Powerfriends Justiceforce Unlimited Forever

"-Mourns the tragic loss of one of its great heroes. The Veil, acting spokesperson for the Champion's Alliance, is expected to deliver a statement to the press at any moment. Full coverage when we get that report. Just a terrible tragedy. For those of you just tuning in, we regret to report that acting superheroine and agent of the Champion's Alliance, Snow Angel, has given her life in the line of duty tonight, defending the Earth from the Onyx Titan-"

"You gonna be alright, Sammy?" dad asks. Hand on the shoulder, offering sympathy. Attention on my reaction. I nod, but don't say anything. Seems appropriate, sets a precedent of minimal response. He starts a talk to comfort me, and I can get away with infrequent nodding.

I would watch her exploits on TV. Hers especially, though I suppose I should expect to have had this reaction if it had been any of them. She was so pretty, though. Nice to look at. Does that matter? She had things happening in her life, but they're finished now. Not failed or passed, incomplete. No redos. Not like school. Nod for dad.

She's dead, which means her brain isn't working anymore. Is that really all the difference? Some superheroes or villains are magicians. Magic exists, but the causes aren't observable. It's a black box with outputs and no inputs. Maybe that's relevant. But then, what's the brain? Complex chemical machine. All observable, theoretically. We haven't finished observing yet. Small change in inputs can make a big change in outputs, or it can make you dead. Mine isn't working right, lately. Not in a bad way. I remember everything, I deal with numbers better, I think faster about more things at once. Maybe this is just growing up. Nod for dad.

Maybe I can facilitate internal dialogue by theoretically externalizing different thought processes. Maybe that would help me with problem solving. So, myself, what is the difference between an alive thing and a dead thing?