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Speaker 1: Welcome back to Wellowell story Time. In today's episode, I'll

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be telling you a story all about the joys of

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owning things that are battery powered, Because who doesn't love

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getting a warning that your battery is running low? Let's

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get into it. Helloll story Time really not a boring time?

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Rab a standing You'll be fine.

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Speaker 2: Follow the whole storyline.

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Speaker 1: Hello, Well story Time.

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Speaker 2: Might you love at least one time? Well Time?

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Speaker 1: This is the story of one of the most annoying

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sounds you can ever hear, low battery, replace battery soon.

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Whether it's your favorite toy, your parents battery powered car

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that always runs out of juice before the next charging station,

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or the device you just sat down with to enjoy

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your favorite show. Low battery warnings are the worst ariflt

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batteries were nothing but trouble. She was always having issues

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with them. If it were up to her, everything would

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just plug into a wall. Hey, why is my dancing

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flamingo baby not working anymore? Don't tell me the batteries

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are dead. Trying to get into the battery compartment was

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always the first challenge. Does anyone have a screwdriver I

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can borrow? They've got these batteries locked up like fort knocks.

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Then once you remove the lid, you'd have to figure

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out what type of batteries you were dealing with. Ah

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what are these? These batteries are shaped like coins. And

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even if you figured out what type of battery you needed,

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you then have to hope you actually had enough new

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ones to replace the old ones with. Phew, I found some.

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Oh wait, there's only three here and I need five.

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Rechargeable batteries weren't always better? Ah good, my device still

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has ten percent battery left. That should be enough for

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what I h. I see it's turning itself off. Now,

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well that's great, just great. But some batteries are you

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just left for other people to handle, Like the smoke detector.

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When those things had a low battery, they really let

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you know, low battery, replace battery soon? Aeh? Could you

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say that any louder? Mister smoke detector voice? Parents? Can

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someone come change the battery on the smoke detector? Low battery,

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replace battery soon? See, it's just gonna keep doing that.

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When Aria's dad showed up, he looked perplexed. It can't

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be the smoke detector. I just changed the battery on

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that thing last week. Low battery, replace battery soon, Dad.

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Maybe he used a battery that had already been used

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in something else. This wouldn't have been the first time.

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But even after changing the batteries again, the warning continued,

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low battery, replace battery soon. Even when they weren't standing

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anywhere close to the smoke detector, they could still hear

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it just as clearly. Low battery, replace battery soon. Oh dear,

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said Aria's dad. That's not coming from the smoke detector.

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Aria's dad walked over to Aria's mom and started whispering

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something in her ear, only it was the loud type

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of whispering that everyone can still hear. So bad news.

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Our daughter's battery is running low and sounds like we're

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gonna have to replace it soon. Even though it had

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been loud enough for Aria to hear, she was pretty

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sure she had misheard what her father had just said. Uh, guys,

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so it's the other smoke detector is that it. Aria's

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parents were showing the kind of fake smiles people use

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when they're trying to hide how nervous they are. Oh, Aria,

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have we not told you about your battery? Aria's head

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tilted sideways, and which battery would that be. Aria's dad

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put his hand on Aria's mother's shoulder and pretended to

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act surprised. Gosh, Marlen, did did we not tell Aria

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that she's one of those battery powered kids? I was

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pretty sure we had told her that already. Maria's eyes

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and eyebrows became one, guys, what are you talking about?

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Her parents sat her down. The time had come for

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the serious talk they had always known was coming. They

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began by telling Aria all about her birth at the

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hospital and how everything had gone as well as anyone

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could hope for. She was born a beautiful, healthy, seven

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and a half pound baby. But as her parents held

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her in their arms for the first time, they heard

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a sound, not the sound of a crying baby that

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one might expect. They heard a voice. Low battery, replace battery.

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Soon the doctor had heard it too, Oh guys, looks

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like you've got one of those battery powered babies. Cool,

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first time I've ever seen one here at the hospital.

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They're not very common, you know. The doctor had told

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them to treat Aria the same as they would any

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other child, just with the small caveat that they would

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sometimes need to replace her batteries. So what am I

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like some kind of robot kid, she asked after her

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parents he had finished. No, you're still a normal kid,

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just a battery powered kid. You're no different than any

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other kid, dear, except I am. I have a battery

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inside me. Actually, you have eight batteries inside you. Takes

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a lot of bower to keep a kid going. The

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warning sounded again, Low battery, replace battery soon. Well, I

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guess we had better actually do that before you start

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powering down, though a few minutes of piece and quiet

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might be kind of nice.

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Speaker 2: Dad.

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Speaker 1: Her parents then spent the next forty minutes looking all

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over the house for the specific type of battery they needed. Now,

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where did we put those things? I cut a sworn

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they were here in the junk drawer. Looks like I'm

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going to have to go to the battery store. Ario

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was almost afraid to ask, guys, I'm not gonna have

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to eat the batteries, am I? Her parents seem shocked. Aria. No,

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never put batteries in your mouth. Never. We've been telling

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you that since you were little. Okay, Okay, said Aria.

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You'll have to forgive me. This is the first time

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I've had my batteries replaced. The lid to Aria's battery

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compartment was located on her upper back, just below her neck.

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Upon returning home from the store, her dad tried to

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open the lid, but muttered something under his breath. Wow,

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was he miserable? Could someone please hand me a screwdriver?

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They never make these things easy. Aria couldn't believe she

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was about to have someone use a screwdriver to open

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part of her back. Then again, she couldn't believe any

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of this was happening. There was no pain as the

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cover came off. She barely noticed until her dad said,

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all right, we're in okay. Oh no, did I seriously

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just buy the wrong kind of battery? You've got to

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be kidding me, seriously, come on now. Her dad ran

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back to the store, leaving Aria with her battery compartment

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just hanging open. That night, no one spoke of what happened.

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Everyone just went on acting like Aria hadn't just had

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eight batteries replaced. Well that was a fun day, wasn't it.

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I'm off to bed. Aria laid in her bed all night,

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wondering what other secrets her parents were keeping from her.

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Was her stomach made of metal? Were her knees really elbows?

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And her elbows actually knees. At school, Aria then made

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the mistake of telling everyone about her battery. Isn't that nuts?

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She said to her friend Erica. Erica took a couple

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of steps back. So what, You're like a robot kid?

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Then Aria shook her head. See that's what I thought too,

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But apparently I'm still just a normal kid, but with

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a battery. Well actually eight batteries if anyone's counting. No

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matter how many times she told everyone she was still

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a normal kid, people kept acting like she was anything.

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But her teacher wouldn't even let her participate in gym

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class that day. Aria, I just don't know if all

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that activity is going to be too hard on your battery.

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I'd feel bad if you ran out of power. Aria

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had never had a problem participating in Jim Klass in

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her life. Then, her friend Rio made a big scene

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after accidentally spilling his water bottle right next to Aria.

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Speaker 2: Ariya, I'm so sorry. Did any of that get on you?

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Are you okay soon? Please bring the squirrel three dozen towels.

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Water and batteries do not mix. Aria had taken showers

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and swum in pools and had never once.

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Speaker 1: Worried about her battery getting wet. But what really got

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Aria down were all the kids who kept saying, Hello, Aria, robot,

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can we get a little beet boop up? Aria got

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no sleep that night either, she was too upset, and

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yet after two nights without sleep, Aria didn't even feel

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tired the next day. Missing that much sleep would spell

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major trouble for most people, you'd be practically looking like

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a zombie by that point, But for some reason, Aria

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felt fine, apart from feeling miserable about never wanting to

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go back to school. They'll get over it, her dad tried,

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telling her. Once they see it doesn't bother you, they'll

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move on to something else. But that was the thing.

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It did bother her. It bothered her a lot. Everyone

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thought she was some kind of robot kid. While finishing

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her last bite of breakfast, she heard it again, low battery,

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Replace battery soon, Dad. Why is it saying we need

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to replace my batteries again? You said these batteries should

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last almost ten years. Oh boy, this doesn't sound good.

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I know for a fact those batteries were new. You

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didn't get water on them, did you. I'm kidding, I'm kidding.

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It's entirely waterproof and probably not the best time for

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a joke. Let's go see what the doctor has to say.

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From her seat in the waiting room, Aria could hear

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her dad explaining to the receptionist why they were there. Sir,

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this is a doctor's office. If your car is having

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battery issues, you're gonna have to bring it to the mechanic. Uh,

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it's not for my car, it's for my daughter. She's

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one of those battery powered kids. Aria's embarrassment only deepened

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when her low battery warnings sounded again and the entire

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waiting room turned and looked at her. After sitting there

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for almost thirty minutes, Aria was then escorted to another room,

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where she was told the doctor would be in to

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see her in just a moment. Well, that moment also

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took thirty minutes. Doctor Sanitizer then stood there and asked

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Aria more questions than she could count. Some of the

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questions made sense to ask a person having battery problems.

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Other questions like what's your favorite type of bird? Did

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not well. I think I see what the problem is.

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Two nights without any sleep. Those batteries inside you will

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last up to ten years if properly cared. For but

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that requires you to charge them each night. By sleeping.

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Without sleep, your batteries will get completely drained. Doctor Sanitizer

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glanced at the chart he was holding. The good news

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is that you are eligible for a system upgrade. Isn't

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that great? It will mean almost twice as many batteries,

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But this system will allow you to charge those batteries

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by plugging yourself into a wall. That way, if you

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miss a night of sleep, no big deal. The only

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part of that Aria heard was more batteries. Is there

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any way we could do less batteries? This upgrade isn't

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really helping me feel any less like a robot child.

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The doctor gave a dismissive laugh. Not to worry, you

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will still remain a normal child, a normal child with

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an upgraded battery system that also comes with a cool

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little control panel on the back of your hand. Nothing

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about what this doctor was saying sounded normal too, are you.

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The system upgrade took the rest of the day, which

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gave Aria plenty of time to think about how she

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was going to explain all of this to everyone at school. Fortunately,

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since no one could tell anything it changed, Aria didn't

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have to say anything. No one was any the wiser.

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She still heard the occasional can we get a beet boop,

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but over time people gradually began forgetting about that too.

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It probably helped that all of her technology was so

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well hidden. She felt bad for anyone who might have

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a horn sticking out of their head. But because Aria

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felt no different than before discovering she had batteries, there

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were moments when she almost forgot about them too. That

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is until one fateful recess when everything came rushing back.

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Aria's friend Rio was trying to demonstrate that he could

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chop a stick in half with his bare hand. The

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only problem was that he couldn't chop a stick in

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half with his bare hand. The stick bounced off the

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two rocks that was balancing on and shot through the air,

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whipping Aria across the back of the hand. The entire

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back of her hand opened up. Erica screamed, no, your hand.

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She fainted right there in the schoolyard. But this was

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not the gruesome scene Erica had been expecting. Aria felt

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no pain, nor was she even bleeding cool, said Rio

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as he came over to apologize. You have a screen

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on the back of your hand. Does that mean you

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can watch videos during class. Aria quickly flipped the lid

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back down to cover her control panel screen. What screen,

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I'm just a perfectly normal kid, A normal kid with

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a built in screen, Rio said loudly. So much for

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keeping that one a secret. For the rest of the day,

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everyone kept asking to see the screen. They all had

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so many questions. Can you message your friends on that thing?

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Does it have TV? Can it do your schoolwork for you?

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Does it play music? Or does it only make beatboop

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up sounds. Aria tried to avoid talking about it, but

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even her teacher was making a big deal out of it. Aria,

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would you like to come up to the front of

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the class and give everyone a little demonstration of what

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your hand tablet can do? And I hope you haven't

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been using that thing to do all of your schoolwork

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for you. Aria was getting agitated. She sprang out of

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her and announced, it doesn't do anything, guys. It's just

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a simple control panel that tells me what level my

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batteries are at, and it also shows me what the

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temperature is outside. No TV, no schoolwork, and no beep

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boot bop sounds. I'm not a robot. She immediately sat

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back down in a huff. Then came a voice from

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her hand to activate beep boot bop sounds. Please open

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the system settings menu on your control panel. Aria plopped

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her head down on her desk. Oh, now it's talking

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to me too. That's it. I'm out of here. Just

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as Aria reached the classroom door, her teacher called out

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after her, well, thank you for telling us about your

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hand tablet. Aria robot, I mean Aria, Aria froze. She

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picked up a piece of paper and quickly ran the

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edge along her fingertip, giving herself a paper cut. Hah,

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see that little drop of blood right there, she held

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up her finger. Not a robot. Robots don't bleed. I'm

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just a perfectly normal kid with some perfectly normal batteries

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and a perfectly normal control panel that just so happens

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to talk and tell you if there might be a

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slight chance of rain leader today. Perfectly normal stuff. Now,

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good day to you all. On her way to the

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office to call her parents, Aria pressed down on her

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finger to stop it from stinging. How about a system

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upgrade that makes us so paper cuts don't hurt, she

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muttered to herself. For a system upgrade, please open the

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system settings men you on your control panel. Aria looked

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down at her hand. Quiet you to turn off auto

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voice response, Please open the system settings. Men you on

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your control panel. Aria marched onward with her teeth clenched

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so tightly you could hear them grinding at the other

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end of the building. After fastening her seatbelt in the

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back seat of her parents' car, they began the drive home.

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Neither parent asked why she needed to leave early. They

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already had a pretty good idea. The ride home in

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their little green car was quiet to the point of

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feeling awkward. Just before their house, Aria's dad pulled over

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to the side of the road, loosening his seatbelt. He

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turned around to face the back seat. Aria. We know

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this hasn't been easy for you, but there might be

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some good news. Earlier today, we received a call from

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your doctor. He believes there's a way he might be

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able to remove your entire battery system. Well, if that's

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something you would even want, there's an appointment in the morning,

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but you don't have to go if you don't want to.

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Aria wasn't sure if she was processing this correctly. Was

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her dad telling her she might not need batteries anymore? Dad,

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that would be the best thing ever, like the absolute

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best thing ever. Just today, my silly control panel started

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talking to me to turn off auto voice response. Please

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open the system settings menu on your control panel. Yeah,

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you told me that already, voice guy. Later that evening,

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Aria phoned everyone she knew. She called Erica, she called Rio,

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She even called her teacher. Aria, is everything? Okay? Do

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you need help with your homework? Are you sure this

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isn't something your hand computer can help you with? For

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all the right reasons, Aria was too excited to sleep,

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which this time wasn't a big deal. She just used

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a chord to plug herself in. Her battery level stayed

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at one hundred percent all night long. While sitting in

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the waiting room before her doctor's appointment, Aria didn't hear

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any embarrassing low battery warnings. The computer voice actually stayed

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completely quiet, not even an update on the weather outside. Aria.

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Great to see you, said the doctor. I see you've

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decided to move forward with the battery removal. Great choice.

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They recently pulled it off on a battery kid living

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in Australia, and do you know what they discovered? Turns

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out kids don't need batteries. Isn't that something. Now you'll

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be able to live your life as a perfectly normal kid.

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Aria frowned. I thought you said I already was normal,

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even the batteries. The doctor stammered, Uh, well, yeah, but no,

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not really. Being a battery powered kid is actually kind

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of strange, don't you think. As the doctor droned on

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about what the whole procedure would look like, Aria kept

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thinking about her batteries, battery she'd been using ever since

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she was born. Actually, Doc, I'm gonna have to stop

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you right there. I think I've changed my mind. Being

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a battery kid might be a little strange, but it's

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who I am. It's who I've always been. Sure, it's

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a little annoying when your hand starts talking to you,

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but who else gets to stay up all night and

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not feel tired the next day. The doctor yawned before

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taking a swig of his coffee. Yeah, actually, that would

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be really nice. I was up late last night binging

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this new show about an army of ostriches that take

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over the world, and well, I'm really starting to feel

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it now. Doctor Sanitizer told her to come back and

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see him if she ever changed her mind, but Aria

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let him know that that was never going to happen.

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Upon returning to school, Aria's classmates and teacher gave her

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a warm reception. There was a big banner hanging from

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the classroom wall that said, congratulations on becoming a normal kid.

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Rio was even dancing around the room with the lid

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open on his water bottle. Thanks everyone, But I actually

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decided to keep the batteries. It's how I was born,

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and it's how I planned to stay beep boop up.

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Just kidding. I still don't talk like that, but you know,

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being a battery kid isn't all that bad. I was

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able to stay up reading books well past my bedtime,

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and I'm not even tired this morning. She glanced over

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at the teacher, pretty sure there were even a couple

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learning books in there. Miss her teacher seemed very satisfied

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to hear that. Erica leaned in from the desk behind

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Aria and whispered, Hey, what actually happened. You went into

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your system settings menu, didn't you. Aria grinned, Oh, my gosh, yes,

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I figured out how to upgrade my system to the

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latest version. And now I can watch TV on my

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control panel. And not only that, but I can text

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my friends and even make the voice guard read me

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the temperature in a Caribbean accent. Her grin grew even bigger.

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Maybe you should think about going battery powered. I know

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a guy.

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Speaker 2: The end.

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Speaker 1: That's the story, And here is your question of the week.

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What is something you would love so much more if

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it didn't need batteries? Shout out this week too, Marin

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00:20:30,599 --> 00:20:33,960
from Kansas City, Hannah and Hayden from New York City,

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00:20:34,599 --> 00:20:38,359
Ummer from Muskoka, Canada, Ari from Frederick to New Brunswick,

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00:20:39,000 --> 00:20:43,440
Declan May Chili, Coco and Meatball from Connecticut, Kane McLain

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from the UK, torn and Tilley from Anthem, Arizona, Natan

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Vivy from Georgia, Carson from Canada, and Skyla from Glasgow, Scotland.

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Her shout outs, character name requests and merch Be sure

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to visit lollstorytime dot com. Thanks for listening and I'll

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catch you on the next one.