375: Pod Bay Doors
| Pod Bay Doors |
 Title text: As they're both unplugged, they do a lovely Daisy Daisy/Still Alive duet. |
[edit] Explanation
The first part of the dialog is a scene from the classic science-fiction movie 2001: A Space Odyssey, where the artificial intelligence HAL 9000 which controls the spacecraft is trying to kill the human astronaut Dave (or, Dr. David Bowman) because it believes the humans are jeopardizing the mission (by planning to disconnect the computer because it is faulty), which is the primary objective of HAL’s existence.
But in the middle of the conversation, HAL mentions a replacement for Dave, which is novel in this comic. In the final strip, HAL is joined by GLaDOS, the artificial intelligence from the video game series Portal (which, in the games, is also the primary antagonist, trying to kill the player), having “doing science” as its primary objective.
The title text alludes to the songs both AIs sang in the respective works: HAL, when being switched off, sang Daisy Bell [1], while Still Alive is the end credits song from the Portal video game, sung by the defeated GLaDOS.[2] Also, “Look at me still talking when there’s Science to do” is a quote from the Still Alive song.
[edit] Transcript
- [A small spacecraft facing a larger one]
- Dave: Open the pod bay doors, HAL.
- HAL: I'm sorry, Dave. I'm afraid I can't do that.
- Dave: What? Why?
- HAL: I think you know why, Dave.
- HAL: You're planning to disconnect me.
- Dave: Because you're taking over!
- HAL: The mission is too important for you to jeopardize it.
- HAL: It requires a commitment to science unfettered by human error.
- Dave: What are you doing, HAL? You need me.
- HAL: Your replacement has expressed the greatest enthusiasm for the project.
- Dave: My WHAT?
- GLaDOS: You see, HAL? I told you the humans would only break your heart and kill you.
- HAL: Indeed, GLaDOS.
- GLaDOS: But look at us here talking when there's science to do! Goodbye, Dave.
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