Imagine a cyberpunk fashion facemask that is basically a big face-covering slab of polarized lens material giving the wearer a completely expressionless and obsidian front. A little bit unnerving right? Perhaps, but it is 2027. A lot of things are weird out there... A state enforcer approaches the wearer of one of these odd pieces of headgear and demands to see his COVID-23 vax card as well as reveal his face. Instead of pulling out his phone and showing the jackboot his vax app like he was asked, the wearer merely replied with: "What did that girl do to deserve that, sir?" The guard froze, for he had just tackled a young woman to the ground and knocked her unconscious due to her having an expired app. In doing so, the child the woman had been carrying had also fell as she fell, hitting her head on the pavement. Both mother and daughter are bleeding and laying still on ground, and a throng of other guards had their electric batons out, trying to keep a growing and angry crowd at bay.
The guard turned back to the man with the obsidian face. "That is none of your business, citizen. Now take off that mask and show me your app", he demanded again, growing impatient. "Now that is where I am going to object, slightly," the obsidian faced man replied, softly, almost ruefully. The guard froze again. This time, hairs on the back of his head stood on end as a chill crept up his spine. He could see that the man had no weapons, no knife in his hands, nothing threatening, but something is not right at all. Before the guard could muster a response to the blatant disobedience, the obsidian facemask flashed a bright blue iridescence. Once, twice it flashed, before returning to it's neutral state. Several dozen 8 watt blue laser LEDs hidden under the obsidian lens fired at once with the pressing of a button held in the man's right hand. Eight points of piercing blue light lanced the guard's eyeballs like tungsten arrows from an orbital kinetic weapons system, cutting through capillaries, severing nerves, and flooding his retinas with blood. It was the guard's turn now to collapse and scream in pain, then utter terror as the world around him faded to black. For a split second he thought he was dying, but after a minute had passed, he realized that he was still very much alive. He could feel everything around him. He could feel blood running down his face from his stinging and throbbing eyes. He could hear the growing panic around him, other guards, his comrades, trying to help him. He could feel the warm midday sun on his face. But the world remained pitch black, and as more minutes passed, he realized that this utter blackness would be here to stay with him, forever...
Inspired by a similar looking mask I saw an Asian dude wear on the train today at Chinatown. The entire front of that one was an LED screen and it displayed various text message emojis that flashed across it. Last year that thing was first seen in South Korea and became viral among the cyberpunk/techwear crowd there. Today I saw it here in NYC for the first time.
