I live in a cottage by a park. The park is beautiful, complete with a lake, and always has people walking around it. My house is right across the street from the park and I spent a lot of time as a kid playing in the park. This time of year the ivy that covers the exterior brick is brilliant green and our flower beds are full of color.

I pulled into the alley and parked my scooter by the back gate. Opening the garage I found the cover and placed it over the scooter. I hung my helmet on the hook and headed inside. Stopping by the kitchen, I grabbed a snack and then headed up the stairs.

My bedroom is in the attic. My dad helped me build a room up there after I declared I wanted more privacy. My old room was across the hall from my parents room and I never felt I was growing up staying across the hall from them.

In order to get up to my room I had to pull down the collapsable staircase from the ceiling. A trapdoor served as my door and I liked that no one could sneak into my room. I think my parents liked that I wouldn’t be able to sneak out quietly either.

My attic bedroom was smaller then my old room because the slope of the roof was so steep. I had my bed placed under a window that looked out over the park. My ancient PC was situated on a card table in the opposite corner of the room. My dad had tried valiantly to put in a light fixture that would light the whole room but there were just to many weird angles.

As much as I wanted to open the package I made myself wait. I started up my computer, which took a while, and changed clothes. I knew that if I was still in my work clothes when my parents came home they would be suspicious. I put on a pair of jean shorts and a t-shirt, carefully folding my work clothes so I could wear them the next day.

Once my computer was up I checked my email and made sure I hadn’t missed any new products on the Acme Hero Equip website. Seeing nothing new it was time to open the package. I used my house key to cut the tape that held the box closed and opened the first box of my new career.

On the outside the box appeared to be a regular brown cardboard, with dents and scratches on the surface. The box looked like it had been through a war zone to get to me. I was worried about the contents. Acme Hero Equip had a replacement policy if the contents are damaged in transit but I didn’t want to wait for a return. I turned the box upside down and out slide a steel box.

The steel box was slightly smaller then the cardboard box, about eight inches square, and had a number pad with a fingerprint reader next to it. I remembered my code from when I placed the order and entered it into the number pad. There was a quiet click and the box lid unfolded. Inside, nestled amongst velvet packaging, was my mask. I hadn’t settled for just any mask either, I had gone for top of the line.

Sitting in front of me was a genuine Type 1X hero mask. The “1” in the title marked it as their top of the line model and the “X” meant that it was custom. When budgeting for my costume and supplies I realized that I had access to civilian versions of a lot of equipment at my parents hardware store. Why pay a premium for restraints when I could get one-thousand large zip ties for half the price. I poured all that extra money into my costume.

This meant that I now owned a state of the art hero mask. Standard features for all masks is a heads up display, hands free phone access and ballistic protection. The shell of the mask was rated more protective then my scooter helmet. Additional features I added were in the optics section. The heads up display projected data right onto my retinas providing me instant access to info.

The mask had night vision with flare protection, a sound damper that would prevent hearing damage and wireless connection to Acme’s own network. The Acme network provided a private node for internet access, allowing me to browse without leaving a trace. I figured this would be handy if my parents started getting nosey about where all my money was going.

I had customized the exterior of the helmet as well. I had gone with a light blue and white color scheme, which I thought would look nice and, while not striking fear into the hearts of villains everywhere, would protect my identity. My mask covered more then seventy-five percent of my head. This was the recommend percentage to prevent being identified by the shape of your nose.

What would be visible while wearing it would be my lips, my eyes and my pony tail. The rest of my face was form fitted into the rest of the mask. Initially I had been worried about someone grabbing my hair in a fight but I wasn’t planning on fighting anyone and I didn’t want to cut my hair. I reached in and pulled the mask out.

The mask was lighter then I expected it to be. I expected it to weigh as much as my helmet and was happy to see that it wouldn’t be heavy at all. I inspected the mask for any flaws and saw none. Acme had done good work and everything look flawless. Most of the mask was flat white. Around the ears were small cylinders that were light blue and contained all of the radio and computer components.

I set the mask down on my desk and looked through the rest of the box. Underneath the manual, which I probably wouldn’t read, were two disks. These were the security disks. I ordered these on a whim. They were designed to make it so you were the only person who could wear your mask. I had read a little bit about them on the forums and the people that had them seemed pleased with how they performed. There was a rumor that they were painful to use, which made me nervous.

Each disk was about a half inch in diameter and had a spiral pattern like a finger print. I was supposed to place them just below my hair line on the back of my head. There they would pair up with matching pads in the mask and allow me to use features by just thinking. I double checked the instructions and thought, What the hell.

I was glad at that moment that I was alone in the house. The process was simple, you placed the security disks onto the mask and then put the mask on. This insured proper positioning of the disks on your neck. I got the mask on and turned it on. The words “Initializing” appeared on the the heads up display along with a countdown from three. When it reached one the pain started.

I collapsed on the floor, grabbing my head in pain. It felt like someone was drilling a hole in my neck. It hurt really bad. The pain lasted for thirty seconds or so and then went away like a light switch. I ripped the mask off and felt the back of my neck, sure enough I could just barely feel ridges on the back of my neck.

I rushed to the bathroom and used a hand mirror to see the back of my neck. I have pale skin and was worried about a scar or something. I could just barely make out faint marks on my neck. I touched them and there was no pain. Going back to my room I picked up the mask and put it back on. I felt the disks meet up with the mask and the mask started right up.

I winced as the mask started up and waited for the pain. Luckily the process was painless this time. The screen read “Welcome to Mask 2.0. Are you ready to configure?” I nodded yes. “Fitting will start in 3… 2… 1…” I felt a weird sensation as the mask started forming to my face. What had been a snug fit before became too tight for a second, then loose and then it fit like a second skin.

I went and looked in the mirror and from the neck up I looked pretty cool. After the fitting was done I was walked through the steps of setting up the Acme Network, calibrating the police scanner and setting preferences for when night vision would turn on. I also set up my phones bluetooth so I could take calls while in costume. I was impressed with the technology in the mask and was excited to try it out.

Not wanting to get caught with my mask out I put it back in its box and hid it under my bed. I then took a ride on my scooter trying to pass the time while I waited for night to fall. I knew, deep down inside, that I would be going out tonight to try out the mask and, hopefully, do some good.

When my parents got home I greeted them with a made up story of how much fun I had being a normal teenager. I laid it on a little thick and they probably think I am on drugs. We ate dinner together and watched a movie. After the movie I went up to my room to play video games on my computer. A while later my mom came up and said good night.

Once I heard them shut the door to their room I started making preparations. I was without the rest of my suit currently but I felt it was important to at least match my mask in case I was seen. I put on a pair of white sneakers, pale blue leggings, a pale blue tank top, and a white hoodie.

I placed the mask on and it linked to my phone and I was ready to go. I climbed out of my bedroom window and went to sit on the peak of the roof. I could hear the constant chatter on the police scanner, reports of speeding cars, domestic violence and other crimes. Each time a code came up on the radio it would be displayed on my HUD and I could say yes or no.

There was a report of gang activity about a block away so I said yes. Immediately a map popped up showing me the quickest route to get there. I climbed down the down spout and went to check it out.

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