According to his armor, the outside temperature was 1.75K, actually colder than the darkness of space. Anything exposed to that cold would freeze instantly, even molecular movement slowed, if not stopped.

Yet the puffies and the podlings skated on the ice like the temperature was survivable. They were laughing and giggling, their breath steaming out in front of the scarves over their mouths. As Vuxten watched two podlings pulled their scarves down to nibble at a piece of cake they were sharing before pulling the scarves back up. A puffie had a red and white stick with one curved end in its mouth as it skated slowly around the frozen pond. As Vuxten watched two larger puffies knocked down a smaller one and skated away laughing as the smaller one sat and wailed. Two small podlings came up to comfort it. In the middle of the frozen pond a larger podling was teasing a few podlings and puffies by holding out candy then pulling it back before the smaller ones could grab it.

Vuxten was distracted by the sound of piano music and turned to look. There were puffies and podlings playing instruments by the side of the pond, all bundled up. Behind them was a hill covered in snow. Podlings and puffies were riding wooden sleds with metal rails down the hill, their scarves streaming out behind them. Vuxten saw a larger podling push two puffies and a podling off a sled, jump on it, and ride all the way down to the pond, sliding across it, knocking down a few of the skaters while the podling rider laughed.

His social media feed pinged like a bell and the meme popped up.

It was of Vuxten, Brentili'ik, his broodcarriers, and the podlings skating.

WORKER VUXTEN YOU ARE FINED TWO WEEKS PAY FOR WALKING THROUGH A WINTER WONDERLAND

"What?" Vuxten asked.

--dreaming or in trouble-- 471 said. --supposedly happened to others--

"What happened?" Vuxten asked, looking up at the temp again, then at a table that was laid out with treats.

--somewhen somewhere else-- 471 answered. --rules arent rules here--

"Great," Vuxten moved around the lake, watching the little children play. There were no adults, no broodcarriers, anywhere to be seen.

Just as he was crossing between two sets of snow covered bushes he heard the podlings and the puffies scream in terror.

He spun around, one hand dropping to his subber, the other going for his cutting bar.

His hands found two lumps of ice stuck to his belt even as he stared, goggle-eyed, at what had burst out of the shrubs.

Curved horns topped its head. Its visage was terrible, long and narrow, a bestial face with a curled beard at the chin and surrounded by wild, tangled, sharp looking curls of black hair. Its large slit-pupil eyes burned a baleful yellow as a long forked tongue fell from its fang filled mouth. It was tall, lanky, the knees reversed, with long hands that ended in claws that it held out toward the children as it ran forward. Across its chest was crossed chains that were attached to a barrel on its back. In one hand it held a clutch of long thin wood branches.

It ran through the group of podlings and puffies throwing snowballs at each other and laughing, ducking under the snowballs, emerging from the hail of puffy white projectiles without a single mark.

471 let out a string of cursing emojis.

Vuxten stood frozen as the creature charged out onto the ice, its cloven hooves striking green, white, red sparks from the ice.

Cursing with his battle buddy, Vuxten broke into a run toward the ice just as the creature reached one of the podlings who was laughing as he held a scarf out of reach of a puffie.

Before Vuxten could get to the pond the creature grabbed the podling.

Vuxten was sure it was going to rip the podling in half or worse.

The creature's tongue elongated, wrapping around the podlings, lifting it up toward those jaws.

Vuxten banged on the thick ice cover the stubber then held out his head, concentrating.

Nothing happened and Vuxten tried to put on more speed, glancing down.

His boots were covered by thick lumps of snow and ice, slowing him.

The free hand shot out, grabbing the belt of the podling's pants and yanking them down, exposing the furry backside.

"Feet are mired, buddy," Vuxten snapped.

--reactors cold not sure how--

The hand full of slender wooden branches raised up into the sky and for a moment the branches bisected the moon.

But still some puffies and podlings skated around the pond, completely undisturbed by the scene.

The podling began wailing in terror and pain as the bestial creature started flogging the exposed backside with the sticks, sending out puffs of downy fur.

"Dammit!" Vuxten hit the edge of the ice and slid across it, feet spreading out.

Vuxten looked down, trying to get his balance and saw two sets of words carved into the water side of the ice.

GUNS OF THE SOUTH

HOW FEW REMAIN

He frowned as he slid by the words that meant nothing to him. He looked up in time to see the fearsome creature set the little podling down on the ice and give him a shove. The podling grabbed its backside, wailing in pain, and slid across the ice with its pants down around its ankles.

The creature looked up and spotted the larger puffie in the middle of the pond, holding out treats and making the littler puffies and podlings jumped for them, smacking them or kicking their skates out from under them and laughing. One podling hit the ice and blood spattered from a nose, making the podling wail in pain.

The creature's eyes went red. It leaned forward.

"Shit shit shit," Vuxten snarled. He banged on the ice over his cutting bar. He didn't have a clear shot, his smartlink systems were offline while his nerve grafts healed.

The creature began running in place, the hooves striking long sprays of ice crystals as well as gold, green, and red sparks.

Vuxten looked around as he scrambled forward, saw how the others were doing it, and began trying to copy them.

He slid across the ice as those cloven hooves of the beast caught traction and the beast lunged forward, one hand out, the claws gleaming in the moonlight. A cluster of skaters went by it, the bigger ones holding hands with the littler ones as they all sang, and the great creature threw itself into the air.

Vuxten stared up into the sky as the creature got high enough to be completely silhouetted against the large white moon. Its legs were pulled up the backwards knees making it look strange, one hand full of slender wooden sticks held straight out to the side, the other with claws that gave a large gleam that hurt Vuxten's eyes with the other.

Seeing his chance, Vuxten triggered a rocket.

The launcher coughed, the rocket hung in mid-air for a split second just as the creature reached the apex of its leap and hung there.

Vuxten realized the rocket wasn't the sleek smart missile he normally fired. Instead the green conical head had a lip over the body. The body was thicker, a red and white stripe swirl pattern on it. The rocket belched a cloud of pink smoke that covered Vuxten even as gold and silver flame shot out the back.

Vuxten exited the pink cloud in time to see the creature still hanging in mid-air in front of the moon as the rocket missed and detonated behind it. Instead of the greasy red and yellow of a normal detonation, or the bluish white snap of antimatter, dots of red and yellow light exploded from the detonating missile, forming a pattern that held for a long moment. Three lines with a flattened X crossing over the middle bar from the two side bars. It was in the middle of a high bottom five sided diamond shape.

"OH, COME ON!" Vuxten said, trying to change direction and instead sliding across the ice helplessly.

The sparkles faded and the creature dropped down toward the unaware puffie, one hand reached out, the other arm bringing back the bundle of sticks.

The ice over his cutting bar shattered and he grabbed the handle, ripping it away from the mag-tac plate on his waist. It roared to life, sending ice chips spraying out. The sound made a trio of big fat feathered birds surrounded by an iron fence beat their wings and squawk out 'hon hon hon hon' loud enough Vuxten could hear it over the roar of the cutting bar.

He barely got the roaring clattering cutting chain out of the way of a skater that went whipping by, looking up at him with wide innocent immature broodcarrier eyes.

The little ones screamed and scattered as Vuxten headed straight toward the larger puffie, who looked up at Vuxten. Its eyes went wide and it screamed in fear.

"NOT ME! BEHIND YOU!" Vuxten yelled.

The creature dropped down, slamming into the ice, sending up a spray of ice. Its tongue wrapped around the puffie's chest, its claws came down to slide beneath the belt of the puffie's pants, yanking them down.

Vuxten got the cutting bar up and in the way of the branches.

Instead of the heavy bar, capable of ripping through battlesteel armor, shredding the branches sparks shot out as the cutting bar howled. The sparks were full of frost, making snowflake patterns on the visor of Vuxten's armor.

The creature flung the puffie aside, who landed on its hands and knees, fur covered bottom up, its eyes wide with fear and leaking tears.

Several of the smaller puffies, girls, pointed and laughed.

Vuxten didn't see it, parrying strike after strike from those thin branches, his cutting bar sending out sprays of sparks and ice chips. The creature was inhumanly fast with the strikes, the thin strips of wood whistling as they came down, aimed at his face.

His social media system pinged and a meme popped up in the corner of his vision.

It was a picture of the creature holding a janitorially dressed Vuxten over his knee, swatting at Vuxten's exposed backside with the branches.

The caption made no sense to Vuxten.

WORKER VUXTEN YOU ARE FINED TWO SUGARPLUMS FOR NAUGHTINESS

He realized he'd forgotten about the tongue when it wrapped around his waist, lifting him in the air.

Vuxten swung at the creature's face and it ducked its head.

The bar roared as the thick horns deflected the cut, sparks and several teeth of the cutting bar spraying out.

Chains from around the creature's body unwound themselves from the body of the creature and began slapping at Vuxten, who had grabbed the tongue. He raised up the chainsword even as he got one foot against the horn and pushed.

The creature slammed him down on the ice hard enough that sparks filled his vision.

The ice shattered under Vuxten and he sank beneath the water, staring up at the baleful eyed creature. As he watched the water above him froze.

Training kicked in and he managed to roll himself so he was head up, the bubbles sparkling silver as they rose up. He landed, his feet going deep into the mud and muck and the bottom but hitting solid ground before he was much more than ankle deep.

He flexed his knees, holding his chainsword down, raised his fist, and stared up.

"I'm not beaten that easy," he mumbled.

--bad thing buddy-- 471 advised.

Vuxten lunged upward, putting everything he had into it. His fist hit the ice and it shattered. He flew out of the water in a shower of ice and water that frozen instantly.

He rotated in midair out of habit, coming down so he hit feet first, flex the knee and ground the fist to bleed off energy, hold the cutting bar up to have it in high guard position.

Vuxten looked around and frowned.

There were no podlings or puffies. No pond. No yellow eyed creature.

Just snow covered bushes and trees.

And a lamp post in the middle of the clearing.

Vuxten heard four strange birds give out a call from around him.

There was the sound of jingling bells as he slowly stood up, letting the chain idle. Shredded ice drifted down from the cutting bar's blade.

Through the bushes pushed animals that Vuxten recognized from media.

Horses. With elaborate harnesses covered in jingling bells. They were pulling a sleigh driven by a Rigellian female in a white trimmed red leather vest, a fluffy hat, and a scarf, with soft red pants. Beside her was a large warrior cast Treana'ad with a fluffy hat on his head, a small human child held close, carefully guarded by crossed bladearms. The warrior was dressed in fuzzy white trimmed red clothing. In the back of the sled was a big red sack that boxes of presents were sticking out of.

"OUT OF THE WAY, JACKASS!" the Rigellilan female yelled as the sled careened past. It hit a bump and a small box popped out of the sack, landing at Vuxten's feet. He bent down and picked it up, turning and raising his hand as the sled passed him.

The little Terran girl waved.

The Rigellian female snapped the reins. "HEYO DUMBER AND BLISTEX!"

The Treana'ad just shrugged.

The streetlight made the set of five interlocked circles of shining gold gleam on the polished wood of the side of the sled as Vuxten turned and stared as it vanished into the woods.

He looked around slowly.

"What?"