Chapter 24 Chapter 4 Another Hesitation

These days, they always had a premonition if Hal was going to announce something on his own without following the schedule.There was no prelude to his routine or automatic reports, or to answering questions asked of him; but if he spontaneously tried to output something, there would be short electronic throat clears.It was a quirk he'd picked up in the last few weeks; and if it later developed into a nuisance, they could do something about it. But it also has its practical uses, as it serves as a forewarning of the listener's attention. Poole was sleeping and Bowman was reading on the console when Hal announced, "Well—David, I have a report for you."

"What happened?" "We've had another AE-35 component fail. My failure predictor says it's going to fail within twenty-four hours." "I don't understand, Hal. They can't both burn out in a day or two!" "It does seem odd, David. But I bet something is going to go wrong." "Let me see the tracking calibration display." "Before his eyes came the familiar image of Earth, moving away from the sun. Beginning to gradually turn the dayside toward them. It was exactly at the center point of the criss cross; the pencil-thin beam still kept Discovery on par with her. Bowman knew it must be so; otherwise the alarm would have sounded had the connection been broken.

"What went wrong," he said, "do you have any idea?" It was unusual for Hal to be silent for so long.He then replied, "David, there really isn't any concept. I've reported it and I can't find anything specific." "Can you be sure," said Bowman carefully, "that you're not mistaken? You know we fully tested the other AE-35 unit, and there's nothing wrong with it." "Yes, I know. But, I assure you, something is wrong. If it's not on that part, it's probably on the whole accessory system. " Bowman flicked his fingers on the box.Yes, that's possible, although it's hard to prove - unless there's an accident and it's fully revealed what went wrong.

"Well, I'll report to Mission Command and get their opinion." He finished speaking and waited for an answer, but there was no response. "Hal," he went on, "what's bothering you—is there any question that might have something to do with it?" Another unusual hesitation.Then Hal replied, in his usual tone: "Look, David, I know you're trying to help me. But if it's not the antenna system that's the problem -- it's your testing procedure. My intelligence The processing is completely normal. If you check my records, you will see that I have never made a mistake."

"I know all about your past behavior, Hal—but that doesn't make you right this time. Anyone can be wrong." "I don't want to insist, David, but I can't go wrong." There is no foolproof answer to this; Bowman had to stop arguing. "Well, Hal," he said impatiently, "I see your point. Let's get to that." Direct conversation—supplemented by teletype recording—sufficed, and mission command usually didn't waste radio bands on video.And the face that appeared on the screen was not the usual commander; it was Dr. Simonson, the main man in charge.Poole and Bowman knew right away that this could only mean something was wrong.

"Hello, X-Ray D-1, this is Mission Command. We have completed the analysis of your AE-35 obstacles, and our two Hal 9000s are in agreement. Your Telegram No. 2146 regarding the second accident forecast Reports confirm this. "As we already suspected, the fault was not with the AE-35 parts, which were not necessary to be replaced. The fault was with the pre-announcement system, and we believe it manifested itself as a procedural inconsistency. Only if you stopped using your 9000, change to the command of the earth, we can solve it. Therefore, you must take the following steps from 22:00 on board time..."

The sound from mission command fades away as the siren goes off, forming a wail, with Hal yelling, "It's not good! It's not good!" "What's the matter?" cried Bowman, though he had already guessed the answer. "The AE-35 component has failed, as I predicted." "Let me see the calibration display." Since the voyage began.The image changes for the first time.The Earth has begun to move away from the intersecting reticle; the radio antenna is no longer pointing at the target. Poole punched the alarm interrupter with his fist, and the wailing ceased.In the silence that suddenly drowned the console, the two looked at each other, embarrassed and worried.

"What the hell!" Bowman said after a while. "So Hal's right." "It seems so. We'd better apologize to him." "No need," Hal interrupted. "Of course I'm not happy about what happened to AE-35, but I hope this will restore your trust in me." "I'm sorry for the misunderstanding, Hal," Bowman replied contritely. "Is your trust in me fully restored?" "Of course, Hal." "Well, I'm relieved then. You know I've always had the greatest enthusiasm for this mission." "I fully believe it. Now please attach me the man-operated aerial."

"here!" Bowman didn't count on the possibility of success, but it was worth a try.On the calibration display, the earth has completely disappeared from the screen at this time.Seconds later, after a lot of tossing, the globe reappeared; with great effort, he aligned the globe to the central crosshairs.With the beam on target, and for a brief moment, contact with Earth was restored, and Dr. Simonson was vaguely heard saying, "...Please let us know if the KR circuit..." Then, once again, only the universe remained meaningless beeps in the