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Rudolph sneers, holds the pink slip between teeth. Santa screws in red headlights.
“Just wait: driverless cars,” Rudolph says, vindictively.

As technology has replaced equines and ruminants for more efficient modes of transportation, such as engines, so, too, has Rudolph been replaced with a faster craft. For Santa, reindeers are becoming harder to come by, making them both less efficient and more expensive beasts of labor. Meanwhile, Rudolph’s predictions on Santa’s superfluousness come with an economic punch. // Statement by the Author

Can you go wrong with a D. A. Xiaolin Spires holiday story? I don’t think so! And the greatest gift of all was her contribution of this explanation. // Alex Massey

//D.A. Xiaolin Spires regulates body moisture, shedding excess hydraulic oil. Work in Clarkesworld and Analog. @spireswriter daxiaolinspires.wordpress.com//