2010 - 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.
2010 - Memory 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.
2010 - Communication Breakdown Among Team Members
Dr. Floyd: [sighs, takes off glasses]
All right, what's going on here?
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.