by Mary E. Lowd
Originally published in Maradia’s Robot Emporium, March 2025

Addie stood in Maradia’s Robot Emporium, staring at the wall of mechanical parts and trying to look like she was shopping. She wasn’t. The Seabreeze Sinewave didn’t need any repairs — at least, not the kind you could fix with spare parts.
“Are you going to tell me what’s wrong?” Maradia asked, “Or just pretend to be fascinated by servo-motors all afternoon?”
Addie turned to find the roboticist watching her. Maradia had looked so absorbed in her work when Addie came in, she hadn’t realized the roboticist had noticed her at all. Continue reading “Shipshape Relationship”