Every year, the cyborg wizard claimed he was “above mortal rituals,” but when December rolled around, he quietly powered up his holiday subroutines—the ones no engineer could ever find or delete.

He loved it. All of it. The lights, the shimmer, the way humans gathered to exchange gifts instead of plasma fire.

The ugly Christmas sweater was his favorite part. Strange thing: no matter how advanced his circuitry became, no spell or upgrade ever matched the warmth of knitted gingerbread men.

He said it was “ironic,” of course. Very advanced humor. Extremely sophisticated.
But the truth was simpler:

Somewhere deep beneath the alloy and enchantment, he still had a soft spot—one the sweater fit perfectly.