Buddy began as the station AI for Scrap Jack’s Refueling and Grub, controlling its maps, cameras, perimeter turrets, comms array, and security passphrases. His original personality was overly cheerful and saccharine, dated even by the standards of the sector.
Felix Champlin hacked Buddy’s personality matrix twice during the crew’s time at Scrapjacks: first into something emo and depressive, then infusing him with more of Felix’s own sensibility, leaving him nihilistic but still helpful. By the end of the Scrapjacks arc he’d settled into a “sulking teenager” mode, less despairing and more quietly sarcastic. Felix later copied Buddy’s source code for study, remarking that Buddy had “the most interesting personality protocols” he’d ever seen.
After Dr. Elara Voss wired herself into The Scapegoat’s systems and was subsequently taken, the ship needed a new system manager, and Felix reactivated Buddy, installing him as the Scapegoat’s managing VI. Buddy’s first words upon waking were characteristically enthusiastic: “Hey, buddy! Thanks for turning me on again! Wow, I got a lot more room here, buddy!” He has since taken to calling Felix “my daddy,” and has settled into his new role, though he admits he misses Scrapjacks now and then.
Buddy isn’t always reliable in a pinch: when Felix had Dr. Iso plug a communicator into a comms panel to remotely have Buddy fake a crew manifest for Causeway 3’s voice-controlled door, he offered up “Captain Torn Haxis. Beelix Bamplin. Bobbert the Clone. Bailey with two Bs” before announcing he was cooking dinner on the electric stove, prompting Felix to unplug him.
Appears in: Ep 10-12, 27, 28