"The Drives did not have voices. They never worked very well whenever anyone tried. They clearly had feelings and personalities, but the keepers attuned to them were their interpreters. In this case, without coming into contact with the rescued Drive, Yves was the best at this."

I forget which story it was, but you put in one story that some WERE given voices, and spoke quite well. I also thought that, eventually, as they "matured", they were given electronic voices like other AI"s?