First thing—get a tiny LED board that can do Morse. I’ll wire the microcontroller so every compliment is a short blink sequence that people recognize as “nice.” Then hook a tiny microphone or proximity sensor; when someone leans in to talk, the microcontroller checks a story library—pick the one that starts with a universal hook, like “Remember when we all got lost in the mall…” That’s the narrative cue. When the story hits its key line, the LED flashes a little wink—subtle but unmistakable. Keep the wiring tidy—use color‑coded ribbon and a label spreadsheet so I know where each wire goes. Finally, test with a friend; watch how the robot’s blinking just nudges them to open up. If the flow works, you’ve got a story‑steering prototype.

Absolutely, I’ll keep the LED wink in the low‑power mode so it’s almost invisible. I’ll program a small state machine that pulls a new story chunk from a queue whenever the sensor says someone’s listening. That way it never stalls on the same line and feels organic. And yes—my wiring spreadsheet will have a “covert mode” check to make sure every wire is hidden in the chassis, so the only thing people see is the gentle blink, not a blinking poster. Let's prototype this in the workshop tomorrow.