When
Religious Practices were banned, funerals were forever changed. The funeral practices in
Twilight City and the surrounding area are informed by a desire to remember and honour the deceased, whilst not further damaging the environment.
Disposing of the body
Due to the mandatory organ donor status which removes all viable tissue, the lack of space within the city dome, and the desire to preserve the environment, only a few methods of body disposal are sanctioned after death. Both traditional cremation and embalming using preservatives were banned at the end of the 21st century, as they added to greenhouse gases and soil pollution.
Human composting
This is the least personal of burial methods, but is offered for free by the municipality. Unclaimed bodies are kept in the city morgue for 30 days before being shipped to the Composting Farms in the
Twilight Badlands to the East of the city. Families can also ask for composting as a method of burial.
Tree Transcendence (Tree Burial)
There are several burial companies specialising in Tree Burial, but the most famous is called Transcend, which gave its name to the practice. The body is wrapped in a biodegradable flax linen, then buried (usually out in the badlands). This practice sequesters nearly 6 times more carbon dioxide than a cremation emits. Families choose trees they feel best represent the person in life - from the stalwart Baobab, to the graceful Acacia, to the prickly Whistling Thorn (usually reserved for problematic family members).
Aquamation
Aquamation is a method of body disposal in which most of the body is dissolved in a high temperature solution of 95 percent water and 5 percent potassium hydroxide or sodium hydroxide. All that’s left in the pod once the process is complete is a partial skeleton, which is ground up into a white powder and given to the person’s family. Less expensive, but also less ecologically friendly that tree transcendence, it still only emits about a fifth of the carbon dioxide belched out by old fashioned "traditional" cremation techniques.
Many families choose this method if they wish to distribute the person's remains somewhere - for example, shooting them into space via the space elevator, or sprinkling them in the waters of the oceans.
There are also companies who offer to compress the remains of aquamation into precius stones, like diamonds, emeralds or rubies. Families with traditions of this boast literally family jewels, with precious jewellery created as momentos of past family members.
Saying Goodbye: the funeral and wake
Funerals vary hugely depending on the individual and the chosen method of body disposal. Tree Transcendence usually takes place outside the city, with families travelling out together to plant their loved one in their final resting place. Annual trips to see and tend to the tree are common.
Aquamation funerals tend to take place over the 24 hours the body is dissolving, around the pod. These day-long parties involve the deceased person's favourite things - foods, drinks, movies - and sometimes feel more like a sleep over than a solemn event.
Human composting does not lend itself well to funerals with the body. Those who throw funerals where the deceased has been composted usually hold a modest memorial event, wake or party.
Life after death - Electronic Existence
The first strides in an electronic afterlife have recently been boasted by several corporations. This looks set to be the new Space Race - a competition to see who can transfer the first human consciousness completely to a stable, and learning, electronic state.
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