The Dead Who Are Immortal

[BlizzardeyeWonder]

It was now July. Chen spent more of July outside his room, though mostly in the living room. Mom seemed overjoyed to tears by him coming down and having dinner with the family like a proper son again, and it was such a strange thing to be tearful over to him- she still saw him at meal times, he merely did not stay in her sight. Or was it Mom that left Chen's sight? Irrelevant, he dismissed.

Today, like most days, he ate his dinner quickly. Dad complimented Mom on her cooking, and she smiled. How nice it must have been for something that simple to make one smile. Chen wished that could happen to him, too. He thanked Mom for dinner, and scurried upstairs, back to his room, and back to his computer, not that there was much on the internet he wanted to address. He noticed that he had a couple of notifications on Discord- 3 different people DM'd him, all of them classmates.

Looking at the first two, they weren't much special. Jackie was organizing a game night, and Chen was one of those invited to a night of games and mountain dew (read: have them all play super smash bros and all get beaten by her little brother). Then there was Matt, who was trying to get the anime club members in the past year to go see that movie with Ant Man and some other hero he never heard of.

His peers erroneously assumed his lack of self-inflicted confinement to his room meant a sudden interest in their own activities. They were idiots and morons who couldn't realize that no matter what console first person shooters they played together, no matter which distractingly loud and flashy action movies they showed him, they could not bring Meilin back.

Meilin would not be sitting on the sofa next to them, stuffing her face with cheetos, fumbling the controls and accidentally shooting Chen's character in the head. She would not be at the movie-refreshments-thing stand with them dropping loose quarters everywhere and apologizing to the cashier as she picked them up.

No matter how many times he peeked through into her room, she would not be at her laptop, typing away, muttering something to herself, only stopping to check the notebook laid open beside her, or to sip from a can of cream soda.

She'd never do those things again. Yet everyone seemed to assume Chen's grief was simply because she was a victim. If that was the case, he'd lose sleep every night grieving for every victim of survival of the fittest. As much as he hated to admit it to himself, among those victims, there was nothing about Meilin's case in particular that made her special in it.

As horrific as it was, it was not her suffering. It was the fingerprints she left all over the neighborhood, that would not be touched by her again, and the ones she did leave would eventually fade away.

He shook his head, snapping himself out of his thoughts, to respond to those messages.

[+] Kneesocks

Kneesocks - Today at 7:55 PM
Hey there, I'm gonna hold another game night at my place. You interested? (if you come remember to bring snacks ;P)

Zero2Chan - Today at 8:20 PM
i'll pass
got some stuff to deal with

[+] Carman Sandiego

Carman Sandiego - Today at 8:01 PM
yooo chen
im tryna get the animoo club to go see the new ant man movie
you in

Zero2Chan - Today at 8:22 PM
inviting the anime club to an entirely western superhero movie eh?

lemme guess, everybody else so far said no too?

If Matt wanted to call him a dick, so be it.

Now, there was one that he'd seen, but it was a rather generic message from the twin brother of one of his friends. While his friend Maya was a perfectly decent human being, he couldn't care less about her brother Samson. He seemed like a blustering idiot, and to boot, somebody whose words belonged on the front page of r/iamverysmart.

He supposed he was a bit curious about the sudden outreach, so he responded.

[+] MonikaIsMyWaifu

MonikaIsMyWaifu - Today at 8:07 PM
Are you online?

Zero2Chan - Today at 8:26 PM
i am now
what do you want

MonikaIsMyWaifu - Today at 8:26 PM
First of all, I am truly sorry for your loss.
I can tell you and your sister were very close.

Zero2Chan - Today at 8:26 PM
thanks
i've heard it from everyone and their dog lately but thanks

MonikaIsMyWaifu - Today at 8:27 PM
It is normal and healthy to look back fondly on the memories you cherished with the deceased, but with this, our society is such that we would glorify Hitler's actions if he died from cancer in the modern day.

Then he uploaded a file. A video, by the looks of it. His previous message already put Chen in a defensive mood. How dare he?

[+] MonikaIsMyWaifu

Zero2Chan - Today at 8:28 PM
???
the fuck's your point

MonikaIsMyWaifu - Today at 8:29 PM
I should be honest with you. This is a segment of the Survival of the Fittest streams.

Zero2Chan - Today at 8:29 PM
what

MonikaIsMyWaifu - Today at 8:29 PM
Do not worry, for it contains no gore or violence. It does, however, contain sexual content. But I urge that you watch it.

Zero2Chan - Today at 8:30 PM
why?
i'm not clicking that until you tell me exactly what's in it
and i might not
i'd rather not see my dead sister like that
why the fuck would you send me that?

MonikaIsMyWaifu - Today at 8:30 PM
Oh no it's not Meilin.
It's her boyfriend.
And another girl.
He cheated on her, when they needed each other's support most.

Zero2Chan - Today at 8:33 PM
So what?
Why are you giving me this?

MonikaIsMyWaifu - Today at 8:35 PM
Because you seemed to adore him. You were pretty happy to see your sister got a boyfriend who probably would be faithful to her this time. Maya told me that, at least.

Zero2Chan - Today at 8:37 PM
So you're trying to make me hate Ace?

MonikaIsMyWaifu - Today at 8:37
I'm simply telling you idealizing the dead is not ideal.
If Meilin does something that is not as completely saintly as you imagined her to be, which she almost certainly will in such pressure, you will be swarmed by trolls reminding you of such.
The best way to deal with it is accept that she was not perfect.

Zero2Chan - Today at 8:40
I never thought Meilin was perfect
And I love her for it
You're just a sick fuck aren't you?
Never talk to me again

Barely able to see the screen through his enraged tears, he somehow managed to block the bastard. He angrily shut the the laptop so that it was now folded, and placed his elbows on its surface, burying his face in his hands.

The more rational part of him was constantly nagging to go tell Maya. Call her, text her, whatever.

But he'd never be able to tell her anything. He was hardly able to breathe.

"Chen?" Dad's familiar voice was on the other side of the door. "Are you okay?"

Chen did not speak. He uselessly shook his head.