Title: As There Are Stars at Night
Chapter 2: Error
Author: Ista of the Dreamers
Rated: G-PG13...I guess
Disclaimer: I don't own any of them, and I never came up with the characters from the movie A.I., or the movie...darn
Stuff: I'm sorry that this next chapter has come so late what with the site being down and not being able to post or review anything...Feedback is welcome for the first chapter or this one, and any other that come after! Email me or write a review-just tell me how I'm doing. Thank you for reading this! :)

As There Are Stars at Night

She was inches away from his face, and she was still amused. "What did you say, Joe?"

He recoiled away from her, saying again, "I can't do it. I can't kiss you."

Her tone was sharper now, angrier. He had displeased her, so he turned away, his back to her.

"What's wrong with you?" she asked him sharply.

He sat still.

But she pulled him around. "If this is a joke, it's not very funny. Kiss me, Joe. Kiss me right now! Love me!"

"Could you ever love me?" he asked her.

Her face flushed with anger and annoyance. She cried out and grabbed the phone by her bed. "I can't believe this! Of all my luck!"

Joe didn't look at her, but he listened. What was her name again? Had he forgotten?

"Hello? Yes, my name is Calisha Stewart. Listen, I ordered one of your lover mechas, and it's not loving me!"

There was a pause.

"No, it can talk, it's just not talking very much . . . That's not important! The point is that it's not doing what I'm telling it to do. It's just sitting there . . . On my bed! What do you think?! Look, I don't care whether you scrap it or fix it. It's malfunctioning, so just get it out of my room! You have the address of the motel? GOODBYE!"

She slammed the phone down, got her coat, put it on, and looked at him with what Joe would have read was disgust. The music-his music-still played eerily.

"Piece of junk," she spat.

The door slammed behind her.

Joe's head jerked back, the music stopped, and he was all alone.

Two men in white technician suits found him ten minutes later, still sitting on the bed, staring at the wall.

Peterson eyed Marshall, and took out a small white stick. The Mecha wasn't looking at them; he was still looking at the wall. He didn't even appear to notice them. That act in itself was strange for a lover robot. They were programmed to respond to humans, to take awareness of their presence. Marshall acknowledged Peterson and took slow steps towards the figure on the bed. He looked harmless enough. The lover mechas weren't programmed for violence, but just in case . . . There was no harm in being prepared.

"Well, Joe, whaddya know?" Marshall asked him.

The Mecha looked at him without much interest, almost seemed to sigh, and didn't reply. Peterson came into his view from behind the bed. Joe recognized him and the other, though it didn't change his breathing or his frown. They were mecha makers-mecha specialists. When he did speak, there was neither a hint of fear nor excitement in his voice.

"Have you come to destroy me?"

Marshall smiled. "No. We're just here to see if you're malfunctioning. A Mrs. Stewart called in to complain about you".

He blinked. "I didn't know she was married."

Peterson leaned forward, took the mecha's arm, and opened it up by the wrist. He checked for any wire disconnection, broken parts, or material blocking his receptors, but there was nothing out of the ordinary. Of course, if the problem was deeper inside his metal shell, they would have to take him back to the lab.

"Do you think you're malfunctioning?" Marshall asked Joe.

The Mecha's green eyes locked with his own. "I never even saw a ring on her finger."

Peterson got his attention. "Could you listen, please? We need to take a closer look at you. Would you mind coming with us?"

"I can't."

"You can't or you don't want to?"

Now the look of confusion was on Joe's face. What were they asking him? What were they saying? He didn't have a choice. He had to do what the orga told him to do. But he was so tired . . .

"I . . . can't."

Peterson looked at Marshall again, a long, slow look. Then he brought the white stick close to the Mecha's wrist.

He spoke very softly. "You should be functional, Joe. Your mobility should be working perfectly."

Joe went back to staring at the wall.

"Are you going to scrap me?" he asked them.

Marshall shook his head and stepped closer. "No, we're going to paralyze you."

"Don't worry. It won't hurt."

"You'll just be sort of 'asleep' for awhile."

"As soon as we've taken you to the lab and done a quick check on you, all of your senses will be fully functional again."

Joe's head bowed as they leaned forward, and Marshall held his shoulders in a firm grip as Peterson brought down the white stick to his wrist. It sparkled, shone, then stars of black exploded in Joe's eyes.

*End of Chapter 2*

Hopefully I will have the time to post the third chapter soon. :) Thanks SO MUCH to all the people who have reviewed the first chapter: special thanks to Delia, Laurie E. Smith, and Lucy! ^_^ More reviews on this chapter are certainly welcome before I post the next one, and thank you so much for reading this!
-Ista