AudioBots

She opened her mouth to sing but nothing happened.

"Why isn't she singing?" asked my brother and mechanical engineer, Monty as he walked into the busy robotics lab.

"It gets stuck on the singing routine every time," I replied as I dropped down into my chair. I tapped on the keyboard and Stefani closed her mouth.

"How are you, Stefani?" asked Monty as he walked around the lifelike female robot.

"I'm doing well except for the blasted singing," replied Stefani. She turned her head and followed Monty's movements.

"Blasted? Where did you learn that word?" asked Monty as he stared at me.

"Elizabeth has many more colorful words to describe my singing, but blasted is the only one I'm allowed to integrate into my language," said Stefani. She smiled at Monty.

"Good thing we put those limitations in or you'd get fired from your first job with all the language coming out of that place," said Monty. He sat down at his desk, leaned back and put his feet up.

"If I may do a self-diagnosis, I may be able to determine where the problem is," said Stefani.

"No, I think Elizabeth wants to find her own mistake," said Monty.

"Perfect timing. I found it. It was at the end of the subroutine that checks the song database for female artists before sending a male song request to Brad," said Elizabeth. "I don't know how I missed that."

"You are only human," said Stefani followed by a slight chuckle from Monty.

"Enough of that. Now, can you sing the Sound of Music?" I asked.

"I have several artists to choose from. Julie Andrews, Carrie Underwood, Renée Zellweger and my namesake, Lady Gaga, to list the more well known renditions but if you would like the version by Sergio Franchi, I can have Brad come by later," said Stefani.

"What about Enter Sandman?" asked Monty.

"Monty, that is predominately sung by male artists, but I do have one obscure female recording if you would like to hear it," said Stefani.

"No, no. I don't want my favorite song wrecked by some YouTube cover," said Monty.

"I think we should have Brad sing the Pat Boone version," I said while I updated the same subroutine in Brad's code.

"Brad, you're being awfully quiet," said Monty. He looked over his left shoulder at the handsome gentleman seated at the table.

"I have been listening and heard several references to my name, but no one has actually spoken to me until now," said Brad. He stood up and walked to Monty. "How are you, Monty? Is there something I can do for you?"

"I'm fine. Can you read me today's Times-Picayune?" asked Monty.

"Yes, it would be my pleasure. Shall I remain standing or sitting?"

"Standing please"

"New Orleans Times-Picayune. Wednesday, June 22nd, 2016. Gusman giving up operational control..."

"Thank you, Brad," interrupted Monty.

"You're quite welcome. Anything else, Monty?"

"No, you can return to your seat for now," said Monty.

"I think these two will be ready for duty next week," I said to Monty. "There's an offline library of previous songs sung and works read that I want to do for a backup in case the Wi-Fi is down."

"Grandma is going to be so excited. She's been telling everyone but I don't think they'll really appreciate AudioBots until they are in place," said Monty.

"We need to get the media there to cover it. How are you coming with the media release?" I asked.

"AudioBots are companion robots that are never too busy or grumpy. They sing, read the newspaper or books and can call an attendant when assistance is needed. A perfect addition to all elder care facilities.

With Wi-Fi access to music, newspapers, magazines, books and more, the AudioBot pair, Stefani and Brad, will bring joy to your residents," said Monty.

"Perfect. Now let's hear the first line from the Sound of Music, Stefani," I said pushing back from my desk to observe.

She opened her mouth to sing and Julie Andrews filled the room. "The hills are alive with the sound of music."

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Writer's Cramp Prompt 6/23
Begin entry with: She opened her mouth to sing but nothing happened