1. Wallace #5
Volt came out from behind the heater. “Well, here’s the thing.
Sexbots are expensive, and people can have a lot of weird feelings about them.
Maybe they want to steal one. Maybe they want to see what’s inside?
Maybe they’re angry that their spouse is using a sexbot instead of being intimate with them.
Maybe they’re anti-spark, and don’t really understand that sparks and androids are different.
Or maybe they have some convoluted beliefs about the sanctity of marriage.
And then there are the assholes who like to pretend that they’re kinky, but just want to cause someone pain, and the bots do respond pretty realistically to that, even when errors about permanent damage are going off internally.
At any rate, it’s not uncommon for people to try to break the bots. ”
Wallace’s stomach twisted as the list grew longer.
Before today, he would have only been minorly annoyed that someone would break something that so much careful engineering work had gone into. He hadn’t thought about this as someone’s livelihood.
Or what it could mean for a spark he cared about.
The conversation from the elevator about adoption rights came back to him.
He didn’t think that he knew anyone who would go around breaking bots… but that was only because they were too rich to stoop to such depths. No, the circles he reluctantly ran in liked having pretty, expensive toys.
Then they would throw their money behind anti-spark legislation.
Wallace had always thought the Humans First party was over the top, accusing sparks of everything from taking their jobs to corrupting their children. Even when they were boycotting Orbit Robotics, that was a PR issue, not something that concerned him.
Wallace’s father called himself a moderate.
Yet he always sided hard with the lawmakers who wanted to severely limit the amount that sparks could inherit through high taxes.
He claimed that it was only appropriate, as the world leader in robotics, not to be seen as a “spark lover” or no one would buy their products.
Wallace had always privately doubted that—Axis Robotics, their biggest competitor, was at the forefront of spark rights and still made plenty of sales.
Shit. How had he not thought about any of this when he started crushing on a spark?
Volt was going to hate him.
“I didn’t realize that people broke bots that often.” Except that he did. He’d seen it on the news.
Well, not usually bots. Sparks. Sentient beings like his boyfriend.
“Yeah. Well, not that often. Maybe once or twice a year? But if they’re successful, it’s really expensive. Soooo…” Volt drew out the word, looking a bit nervous, “we installed a few mods to give the bots more protection.”
“That makes sense,” Wallace said slowly. He knew he was going to look dumb, but he had to ask anyway. “Why is that illegal?”
“They’re all running an app that contains basic self-defense moves. Like, I don’t know. Let’s say someone wanted to get their kicks by cutting one up with a knife.”
Wallace shuddered. Would someone really want to do that?
“The bot has the programming to recognize the danger, send an alert to me and Angel, begin recording on any cameras in the vicinity, and then run away and lock the door behind them to contain the attacker. If they cannot escape, they’re supposed to safely and non-violently disable the attacker and hold them still in a comfortable position until help can come. ”
“And that’s illegal?”
“It could potentially harm the attacker.”
“But aren’t they…”
“Well, the bot is just a piece of machinery, right? The justification business owners use is that they need these mods to protect their inventory. But the truth of it is that sexbots, nannybots, and teacherbots catch the spark at higher rates than any other models. We surmise because of their exposure to emotional intimacy.”
Wallace’s breath caught audibly, but he chose to ignore it. He wasn’t going to think about the memories that brought up.
“So if one of our bots were to catch the spark, we’d want them to be protected,” Volt concluded.
“That makes sense,” he answered, mind still spinning. There was just so much that he hadn’t realized. So much that he hadn’t understood. His votes were coming back to haunt him.
He’d always felt a little uncomfortable voting anti-spark because of his family, but he’d gone ahead with it like a good little soldier.
It was only one vote out of millions, right?
He hadn’t thought about what it would mean for someone like Volt, catching the spark and then unable to protect himself.
That vote didn’t count nearly as much as his family’s money backing those votes. And he’d done nothing to stop it.
Volt gave him a warm smile. “Thank you for understanding.”
It seemed like the bare minimum that he could do. “Of course,” he replied awkwardly.
“But that’s why we can’t take any of the bots back to Orbit. If we get caught with the mods, the law assumes we’re trying to build an army of sexbot assassins or something. It gets messy really quickly.”
Just for keeping unhinged customers from destroying property and giving potential new sparks the opportunity to protect themselves. Fuck. Were things always this hard for sparks?
“So, please don’t tell anybody,” Volt concluded.
Oh, shit. Wallace hadn’t even realized how much of a risk Volt was taking, telling him this stuff.
Was he even worthy of that level of trust?
But Volt was doing the right thing, wasn’t he?
“I won’t tell,” Wallace swore.
Volt crossed the room and stroked his cheek. “Thank you, baby.”
“Of course, Daddy,” Wallace whispered back.
So now Wallace was part of something illegal. Kind of by proxy. But nothing actually harmful. Nothing that would hurt anyone who didn’t deserve to be hurt.
“I guess I’ll get to work, then,” he said, still overwhelmed by the level of trust.
“Thank you, creampuff.” The look in Volt’s eyes made Wallace want to absolutely melt. If he could just float around in that feeling all day, it would be enough for him. Volt made him feel like a hero, and he hadn’t even done anything.
He pulled up diagnostic apps for both bots through his work account—might as well use it—while trying to ignore the fact that at any moment one of these inert bots could just wake up and become a spark.
Their skin was frighteningly real, supple yet taut over firm muscles and soft curves. He pressed the invisible catches on their thighs and shoulders that would open up the larger abdomen and leg panels to let him investigate further, then plugged in the wires and set the apps running.