21. Volt #2
Volt exhaled. He’d wanted to tell Wallace about this anyway, right?
Only now that he was doing it… What if it changed how Wallace thought of him?
He was supposed to be the Daddy, wasn’t he? Responsible. In charge. A safe haven for his baby to take away the cares of the world.
But he also wanted to be a good boyfriend. To have a real relationship, and not just a bunch of scenes and dates.
God, he was such a coward.
“It’s the new regulations,” he said cautiously. “For the bots.”
“Hmm?” Wallace asked, mouth full. He sounded curious, but unconcerned. Which made sense with the gobs of money he had. Little things like this probably didn’t even ping his radar.
“The Department of Public Welfare regs?” Volt prompted. “Orbit has to comply with them.”
Wallace shook his head. “I’m in research and development. I know that our bots have to pass regulations, but that’s another department. Can you tell me more?”
Volt sighed again. “Every decade or so some politician gets it into their head that they’re going to make robots safer or more sanitary or whatever.
Then everyone has to update all the bots with new software and get them licensed again.
Of course, the software updates can only be made by the original manufacturer.
Regular upgrades for bugs are free while you’re under warranty, but licensing updates are pretty expensive. ”
“Oh,” Wallace replied, lips pursed. “I knew that Orbit’s board liked regulation updates; I assumed that the major profit was selling a lot of cheap upgrades to a huge number of customers.
It sounds like they’re selling expensive upgrades to a huge number of customers.
” He briefly closed his eyes. “And let me guess, the Axis upgrades are cheaper?”
Volt gave him a wry smile. “That’s right.”
Volt would always be grateful for his existence, but he wished Magnolia hadn’t bought all of their bots from Orbit, even though the headquarters were just a few miles away.
Axis Robotics was headquartered across the country, but it also had a mission of making technology affordable and accessible to everyone, as well as supporting spark rights.
Volt wasn’t sure if favoring them was disloyal to Wallace, but he privately thought that the premium prices that Orbit charged for their “premium” robots didn’t make them any better than the Axis models.
He had quite a few friends who were Axis sparks.
But it sounded like Wallace might already agree with him.
“So you were at the bank for a loan?” Wallace asked, bringing him back on topic.
“Yes,” Volt bit out. He felt like such a failure. Like all of the exes who were just using Wallace for his money.
Because he knew that he wasn’t asking for a loan. But Wallace would undoubtedly offer him one.
And he might cave in and accept it.
“You know, I could probably snag some copies of the upgrade mods from work,” Wallace offered. “Is it all the same mod, or specific to each model?”
Volt looked at him, stunned, his hands gripping a little too tightly. “Really?” He hadn’t even thought of that. Hadn’t considered it. “I mean, we have to take them to an authorized dealer.”
Wallace shrugged. “I’m an authorized dealer. Or, uh, close enough. I can get you registered copies, I’m sure. We probably have demo versions or something that meet all the legal requirements, but I’ll make sure that everything is valid.”
“And it won’t… cost you anything?”
“Not a cent. We make these updates on a national scale and the twenty-something bots here won’t even be a blip.
I’m sure that we have service agreements with companies that include updates like this, or our marketing team throws them into deals to sweeten the pot.
Just send me an email of exactly what you need, and I’ll install them the next time I’m over. ”
“Seriously?” Volt asked, hopeful but not quite trusting. It couldn’t be this easy. “Are you sure? I mean, I don’t want you to…”
“Daddy!” Wallace interrupted, chiding him gently. “It won’t cost me or Orbit a thing. Let me do this for you.”
Volt flopped against Wallace’s warm body, squeezing him close. “Baby girl, you don’t know what this means to me. This is like… Thank you. Just, thank you.”
Wallace just shook his head. “Seriously. It’s not a big deal.”
“No, baby.” Volt pressed a noisy kiss to his cheek. He wanted to gobble him all up. “It’s a huge deal. You’re one of the kindest, most generous people that I know.”
Wallace snorted. “Yeah? Well, you’re the only one who thinks so.”
Volt nuzzled against his neck. “Angel and Magnolia think so, too. And I’m sure a lot of your colleagues appreciate you, even if you don’t believe me.”
“No, they definitely all hate me.” Wallace said it lightly, but it hurt Volt to hear it.
Volt knew that Wallace’s father had bullied him throughout his life, and thoroughly ruined his self-esteem. But Wallace was so innately kind, he had trouble believing that no one had seen this other side of him. “How do you know?” he pressed.
“Well, some of them just come out and say it. God, you should hear some of the board members. I hate them all. It’s awful how they look at me, especially if my father’s around.
For my department… I think most of them are afraid enough of what my last name represents that they’re polite to my face and just talk about me behind my back. Trust me, I’ve heard it.”
“Once or twice, or all the time?” Volt asked, then pressed a finger to Wallace’s lips before he could answer.
“Sweetheart, I know you’ve told me this before, and I don’t want to ignore what you’re saying or how you’re feeling.
But you’re a truly good person. You’re kind and friendly.
You’re knowledgeable and helpful without being a know-it-all.
I’ve seen you talk with artists at the park and strangers on the street, and you’re always polite and respectful. People who meet you tend to like you.”
Wallace’s lip started to tremble, and he could see how Wallace fought it back. Every little wobble broke Volt’s heart. His chest physically hurt, watching Wallace crumble like this when he was such a treasure and didn’t even know it.
“Daddy…” Wallace sniffed. “I want to be that person, but you don’t understand. It’s different at Orbit.”
Volt gathered him close. “How is it different, pretty boy? Tell me about it.”
“I mean, there’s the part where my father ignores everything that I say and makes me look like a fool in front of my colleagues.”
Volt made a staticky growl. “He’s an asshole. And you didn’t do anything to deserve that. But what about the people you work with directly? Surely some of them have worked with you closely enough to see what you’re really like.”
“I mean… no?” Wallace turned his head away, unwilling to meet Volt’s gaze, which only made Volt want to hold him closer. To kiss away every tear, until he didn’t have a trouble in the world. “I’m probably not a very nice person at work.”
“Why not?” Volt asked, taking one of Wallace’s hands in his and pressing kisses to the soft skin. “That doesn’t match anything that I know about you. You’re a sweetheart.”
“I just… God, this is going to sound stupid. But I don’t know how to do it.
I feel like there are good managers who get results and are fun, too.
I have no idea how they do it. My father always said that I was too soft.
That I needed to be a man and take control.
That I had to show them who was in charge and not be a pansy.
So I tried that and… it sucked. I hated it.
And then people would challenge me, and I felt like I couldn’t back down, and then I’d say terrible things back and…
I just got stuck in it. You would hate me too if you saw me there. ”
Wallace’s lip was really wobbling now, and he blinked tears from his eyes.
Volt had, somehow, thought that most of Wallace’s anxiety about this stuff had gone away, now that he’d recognized how abusive and unfair his father was. But of course it went so many layers deeper.
Volt wanted to absolutely murder the man. Slowly and painfully.
But his first priority was the beautiful sub in his lap. “Oh, sweetheart. I could never hate you. And it really just sounds like that’s not the right management style for you.”
Wallace sniffled. “I know. I just don’t know what is. Or how to change. I have an MBA and years of experience, but everyone knows how I got my position. My employees deserve someone better.”
Fuck. He really believed that. And, even if it was true—Volt understood that some positions weren’t a great match for some people’s temperaments—then that was equally unfair. Why had Wallace’s father put him there if it wasn’t a good fit?
Volt didn’t really know jack shit about management, since he only managed Prism’s finances, and their inventory was just a bunch of bots, not actual spark or human employees. But he knew about his baby, and what made him magnificent.
Volt lifted Wallace’s chin, drawing him in for a sweet kiss. Something about what Wallace had said had really hit him. “Have you ever seen a pansy?” he asked.
Wallace blinked at the change of topic. “Um, like the flower?”
“Yes, the flower.” Volt looked around the room, then centered in on the chefbot. A moment later, it trundled toward them, its screen displaying an array of brightly colored flowers.
“You said that your father calls you a pansy, so let’s look at some.
” Volt loved flowers, and he looked around the city for these each spring.
Each had five rounded bi-colored petals with bursts of contrasting color in the middle.
Some of them looked like little teddy bear faces while others had tiny stripes in the center that faded to a bright halo at the edge.
“I think there are some of those in the planters in front of my building,” Wallace offered.
For a moment, Volt wanted to ask—again—why he couldn’t visit that building… and why his baby was lying to him… but he let it go. All of his focus needed to be on Wallace.