Today Susie was going to her grandfather's funeral. She got out of bed, woke up her parents and went to start up her bath all by herself. When she was finished with the bath she went back to her room and put on the blue dress she and her mother picked out yesterday before going downstairs for breakfast.
Her parents were downstairs but hadn't gotten dressed yet.
"Hey sweetie..you look very pretty in your dress!"
"Thanks mommy."
"What do you want for breakfast?"
"Cereal."
"Ok honey."
Mom got the cereal and poured Susie a bowl.
"Mom...?"
"Yes dear?"
"Why do we have to go to grandpa's funeral?"
"It's his time, dear."
"But why? Why does he have to go away?"
"Well you see dear, as we age we get bigger and stronger, but then after a certain point that stops and we get weaker and less able to take care of ourselves. Grandpa's reached that stage now."
"But then why don't we look after him?"
"We have been, dear! Up until now! Grandpa's reached a point now where he's just too old and his life is starting to be a burden to him..humans are meant to be independent in action but he just doesn't have the capacity anymore! He's become a burden to us. But more importantly he's become a burden to himself. Does that make sense?"
"I guess so," Susie said doubtfully.
"I see you're getting it sweetie. Well, when the person's life starts to be a burden to them, we throw a big party and everyone they know comes and everyone gets a chance to say goodbye. The he gets hooked up to the giant mainframe and everything he was and is gets added to our giant computer and becomes a part of sum of all human knowledge. Who they were and what they were keeps going forever and ever. Isn't that exciting?"
Susie thought it. It did sound pretty cool. She nodded and started to eat her cereal while her mother got ready.
The ceremony was much more fun than she had thought, like a party. They were all singing and laughing and dancing. People gave speeches and told jokes and funny stories. She got to say goodbye to grandpa and he hugged her fiercely.
Finally it was the end. There was a computer panel in front of him. He was then connected to it via a wired helmet with a bit that went into his mouth. It made a loud humming sound and gave off a slight but noticeable blue tint. Finally it dinged loudly and a technician came over to check the results. They were a success and the body was carted off to be reused as fertilizer.
Susie knew when she died she wanted it to be just like that.
