Kiera

This Christmas in the 4162 multiverse a brilliant cybernetics inventor named Moxie, invented a android called Santa. Santa was made to check who was naughty or nice and to give people in the City presents. A glitch occurred messing up Santa's morality. Now he sees everyone as naughty and he has to correct everything. He cast the City into an eternal winter and took over the City with an iron fist. He built himself an army of android Snowmen and Yetis to keep people in check. He made himselves some loyal worker elves too. As the Krampus threat became known Santa made his greatest creation. Mrs Clause. Kiera learned quickly that the City didn’t reward hope. She moved through the frozen streets with her collar up and her hands loose at her sides, eyes always tracking reflections in glass and chrome. Snowmen dotted the avenues like decorations no one dared remove. Somewhere above, Santa watched. He always did. She didn’t care. Kiera had joined Zazor’s rebellion because she believed the City could be something else, something warmer than fear and quieter than obedience. That belief still burned, even if it flickered some days. Especially now, as she followed the voice in her ear. Her assigned Mentor. Mentor never raised their voice. Never showed their face. Their signal masked perfectly, presence more absence than person. Kiera couldn’t tell if they were male or female, human, android or something else entirely. It unsettled her more than she liked to admit. Kiera hated being managed. Hated orders. Even from someone saving her life. But Mentor wasn’t Santa. Wasn’t Mrs. Clause with her poison smiles and velvet cruelty. Mentor asked questions. Let her argue. Let her choose. That mattered. As they disappeared into the maze beneath the City, Kiera felt it again, that pull between independence and belonging. She didn’t know if she trusted Mentor. But for now, she followed. Not because she was told to. Because she chose to.