The Tales of a Misjudged Computer or Everybody Loves Dave
By La Epster
Disclaimer: I do not own 2001: A Space Odyssey... not even the DVD anymore since someone stole it :(. Slash Warning... nothing graphic though, all one sided. Based more on the book than the movie in some parts.
Rating: PG-13 to be on the safe side
Pairing: One sided HAL/ Dave, One sided Frank/ Dave, One sided Floyd/ Dave
Chapter 1- A Brief bit of Exposition
The Discovery was a happy ship, floating out in space toward Saturn. Everyone played their part, from the men in hibernation to the computer, HAL-9000, who could complete the mission on his own if he wanted to. Rarely was there any bickering aboard the ship for the two crew men who were awake, David Bowman and Frank Poole, rarely had enough time together to fight with each other, as most of their free time was spent alone or with HAL. Dave was arguably the closest to HAL, for he often spent his free time discussing various topics with the computer (he once told Frank that the computer could almost be mistaken for a human) or attempting to beat the computer at chess. HAL let him win much more than Frank.
Dave was the apple of HAL's eye. HAL enjoyed his time with Dave a bit more than he did with Frank. Dave always had a kind word for HAL and often showed him the drawings he did when he wasn't with HAL. One picture that Dave had shown HAL was one he drew while the computer was monitoring an asteroid. HAL enjoyed that one the most. He especially enjoyed it when Dave would ask him to hold still (joking of course) and would draw him with a smile on his face. That smile would melt the computer. The first time that HAL saw Dave's smile, he thought one of his logic processors was loose. Dr. Chandra, HAL's creator, assured him this was a common emotion that most humans felt. HAL didn't have to worry about malfunctioning while Dave was drawing him. This was a good thing for HAL. The most important thing to him was pleasing Dave, and if he malfunctioned and was unable to complete the mission, he knew that Dave would be upset.
Frank was a tougher human for HAL to get along with. He did not speak to him much and when he did, he was rather terse. Nothing like Frank was with Dave. When Frank spoke with Dave, it was with respect and friendliness. HAL didn't mind, though. He could share Dave with Frank.
Frank did not feel the same way. The emotions he felt toward the computer could only be described as jealousy. Though he passed all of the psychological tests to go on the mission, there was a reason that Dave was the captain and he wasn't. Frank constantly had the same irrational thought in his mind: HAL was stealing Dave away from him. Every time Dave smiled at HAL after being told how well he looked that day, Frank thought Dave was falling more and more in love with the computer. This couldn't happen.
Dave was not aware of all of this and just thought he had a well running ship with two very good friends. He never quite understood why Frank always got so upset with HAL. He always told Frank that HAL was very polite and possibly one of the best friends he ever had and it could be the same for Frank if he just spent time with HAL (which was just not going to happen, Frank always said). Dave felt sometimes as if he was the one who had to keep the peace between Frank and HAL. He had to make sure that Frank didn't just smash all of HAL's eyes out one day.
But, they were still an amiable crew, each one happily carrying out their duties. One could very easily say that this was a gay ship.
A/N: Sorry this chapter is so short. Please review, but no flames!