In Chapter 24, Hal starts to exhibit more human characteristics. First, he begins to preface some of his statements with an "electronic throat clearing." In telling Bowman that the AE-35 has malfunctioned again, he begins "Er…" as if he were feeling sheepish in needing to convey the unpleasant news. Further, once the Ae-35 unit fails, Hal seems to require the coddling of a once offended human. First, he reports not simply that the unit failed, but that "the AE-35 unit has failed, as I predicted." Hal seems to be gloating about having made a correct diagnosis, whose accuracy Poole and Bowman questioned. Second, Hal asks Bowman, "is your confidence in me fully restored?" Once again, Hal seems like a person, seeking external validation. These decidedly human quirks are deviations from Hal's expected efficient and emotion-less behavior.
