On-Brand Loyalty - Off the Clock

Christmas Short - Mandated Holiday

Note: Was just made to celebrate the holiday in question. While I don't think there's much that would conflict with the story, it's "non-canon" to On-Brand Loyalty to avoid putting a definitive timeline stamp on the series. 

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When Dror stepped into the landing pod, the last thing he expected to see were decorations. Colored lights, a fake tree, even some old and scratched-up nutcrackers sitting on the console. N, now wearing a holiday sweater with the JCJenson logo, was playing with one of the wooden dolls while V, wearing a strange red and white hat, watched him with a bored expression. Fiddling with the control console was J, wrapped in a red and green scarf, who turned to address the newcomer.

She waved lazily. "Happy company mandated holiday Dror." N and V greeted him in their own ways.

"Merry Christmas Dror!"

"Sup tiny."

Dror just settled for a look of confusion, "Disassembly Drones celebrate Christmas?"

N smiled. "Of course, it's the 'most wonderful time of the year' after all!"

The Worker Drone looked to J, who shrugged. "Like I said, company mandated. Since we're technically employees, we're ordered to take this day off."

V gave Dror a smirk. "What, do Worker Drones not know how to celebrate a holiday?"

He simply waved her off. "Eh, a bunch of others at my old colony liked the whole Christmas thing. I never cared for it personally speaking. So are we supposed to exchange gifts or something? Cause uh, I don't really have anything to give out..."

N answered. "Nah, we can just hang around for the day and put up the decorations they gave us, I do like the decorations."

The squad leader grunted. "And yet, we still have to give someone a gift. JCJenson's 'Secret Santa Mandate' requires every team to send some sort of present to another random squad. Something about 'good will towards co-workers'". J held up a piece of paper. "Unfortunately for us, we got D's squad..."

Dror stared blankly.

"The ones who were supposed to keep F in check... The Disassembly Drone you killed."

Snapping his fingers, Dror responded. "Oh, the pricks. Got it!"

V laughed. "Aw look. The kid's learning."

Dror flipped her off as he turned back to J. "So what do you normally send?"

J answered. "Typically we all just send Worker Drone remains with oil still in them and have it count towards their numbers. Though I'd really prefer not to give D any of our hard-earned spoils..."

Dror thought for a moment and smirked. "Say, we're not... required, to actually send something nice are we?"

J's screen briefly displayed a processing symbol before her eyes returned. "I suppose they never explicitly said wether they had to be 'nice' gifts... why do you ask?"

Dror placed his hands together and gave a mischievous look. "What if we got them something... a little more unexpected?"

J raised an eyebrow as Dror leaned over and whispered into her audio receptor. Her eyes widened. "Can you make it that fast?"

Pulling out a hammer, Dror chuckled. "For the sake of my boss, and for spite, yes J. Yes I can."

Both him and J started to laugh with malicious intent, causing V to stare at them curiously while N couldn't help feeling concerned.

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D and M stood leaning up against a lamp post in an open street, unbothered by the falling snow as they waited in silence. Eventually, a small remote drone descended from the sky and dropped a metal box at their feet. D picked it up and stared at it.

M commented, a hand on her hip. "Looks awfully small for the typical giveaway. Think it's just a head? Lazy cheapskates."

D didn't answer, instead he simply opened the package. His eyes widened as he pulled out the item, a well-crafted statue made of metal... in the shape of a hand giving a middle finger.

M couldn't help but laugh at it as D twitched, his right eye flickering and the crack in his visor sparking. With an angry yell, he slammed the item down. As it made contact with the ground, a device inside detonated and covered the area in a smokescreen.

Both Disassembly Drones coughed heavily as somewhere else, Dror and J continued to laugh like a pair of supervillains.