#beepop

“STEVE.” Beepop’s deep voice echoed around the corridors of Walter Manor, passing through doorless doorways until it reached the ears of Steve Negrete, sound engineer and all-round tech whizz for the band Steam Powered Giraffe. He looked up from the microphone he was testing and sighed.

“Coming, Beepop!” The sound engineer looked longingly at the microphone. It was a new one he’d bought specially for the Yulemas show, and he was reluctant to leave his new baby only half set up; but the ‘bots came first, so he began threading his way through the winding corridors of the Manor to find Walter’s newest robot.

  When he had located Beepop, Steve was surprised to find that the ’bot was looking upset, dejected even.

“’Sup, Beepop?” Steve asked, in an attempt to be cheerful.

“THE ROOF, STEVE.”

Steve sighed again, most people would assume that the robot had just made a joke, but Steve knew that Beepop meant it in the utmost literality.

“I mean, why do you want me here, with you, at this time?”

“I HAVE BEEN LISTENING TO MKIII, STEVE.”

“Oh, really? Great, isn’t it?”

“NO!” Beepop almost wailed.

“Beepop, what’s wrong with it?” Steve asked. He was very concerned now, Beepop hardly ever showed any emotion, let alone actual distress.

“I DO NOT LIKE THE FIRST TRACK.”

“Oh, Beepop, we just thought it funn-”

“PEOPLE WILL LAUGH AT ME!”

“Well, yes, but-”

“YOU SAID ‘FIRE IT UP’, HOW WAS I TO KNOW THAT WAS NOT WHAT YOU MEANT?”

“Ok, so you made a mistake, that wasn’t your fault. We just thought the fans would like it! Look, it’s not as if the other ‘bots don’t make fools of themselves sometimes, right? Right?”

There was a pause before the robot answered.

“RIGHT, STEVE.”

“We’re all about entertaining the fans, right?”

Another pause.

“RIGHT.”

“Just consider it being part of the band, I mean, think how embarrassing it must be for Rabbit breaking down on stage all time! People aren’t gonna think any less of you for that first track on MkIII, I promise.”

“ARE YOU SURE?

“Promise.”

“THANK YOU STEVE.”

At that moment Qwerty’s monitor dropped down from the ceiling. Steve groaned inwardly; the last thing he needed was the hyperactive little operating system riling Beepop up again. Instead, he was surprised by Qwerty rather shyly dropping two red and white hats, one on Steve’s head, and the other near Beepop.

“Adding Santa Hats,” said the computer. “Beepop, it is almost Yulemas. You should not be sad.”

Steve adjusted his hat so it sat better on his head.

“Thank you, Qwerty, that was very thoughtful.”

The green smile on Qwerty’s monitor display widened.

“You should not be sad on Yulemas,” Qwerty reiterated.

“THANK YOU QWERTY,” said Beepop.

Steve was amazed, the robots were getting along! They normally found something to argue about within the first few words of talking to each other. He thought longingly of the half set-up microphone, then said:

“You’re right Qwerty, no one should be sad at Yulemas. So how do you two feel about planning a festive surprise for everyone?”

“I WOULD LIKE THAT STEVE.”

“Adding festivities? Yes.”

“Okay! Let’s get to it.”

There you have it! It's not as long as it could be, and for that I'm sorry, but I've have been affected by the dreadful lurgy!