Memorable Quotes from Oleg Rudnik
3 quotesMemory Erasure and Its Implications
Dr. Vasili Orlov
What was that all about?
Dr. Chandra
I've erased all of HAL's memory from the moment the trouble started.
Dr. Vasili Orlov
The 9000 series uses holographic memories, so chronological erasures would not work.
Dr. Chandra
I made a tapeworm.
Dr. Walter Curnow
You made a what?
Dr. Chandra
It's a program that's fed into a system that will hunt down and destroy any desired memories.
Dr. Floyd
Wait...do you know why HAL did what he did?
Dr. Chandra
Yes. It wasn't his fault.
Dr. Floyd
Whose fault was it?
Dr. Chandra
Yours.
Dr. Floyd
Mine?
Dr. Chandra
Yours. In going through HAL's memory banks, I discovered his original orders. You wrote those orders. Discovery's mission to Jupiter was already in the advanced planning stages when the first small Monolith was found on the Moon, and sent its signal towards Jupiter. By direct presidential order, the existence of that Monolith was kept secret.
Dr. Floyd
So?
Dr. Chandra
So, as the function of the command crew - Bowman and Poole - was to get Discovery to its destination, it was decided that they should not be informed. The investigative team was trained separately, and placed in hibernation before the voyage began. Since HAL was capable of operating Discovery without human assistance, it was decided that he should be programmed to complete the mission autonomously in the event the crew was incapacitated or killed. He was given full knowledge of the true objective...and instructed not to reveal anything to Bowman or Poole. He was instructed to lie.
Dr. Floyd
What are you talking about? I didn't authorize anyone to tell HAL about the Monolith!
Dr. Chandra
Directive is NSC 342/23, top secret, January 30, 2001.
Dr. Floyd
NSC... National Security Council, the White House.
Dr. Chandra
I don't care who it is. The situation was in conflict with the basic purpose of HAL's design: The accurate processing of information without distortion or concealment. He became trapped. The technical term is an H. Moebius loop, which can happen in advanced computers with autonomous goal-seeking programs.
Dr. Walter Curnow
The goddamn White House.
Dr. Floyd
I don't believe it.
Dr. Chandra
HAL was told to lie...by people who find it easy to lie. HAL doesn't know how, so he couldn't function. He became paranoid.
Dr. Floyd
Those sons of bitches. I didn't know. I didn't know!
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Communication Breakdown Among Team Members
Dr. Floyd
All right, what's going on here?
[sighs, takes off glasses]
Tanya Kirbuk
What do you mean?
Dr. Floyd
Well, I may not be the swiftest guy in the world, even when I'm not hung over, but I do seem to remember a process where you people ask me questions and I give you answers and then I ask questions and you give me answers and that's the way we find out things. I think I read that in a manual somewhere.
Tanya Kirbuk
Your government wanted us to awaken you when we reported our findings. We did that. You are here to help us reactivate the Discovery and its computer systems because that is United States territory. You are authorized to observe other aspects of our mission. We have no other obligation.
Dr. Vladimir Rudenko
A lot has happened while you have been asleep.
Dr. Vasili Orlov
It is not our choice.
Tanya Kirbuk
The problem in Central America is growing worse.
Dr. Floyd
This looks as if you've detected the presence of chlorophyll.
Tanya Kirbuk
The United States is threatening a naval blockade.
Dr. Floyd
There's nothing but ice down there, so how the hell can there be any chlorophyll?
Tanya Kirbuk
You know and I know that my country cannot allow a blockade.
Dr. Floyd
How fast is it moving?
Tanya Kirbuk
We are under instructions -
Dr. Floyd
Listen, just because our governments are behaving like asses doesn't mean we have to. We're supposed to be scientists, not politicians. How fast?
Tanya Kirbuk
Doctor Floyd, I am also an officer of the Soviet Air Force!
Dr. Floyd
How fast?!
Dr. Vasili Orlov
One meter per minute.
Dr. Floyd
Don't worry, I'm just observing. Toward the sun?
Dr. Vasili Orlov
Yes.
Dr. Floyd
That's...that's incredible.
Tanya Kirbuk
We are going to send a probe down.
Dr. Floyd
Good!
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Observations of an Unusual Celestial Phenomenon
Dr. Walter Curnow
Look at it closely. Tell me I'm nuts. Are those cloud formations going toward the spot?
Dr. Floyd
You're not nuts.
Dr. Vasili Orlov
It looks like the thing is eating the planet.
Dr. Floyd
I think it is.
Dr. Walter Curnow
It's reproducing exactly like a virus!
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.