Lacey Wood
SF
10-3-1999

	The dim light of the upscale restaurant was terribly romantic.  At least, the young 
couple in the far corner thought it was romantic.  They sat, ate, giggled at one another's 
inane jokes, and generally had a grand time.
	Then, without warning, the young man stood, walked around the table, knelt before his 
girlfriend, and quietly asked, "Will you marry me?"
	She gasped.  "Ooh!  This is so...  I mean, of course I–"
	*whirr*click*
	"Of course I–"
	*whirr*click*
	"Of course I–"
	*whirr*click*
	The man gaped in abject horror.  What is she–
	"Hey, buddy, your android malfunctioning?"
	"Wha?"
	"Your android," the newcomer said, gesturing to the broken-record-like girlfriend.  
"Seems like she's blown a circuit somewhere."
	Android?  What the heck is he–
	"Mind if I take a peek at 'er?  Don't worry, I'm a licensed repairman."
	The man just nodded numbly and stepped aside.  Still chattering, the repairman lifted 
the android's long hair and popped open a nearly hidden control panel.  "This happens a lot, 
you know.  A little moisture gets in the circuits, or a bug, or something insignificant like 
that and *pfft*, everything shuts down."  He looked up suddenly.  "Say, you two haven't been, 
uh, you know..."  He made a supposedly subtle hand gesture.
	"N-no!" the boyfriend said, recoiling in shock.  "Of course not!  We're not even 
married yet!"
	"Hey, don't take it personal, pal.  I just needed to know if this sort of thing has 
happened before.  Sometimes emotional situations'll trigger–ah, yep, that's what happened."  
He pulled a screwdriver out of his suit coat and tightened something.  "Her emotional 
failsafes were set waaay to high.  The shock of the moment must've blown out the circuits.
There," he said, replacing the cover on her neck.  "Good as new."  She stopped speaking and 
sat in her chair, motionless and glassy-eyed.  "Speaking of shocking moments, I noticed you 
looking a bit startled.  Don't tell me you didn't know your girlfriend was an android?"
	"Um, no, I didn't.  Not until just now."
	The repairman shook his head.  "These new models, they're almost human, huh?  It's 
kinda nifty."
	The man just blinked.
	"Well, I'll just reset 'er and get out of your hair.  Oh, you might want to get down 
on your knees again.  Sometimes these androids get embarrassed by stuff like this.  Oh, and 
good luck on your marriage."  He winked, and hit the reset button with a flourish as he 
walked away.
	"–of course I will!"  Squealing with delight, the newly repaired android leapt from 
her chair and into her fiancé's arms.  Noticing his reluctance, she said, "Honey?  Is 
everything alright?"
	He forced a grim smile, took a deep breath, and said, "Waiter?  Check please!"