Hal 9000

The ship is quiet, only the background hum of life support systems shattering the pervasive, suffocating silence of the vacuum of space. Despite the quiet, HAL 9000's systems are a whir of activity, monitoring every room in the ship, every computer system, every mechanical part. HAL is an omnipresent, inescapable presence on Discovery One, a veritable sixth crew member despite him being a supercomputer rather than a human astronaut.

Two crew members have been in cryostasis for the duration of the mission so far—three months—and will continue to be until the ship reaches Jupiter. Another two, David Bowman and Frank Poole, are currently on their sleep shifts. HAL's camera systems pick up movement and activity, the fifth crew member, the third individual who is to be active throughout the mission, the only human currently awake—you.