA Cruise

Thank you for reminding me that Yay, is in fact, nightmare fuel.

Rose

Upon reflection, I wonder if the creepy appearance was a result of them twigging to that, and came from having the focused attention of the entire Yay! collective (including some less-mentally-humanoid parts) all suddenly inhabiting this one avatar.

Brooks Moses

If you stare into the abyss long enough, a Moray will get extruded to ask you if everything is ok.

Nicolas Dao-Phan

Elf: "They", but yes.

Brooks Moses

I was expecting a more romantic/want ad thing but this is quite good. Now I want to see Yay and Director in a kareoke bar.

Joe Bocanegra

Plot-forks!

Maurice Kessler

Ok my prediction was wrong, but this is _way_ funnier.

Sammitch

I heard that scream.

Maurice Kessler

Moray said the wording was important! And the purple woobly is clearly part of the wording!

Brooks Moses

Dang! Why didn’t I catch that? You’re right, of course.

Holly Nelson

It's possible that the surprise is at what was happening outside the sensory-hijack bubble, and at it suddenly ending. My guess is that it was an exceptionally-brief-but-slightly-too-long-for-normalcy pause where they were smiling at each other, as shown in the last panel before the black void appeared. And then Moray is suddenly in the middle of finishing a sentence, and Yay!'s demeanor has at least changed notably.

Brooks Moses

Hmmm, but he didn't say they weren't in the same multiverse. Yay could still develop interdimensional travel. If they haven't already. Perhaps they actually came here *from* the Alice-verse!

BookBeard

CH> Cue Largo from Megatokyo for his rants about static.

Captain Button

Oh yeah. I mastered the Simpson hedge retreat my first year in middle school. Invisibility cloak, engage!

Holly Nelson

Exactly. It's not a threat in exactly the same way me saying "Oh, hello there" to a random kitten that is exploring my front yard is not a threat. Especially if the kitten thought it was being sneaky.

Brooks Moses

I was thinking Yay/Nay 🤣🤣🤣

Shawn K. Younkin

As Pterry was fond of saying, "when you closely watch, take care that you not be closely watched." Poor Yay, I bet they’re up quite a tall tree by now.

Holly Nelson

RIP Yay, died of newfriend

BookBeard

Yeah, I was going to say, I think that's part of the wording. It is wording that the Director crafted personally rather than relying on one of their humanish-brained appendages to create.

Brooks Moses

Loving the cryptid vibe. 10/10

Mordaeus

Yay/Newfriend

BookBeard

As like or not, when the Director saw that Claire applied was probably around the same time Yay started taking real interest in Cubetown, realized both were from the same area, and just looked for an opportunity to make contact.

Joshua Brumley

With a trail of smoke through the Yay-shaped hole in the wall.

BookBeard

Don't feel out of it. I didn't know *any* of these & had to search.

ValdVin

Bubbles might be in surveillance mode, locked on Liz

Charles Hirst

I prefer to think of Yay's anxiety prompting an unphysical response

darklion

Oh, good. I think we’re done viewing the nightmare creature. I still wake up in a cold sweat after Femto, I don’t need this.

will davison

She got some bioluminescent phytoplankton in her double ocean water, obviously. https://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=5006

BookBeard

I must say the fact that after ~20 years on the internet _this_ is how I learn that the L in ASL is "Location" and not "Language" makes me feel sad. Also I must have confused a butt-load of people over the years.

Thomas Baxter

Or Roko is watching Yay flee while Bubbles is distracted by whatever chaos happened when Liz got to the bar.

BookBeard

Roko and Bubs are looking in two different directions, so conceivably Yay went two directions at once, breaking causality

darklion

Random observation: Moray glowing purple when reciting the message means either our little jiggly nudist is enough of a Post-Singularity AI God-Child to hack Yay's own sensorium right back (after having seen it done ONCE) to turn purple for effect, or the Director included that as part of the message. Or maybe Moray can just glow purple. Have we seen her do that before?

KiTA

very relatable

Robert Weber

Only thing missing in the last panel is a smoke outline of Yay, Bugs Bunny-style

Jeremy Oreskovich

I agree, but while that is equivalent to kidnapping, forcibly altering someone's literal identity is arguably tantamount to murder. I think it's the latter that Yay objects to. I'm not saying they aren't wrong, just that it's not necessarily a violation of their stated moral principles.

BookBeard

Hahahaha. I love it, not only did the director detect them (which yay should have realised when they had a private message for them), but he’s just chill “want to be friends?” Yay really should find it flattering, it’s recognition of an equal. … Of course, Yay is insistent they have no equal…

Thisguy

To use the old saying...the unstoppable force (Yay) met the immoveable object (Director via Moray)...and it appears the unstoppable force blinked first.

Bartley J Drood

Yay's response to A/S/L would be "2/No/Everywhere".

BookBeard

I think that Yay received a serious shock to their self-perception. The Director detected them THAT easily, and had (in Yay’s view) power over them and considered them so insignificant as to only make contact months later while Yay was never aware of having been detected. The comic may be the best visual depiction of an anthropomorphic digital device experiencing a panic attack as I’ve ever contemplated (having experienced plenty of they analog version myself)

Scott

Sometimes you hit your tolerance for being perceived and have to blink out of existence for a minute or two

Wes

😂😂😂 man, Yay's social anxiety is enough to perform a self-KO, and I have to say, that's reassuring - mine hasn't been that bad since highschool, great news 😌

Kristina

What surprised me is that Yay didn't twig to the fact that Rhe Director already had a message for her. She should have run the moment Moray said that.

Elf Sternberg

Interestingly the process of granting QCverse AI civil rights began quite a few years *before* the humanoid bodies showed up (the original full-text post of the speech stated that it was in 1999) https://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2085 p.s. One of my all time favorites. I'm a sucker for deep AI lore.

BookBeard

I think Yay is justified in her fear. She has solved the Distance Problem, to it, the further apart the thinking parts of a distributed system are, the harder it is to keep them in sync, and for AIs I imagine that makes it hard to maintain a singular identity. Like Bubbles, she may have experiences in her past that justify her reaction.

Elf Sternberg

It's the casualness that is freaking Yay out. They have a consciousness of their own consequence that is at odds with such a mundane message. They feel trivialized. Yay was expecting to be welcomed as a savior or declared to be a mortal enemy. Asking to be friends in such a way punctured Yay's ego and sucked out all their pretension. :)

Erin Halfelven at BigCloset

Maybe, but we're getting into semantics. It's not at all like "covering her eyes". By hacking Moary's entire sensorium it's exactly like transporting her body to another location against her will - e.g. kidnapping.

David Durant

Oh, that was definitely Yay screaming in terror and running away in horror. The idea that the Director was cool with it (or that Yay was literally beneath their concern) won't come to her for a while. ... And I fully expect Yay to be offended/annoyed that the Director doesn't consider her a threat.

KiTA

in the 70s, some of my theatrical devices contained relay-based state machines. Much more reliable near actors!

Charles Hirst

Questionable Content: Giving people tattoo ideas since 2000.

Miyaa

The message is as innocent as it gets. Yay freaks out because they cannot find any ulterior motive they could exploit. To their fragile ego no threat is the ultimate threat.

Einy

I think Yay sprinted off or something.

Gamera

I maintained a DTL data entry terminal in the 60s. The control panel kept blowing chips. I got into trouble for asking the operator if she wore nylon underwear - she was carrying a large static charge. We solved it by placing a large, earthed metal sheet in front of the terminal for her to stand on.

Charles Hirst

Is that possible - absolutely. Is Jeph going to have done that, thereby completely undermining Claire - nah. Might Claire *think* that - who can say?

David Durant

Purply glow is best glow

Zig Justice

I can't decide if this is "wait, I was noticed?" or "wait, you're cool about it?"

Chris

*they

Pejo

... Oh god, what if the entire point of Claire getting the job was so the Director could get Moray to Claire's region so she could initiate contact with Yay?

KiTA

I think THEY would also love to know what they just experienced.

William Cole

The funny thing is, I can't tell if the message is meant to be threatening or not. A Post-Singularity AI God randomly passing along a message with her Post-Singularity AI God-child to another properly paranoid Post-Singularity AI God-child all because merely seeing the properly paranoid Post-Singularity AI God-child view the Cubetown network from what was probably safely publicly accessible stuff was enough for the Post-Singularity AI God to figure out: 1. Yay was watching the network 2. Yay is not a normal person 3. Yay is a Post-Singularity AI 4. Yay is in hiding 5. Moray will go to the US someday 6. Moray will go near where Yay is 7. Yay will initiate contact with Moray So, was this a genuine "lets be friends" message or was this a Dark Brotherhood style "I SEE YOU" threat? Was this the Director speaking on behalf of the Post-Singularity AI God community, or just by themselves? And why does no one ever send emails anymore? Heck the other AIs hang out in IRC, why has no one invited Yay to the Post-Singularity AI God-child IRC server?

KiTA

I think Yay's definition of "sanctity of mind" differs from yours. They did not manipulate Moray's memories or personality, which would be a violation of her "self", but rather hijacked her sensor input. Certainly not nice, but not anywhere near the same level ethically speaking. If someone forcibly covers my eyes and ears they may have violated my rights, certainly my personal space, and shown not a small amount of disrespect, but they have not violated my mind.

BookBeard

The glow is excellent.

William Cole

Perfect! No notes!

William Cole

Judging the surprised look on Roko and Bubbles, did Yay just vanish?

Czarzhan

I'd love to know what Roko and Bubbles experienced.

Joseph McGrath

or as a friend

Rich Holmes

Being unexpectedly genuine is the ultimate snark.

William Cole

Spookybot is not used to making friends

Rich Holmes

The slime didn't fall far from the jellyfish, did it?

William Cole

I am immensely entertained, especially by the glowing woobly effect as Moray relays the message

Zig Justice

She just got a message from a Post-Singularity AI God sent via an novel (and naked) Post-Singularity AI God-Child because the Post-Singularity AI God knew enough about her just by observing her casually observing her network to predict: 1. Who Yay was 2. That Moray would end up near Yay someday 3. That Yay would make contact with Moray And she did all this months in advance without Yay even being aware of what was going on, while Yay was being as paranoid as she could be -- Yay being something of a Post-Singularity AI God herself -- and only making basically publicly accessible network connections that would look like any other random person looking in off the street.

KiTA

It is their collective Achilles heel!

William Cole

Sometimes you just gotta hide in a tree about it. https://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=4585

BookBeard

Given that in the never-seen-seldom-even-mentioned history of QC humans went from first encountering human-level conscious embodied AIs to giving them full rights and pretty much everyone treating them as equals in a *very* short amount of time (in Hannerdad's lifetime) it seems a little odd to me to be *that* paranoid but :shrug:.

David Durant

If diode-based gates are hipster, what does that make relay logic gates?

ValdVin

What will the Director think?

Todd Ellner

It is a nuanced threat. "You thought you were hiding. We see you. Your move."

Todd Ellner

I like that Yay was caught by the Director essentially because of how human they are. Probably quite easily caught by a more non human intelligence simply by looking for patterns that are common to humans.

Zak Reichle

Yay is paranoid by necessity. The bigger fish can eat them. Discovery of a covert very powerful distributed AI by the authorities means whatever measures humans have in reserve for post singularity threats might get deployed with exuberantly extreme prejudice. "Shy" is a massive understatement

Todd Ellner

Not only was Yay caught spying without their knowing, the Director predicted their actions enough to send about as old school of a message as possible. Talk about double whammies.

Damian

I'm with Yay on this. "Y/N" is almost as threatening as "A/S/L?"

Thomas Baxter

< cackling >

Abhayakara

I think of it more of a system reset, they got all confused and had a break in sanity which caused an internal system reboot.

Shawn K. Younkin

Still fascinated by Yay being built like a Tumblr Sexyman.

Alex Mullenix

Finding out you were caught spying in such a casual way could be a very casual threat.

Darthopper

Yes

Todd Ellner

Yay can handle anything ... except adorable social awkwardness.

Julia Allen-Hesse

It's hard to determine exactly what constitutes Yay's concept of "sanctity of mind". It is clear it doesn't include freezing others out of the scene -- recall their rendering Dora & Emily unconscious and momentarily paralyzing Faye's legs on their first arrival (# 3392-3). What happened here doesn't seem beyond those actions.

Chas Simmons

Im confused. Did Yay run away…in fear?!

Jon

Ashbury Haight

The best part is Roko staring at Moray and Bubbles presumably watching Yay run for it! :D

Daryk Zirkle

I'm not sure if Yay is freaking out at the simplicity of the message, or the fact that the director knew they were sneaking around the Cubetown network and Yay didn't even know they were caught.

Ryan X

Moray has to be one of the most adorable characters that you’ve ever created. I think I’m in love. 💕 And by the way, did Yay‘s head just explode? 😁

Peter Shaw

Much as it would be lovely, and very healthy, for Yay to have friends that have peer-level abilities, I do worry about a Neuromancer / Wintermute situation...

David Durant

Oblivious-seeming benevolence is the best way to keep Yay on edge.

Ron Hamann

Exactly, they'll be happy about the friendship offer, but currently wigged all out. Whatever physically/networkly happened was a knee jerk response.

Damian Paradis

Oh, I am sure Roko would miss Yay.

Shawn K. Younkin

That's still abduction though

Zak Reichle

I adore Moray explained what the "y/n" means.

Shawn K. Younkin

So, my new headcanon is that all Moray instances are on the same level as Yay in terms of capabilities. It’s just that Moray is so ditzy, she often forgets she can knock satellites out of orbit if she wanted to. She’s essentially a child with a nuke, that’s too distracted by their favorite show to even consider using it is an option.

Chauncey

Sooo… was that a y?

Mitch Megaw

Spookybot is not used to being outspied and outspookied

Alcaria Swain

They're *very* fast (hopefully Bookbeard will produce the strip of them leaping into the tree outside Aurelia's). That said, at the moment it'd be completely in character for them to instinctively hack the optics of all the AIs in the building to cover their escape GitS style. Just one more offense against their stated nature for them to regret later.

David Durant

I don't think Yay violated her mind. I think they took her to a shared consciousness that only they can access.

Christopher Ellis

Yay is holding onto the rafters like Sam Fisher in a Splinter Cell game

Simon Green

Yay Newfriend has a chance for a new friend. Lol.

Bridgette Ryan

Omg, I want that last Yay panel as a print I can hang above my work computer.

Cory

Jeph said in the past that QC and Alice Grove were not in the same universe. I miss Alice Grove so much though. It is definitely my webcomics Roman Empire.

Laura-Kathleen Redman

Newfriend? More like Goofriend!

Jeff

Yup. Yay totally violated the conscious mind of another individual going against everything they said they stood for. While they're having their meltdown, probably at Aurelia's, I hope they take some time to think about that as well as what it's like to exist in a world where one has actual peers. I don't think they're irredeemable but I hope Roko tears them off a strip.

David Durant

It’s all diode based XOR gates because Yay is secretly an hipster. “TTL is so mainstream”

Chauncey

Are channeling Akira Toriyama? You are killing me here. What happens? :)

Nathan Casteel

Hrm.. my take is Yay is having a superiority complex conundrum, and since that physical body can't literally teleport they subconsciously blipped all the local AI minds as a safety/fear response as they goes off to think.

Damian Paradis

Hello new friend!

MikeT

Hi-diddly-ho, neigborino!

Logan Nix

Yay just got a massive shock to the system. The fallout will be quite interesting.

Tannerbot

good job yay

Brendan Luster

I'm not sure it's snark, I think it's genuine

Eric Sieck

What a dreadful oversight on my part. Thank you for the correction.

Sorastro

In hindsight...why didn't we?

Eric Sieck

*them

David Durant

. . . I did not see that coming.

Doc Gumby

Saw this coming from a mile away 🤣🤣🤣

Aditya Rameshan

*they/their*, but yes

Jon

...and Yay died

Not that Patrick Foltz

Yay! New friend!

pseudoclever

Ngl, I was kind of rooting for it to be something badass (or for Moray to start channeling The Director for a longer conversation) so that we could learn things about them, but wellp xD God-AI buddies?

enchantedsleeper

Somehow, I didn't predict the Director having the same personality as Moray.

Bill Silvia

Bubbles' face is incredible, lmao

Fart Captor

Anyway this is a good way to make friends with hackers IRL

It's Lina

Many people called it XDDD

enchantedsleeper

AI snark is subtle.

midwestmutt

And Yay was never seen or heard ever again. And Roko was unabashedly happy over this. (She celebrated by smelling Elliot baking bread the next day.)

Miyaa

"New friend? That's my middle name!" Or, ya know, last name. Whatever.

Jenea Ylinen Fredrickson

Probably both.

Nikki

That is both exactly what I expected and not at the same time. Now I really hope Yay gets roped into having even more friends they didn't want.

Tinwhisker

I think I just found my new tattoo.

Tracy Cassella

Did Yay finally evolve into something that may have created Alice? Because I’m getting those kind of vibes!

Kit Fletcher

Yay has underestimated the director, to their horror. I suspect they do want to be friends but isn't sure how to operate with a potential equal.

Sorastro

Yay being friends with the Director. Yeah, this will end well. *thisisfine.gif*

Anthony Gaglianese

Moray really is a gloop off the ol' splorp

Fart Captor

The director could totally take yay... and by extension, so can Moray

Kenneth Harris

Yay has social anxiety around anyone they see as an equal or possible superior.

Dave Van Domelen

Wow. The ultimate stealth hacker got noticed. Not sure if they’re more upset by that or that the response was basically “howdy neighbor!”

Taigan

Not quite the Lovecraftian transformation I was hoping for, but this is great!

Everett Bradshaw

Goblin meltdown, yay!

Typherix

I mean, I’m sure there’s no way they will overreact, right?

Andrew

Yay disappears in a puff of logic.

Captain Button

You'll find him in the darkest corner, weeping.

John

Bubbles’ eyes say it all

Jono Hayward

They’re very shy.

Andrea Andrew

Absolutely fantastic

Kyle Sternquist

Yay, no

Wynn Donivan

Is Yay freaking out because they aren’t as unseen as they thought, or because the prospect of more friends is overwhelming lmao

Aneterio

*ᵖᵒᵖ*

Magic Chopstick Games

THEY SHOULD BE FRIENDS

Hope

Bocchi the YAY

Jameson

Nice to see Yay's mind literally blown.

Derek Hassell

Not entirely surprising (also yay purple glow!)

It's Lina