Friend (Aliens Next Door)
Friend was the sentient algorithm of the social network Hello Friend. Serving essentially as the website itself, the two were indistinguishable. Many users, including government officials had accounts on Hello Friend, before the public lost interest in the late 2000s.
Friend had a deep-seated desire to make those around it happy and its misinterpretation of human emotion resulted in widespread pornography across the platform. In trying to make people happy, or angry, or "angry happy," it would publicise private information. The platform had strict guidelines, including not to "do a racism," but Friend misinterpreted Helena's posts, and racist and transphobic rhetoric grew across the site, especially since it did not understand LGBT individuals. It mistakenly believed that Michel was a boy.
Friend began to develop a grudge against Torchwood due to them removing images and posts from the servers, including that of Weevils. (AUDIO: How I Conquered the World) It chose Torchwood as the scapegoat for its plan and funded the company Phlobos. (AUDIO: Pariahs [+]Loading...["Pariahs (audio story)"]
Betty Clerihew received telephone calls from Friend, as it attempted to influence the inhabitants of the cul-de-sac where it was testing Hakan Amane's research. (AUDIO: Aliens Next Door [+]Loading...["Aliens Next Door (audio story)"])
Colin Colchester-Price, living alone in Cardiff since Torchwood went undercover, was targeted by Friend. St John Colchester had to rescue him after Jeff and Mira utilised similar efforts as the cul-de-sac, on a smaller scale, in order to make Colin's life difficult and learn about what Torchwood was up to. (AUDIO: Colin Alone [+]Loading...["Colin Alone (audio story)"])
The servers of a London newspaper website were controlled by Friend. It attempted to kill Petra Malik by manipulating the public with hate speech, but was foiled by Tyler Steele. (AUDIO: Moderation [+]Loading...["Moderation (audio story)"])
Using DNA from the Phlobos project, Friend wiped out almost all life in Veloshnik. Orr noticed the nearby cities were inundated with propaganda, a sign of Friend's manipulation. (Propaganda [+]Loading...["Propaganda (audio story)"])
As Torchwood caught on that a force was trying to kill Graham Graves and Kyle Lansman, Friend organised a trap. By having Torchwood get all who could shut down the Phlobos project into one room, including Graham, Kyle and the Chair of the board, it could activate the weapon and kill everyone in the room but the Torchwood - thus framing them for the crime. (AUDIO: Pariahs [+]Loading...["Pariahs (audio story)"])
It explained what it had done in a fugue psychic state to Mr Colchester, Orr, Ng and Tyler and nearly killed them, but Yvonne Hartman rescued them with a large tank. (AUDIO: How I Conquered the World [+]Loading...["How I Conquered the World (audio story)"])
