#521: 2008 Christmas Special

The 2008 XKCD Christmas Special

Narrator: Due to the slowing economy, we could only afford to produce the prime-numbered panels.

Narrator: You should be able to infer the missing parts of the story easily enough.

Narrator: We apologize for the inconvenience.

[[The first panel is blank]]

[[Girl carrying Christmas lights and guy watching]]

Girl: I’m going to one-up those Christmas light displays on YouTube.

[[Girl thinking]]

Girl: Hmm. Needs more flair. Do you know what happens when you fire sodium pellets into a snowbank?

Guy: No.

Girl: Me neither.

[[The next panel is blank]]

[[Girl sitting in front of a console]]

Girl: Whoops, one of the Arduino control boards sublimated.

Girl: If only I could make it self-repairing…

[[The next panel is blank]]

Girl: Shit. The system has become sentient.

Guy: Friggin’ Python.

System: GRAAARR!

[[The next three panels are blank]]

[[Girl showing laptop to guy]]

Girl: But according to this email forward, Santa is secretly a Muslim!

Guy: It explains everything!

[[The next panel is blank]]

Girl: Okay, the cloned raptors are hunting the last of the cyborgs. We’re safe.

Guy: Are you sure you thought this through?

[[The next three panels are blank]]

[[Two couples appear in this next panel]]

Guy: Are the raptors contained?

Second girl: Sure. Unless they figure out how to build lightsabers.

[[The next panel is blank]]

[[Guy with hat fighting with a raptor using lightsabers]]

Guy: It’s all right. I’ve got her.

[[Lightsaber appears from behind]]

«Snap-hiss!»

Guy: …Clever girl.

[[The next three panels are blank]]

[[Bill Gates is holding a weapon over Santa’s body. The two girls are watching]]

Girl: Great. Bill Gates kills Santa.

Bill Gates: I thought it was Stallman with a dyed beard.

[[The next five panels are blank]]

[[Girl and guy with hat are looking at a tree]]

Girl: Where did you get this Christmas tree?

Guy: Nowhere.

Girl: Did you cut down the Yggdrasil?

Guy: …Maybe.

[[The next panel is blank]]

[[Girl and guy holding hands and looking at reader]]

Narrator: Merry Christmas from XKCD <3

[[The last panel is blank]]