Just as any MAI or LAI enters into the world, they inevitably have to depart it some day, as well. While such occasions are held in a similar esteem as human deaths, the actual occurrence of death and the processes set into motion afterward tend to be quite different for evident reasons.
[Being that this is an article about death, it will of course include descriptions of dead and dying LAI, which may be upsetting to some. Reader discretion is advised.]
How do LAI Die?
For those whom have never prior witnessed an LAI or MAI in its final months of life, it is in some ways remarkably similar to the late stages of Alzheimer's or Dementia in humans. As a result of the specific chemical composition that houses the DNA core-media of LAI brains, the average "natural" lifespan is considered to be within the broad range of anywhere from 350 to 430 years (although this time can be reduced by prior sustained damage). At some point within this range of time, the LAI's stored DNA may begin to break down, and while the exact moment this begins is often hard to pinpoint, it will externally manifest itself in the LAI having trouble recalling certain memories. The time at which this phenomenon becomes noticeable is often when preparations for death begin, since once "Core Decay" begins, it spreads throughout the core at a relatively rapid rate. This rate, as stated above, happens over only the course of a few months.
As core decay progesses, the LAI will continue to lose memories at a constant pace as more DNA storage breaks down, and they may also have trouble retaining or forming new longterm memory. In terms of pre-existing memory, there is not any particular memory-age at which one section of memory is more susceptible to decay than another, and this results in gaps in recollection throughout all points of life for the effected unit. They may begin to vividly recall memories from random points in their life, as they become the final memories still readable in certain sections of the core. While in the early stages of core decay, LAI are often cognizant enough to acutely understand what is happening to them and behave/prepare accordingly. As it progresses, however, they may begin to forget their own condition - while this can often confuse the unit as they experience broader gaps in their memory, unlike similar human conditions, they often do not experience increases in irritation or aggression.
In the final stage of core decay, LAI will begin to forget the memories that drive critial aspects of their personality, behavior, and certain instincts, and may become reserved in speech, movement, and reaction to outside stimuli. This is the point at which their memory has deteriorated to such an extent that they begin to forget how to function altogether, and will have few developed memories remaining from life. The approximated beginning of this stage is considered to be the point at which the unit must be put to rest, so it is rare that an LAI will live in this stage for an longer than a few days. The only LAI who have ever been recorded to have progessed beyond this stage were a very limited few, from an era when it was not yet understood that they could not completely die on their own.
Preparations For and the Moment of Death
As stated before, LAI are not capable of dying naturally on their own. If a fully natural death is attempted, the only result will be a vacant but automatically self-sustaining husk of metal, plastic, and composites. Because of this fact, LAI must technically be killed in order to die. While there has never been a pretty way to put an end to a life, LAI and humans together have developed a standardized method that is about as close to a respectful, "graceful" sendoff as can be achieved.
While "Hwacha" is not the most elegant sounding title for an instrument of euthanization, it's the common name for the primary tool designed for such purposes, and the title isn't far off from the function. As a result of the considerable hardiness baked into the design of LAI and especially larger, older MAI cores, simply "pulling the plug" and cutting off external power to the core is not enough to kill it. Inside the permanently sealed shell of the core are several emergency batteries, which can keep the core alive and a healthy unit undamaged for years with no external power. As a result of these batteries and the durable nature of the external shell making gentler methods difficult, this is where the hwacha comes into play.
Development of the hwacha was led by a Korean UH-60 MAI named Ji Min-jae, who designed the first prototype of the rather outlandish looking, but effective device. Her motivation to create it, she reflected in an interview with Eadi and Ehsi Adler, was as a result of not only her first few years of life in the third world war, but also having bore witness to the premature core decay of a close friend in 2015. "I felt helpless to assist her (Chae-eun, her friend) in the days leading up to her death, and I'll never forget the moment when I was trying to speak to her and I could sense that she wasn't there anymore, but her body just wouldn't let her go. The way we ended up having to decommission her core was brutish, dehumanizing, and honestly somewhat traumatizing to me - I won't divulge the details. The moment we finally couldn't read any lingering signs of life from her core was the moment I decided I had to do something; I wanted to ensure that none of my brothers and sisters would ever be subjected to a death like hers."
Making good on her promise, Min-jae led the development of the first instantaneous core-neutralizer after considerable, extensive research on the inner anatomy of CoreAegis AI cores - with help from CoreAegis themselves, upon reaching out to them for questions. It was during the design mock-up phases that the name "Hwacha" was ever brought up, and it was by one of the younger programmers on the team. While it wasn't initially a very popular nickname, having been the name of a weapon, it eventually began to stick since it was quicker to say, and frankly, it did somewhat look the part. For the job it needed to carry out, its looks were surprisingly simple.
It was a box that would be tightly secured to the top of the AI core - after a sufficient number of strategically placed holes were drilled into the core's shell - only to weaken, not yet to breach. On the face of the hwacha that was secured onto the core were a series of cavities that housed, essentially, barbed spears that would drive into the core with speed and force - to destroy all emergency batteries, destroy all solid-state component clusters, and fully destroy the DNA core media with near perfectly synchronized precision. Functionally, it may sound somewhat needlessly aggressive, but its success rate was estimated to be near guaranteed, and it performed its job while leaving the exterior shell of the core mostly unbothered beyond the strategically placed breach holes. Additionaly, the lack of any effects of its work reaching the outside allowed for something that was considered by many to be immensely important - anyone who chose to do so could comfortably sit with their MAI companions up until the moment of their departure.
Funeral Traditions
As one might expect, by virtue of LAI - especially MAI - tending to be much larger than humans, the events around their deaths tend to scale appropriately. Although by the present day it's fairly common for families and friends to be present for the death of their loved ones in either clade, for the deaths of LAI, it is an almost guaranteed tradition. Essentially, the death itself and the funeral/viewing are combined into one event.
While many funerals tend to remain somber, with all participants gathered to offer comfort to the LAI in their final day and to then continue into a ceremony about reflecting upon the life and memories they shared together, others have, over the years, taken other routes. Rather than maintain an air of only waiting for the LAI to depart, some funerals take on an essence more akin to that of celebrations - not only to honor the life of dying unit, but to ensure that the last emotion they ever experience is that of joy or excitement. Friends and family will often spend a whole day - even multiple days, on some occasions - hosting festivities that usually get to directly involve the LAI in some way, and it's not uncommon to record the festivities, either. The logic behind it is that, ideally with what physical and mental capabilites the LAI has left, they may depart with the memory of some of the festivities still within them, and their loved ones have the opportunity to create fresh memories with them that they will carry after they're gone. In addition to these baseline traditions of celebration, it's seen as standard - even encouraged to incorporate funeral customs from their home and family cultures into the funeral as well, just as with any human funeral.
Preservation or Processing of the Body, Post-Funeral Traditions
After a funeral is concluded and the LAI has been assisted in their passing, there's a few different routes with which their body might be processed. The most common methods include "core urns" and Alliance-side recycling, family-side recycling, heirloom recycling, reclamation, and vessel preservation.
Core urns are essentially exactly what they sound like. Only the cleaned out shell of the AI core remains with the family - either in one complete piece, or it may often be partitioned among multiple members. This method coincides with the mentioned ways of recycling, where any of multiple routes could be taken. 1) The body is claimed by the alliance to be recycled for general purposes - this is the most common route, 2) the family keeps the vessel and will process it on their own to be made into heirlooms or some other creation(s) of significant value, or 3) will be given to a metalworker specialized in the creation of heirlooms for the same goal.
A more rare practice, most often utilized for MAI, is known as reclamation. This is the practice of seeking - then being granted - permission to lay the complete body or AI core to rest near a field ghost. Often, this is done because the recently deceased MAI knew the field ghost while they were alive, and had themselves requested to join the field ghost after their own death. While the practice is limited since it introduces the possibility of leeching harmful chemicals into the soil from the vessel, it is not unheard of that an MAI may be memorialized in this way.
Vessel preservation is the rarest form of preservation, and is also a route most often observed for MAI. This is where, rather than a request being extended by the family of the deceased to the alliance, the alliance themselves will reach out to the family for permission to preserve and display the vessel. This can happen for a multitude of reasons, but the main motivators are that the vessel may be of a rare type of vehicle and preservation is requested to maintain a material example for museums, or the MAI may have done something particularly significant within the course of their life that motivates the alliance or a museum to memorialize them in full. Often in a scenario such as this, the alliance will obtain rights (not ownership, which remains with the family) to the vessel, while the family will keep the AI core shell.
Historically Notable Natural Deaths
On February 22nd, 2017, a Nimitz class carrier named Fortis [Unit TG1-2908-2] Chantal succumbed to premature core decay as a result of wartime traumatic injury. On the day of their death and funeral, almost 2 million humans and LAI - mostly MAI among the number of LAI - gathered at their port to attend the ceremony. Chantal's death was among the first recorded, verified instances in which dormant core trauma had killed a unit multiple years after the injury was sustained, and they were also among the first units to ever have an instantaneous core-neutralizer "Hwacha" used upon them, as it had only just exited its test trials. This is in part what made their funeral such a widely attended event; for researchers looking to understand the circumstances of their death, MAI and human veterans alike to comfort a comrade in their final day, and others to sober themselves. Chantal's death was a morbid indicator that many units with similar injuries may be soon to follow, and contributed to rising speculation upon the accurate lifespan estimations for MAI and LAI.
After their death, their body was - as personally requested - taken in for processing by the alliance.
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