Hong Lu Pressure Masks

## Masks sizes

The bigger the mask, the lower you are on the litteral social ladder of Hong Lu. Because the further down you are, the more pollution you get. And the more pollution the bigger the filters.

On ground level aka Level 0, the pollution can be dangerous for your eyes and even for some parts your skin. So the people at this level must wear full masks.

You can then deduced that the higher you are the lighter the masks are.

### **Full mask and its variations**

Full masks are still a sign of poverty, but at least it means you have a job. This mask has become the symbol of the lower class struggle to reach higher heights. This symbolism is recycled in many political and marketing campaigns.

The run-of-the-mill masks includes plain helmet breathers and social masks.

### **Half masks plain and elegant**

In the middle levels, there are a lot of masks styles. If you earn just enough money to not go back on the lower levels, you will wear a very basic looking half mask. There is a small variety of brands that sometimes sponsor artists or sport teams. So it is very common to see colorful but simple looking apparels with the name of whatever you support in big font.

With every corporation giving discounted version of their half mask to their employees, and with these people giving branded masks to their kids, the first assumption is that the half masks is just a product of basic advertising strategy.

However depending on the district, you will see more elaborate versions of these masks. Some representing animals, some with a complexe design that you can quickly notice in a crowd. This variation in masks forms is a visible indicator of middle class status. Some districts are populated with younger families that just got out of the lower levels, explaining the basic designs. But older families inhabiting wealthier levels for few years will have enough resources to buy more elegant masks.

## Mask styles

At any level, there are different signification to what you wear. Some says that you belong to a gang, to a music band, to a mercenary group et cetera. You can get in a lot of trouble if you wear something that belongs to the Triad or other criminal organisations, this can easily get you killed sometimes, especially on gang territories.

### **Junk and Cánrěn masks**

On Level 0, there is a dense concentration of the poorer population of the planet, leading some people to make “junk masks”. This is a clear sign of the bottom line.

Some people who are part of gangs make similar “junk masks” with representation of skulls. This are specifically called “Cánrěn masks” or literally “brut masks”.

Fortunately thanks to the help of the 14 Red Dogs Sector-Wide Care System and A.C.R.E., these masks tends to disappear with the arrival of a mass produced pressure mask made with the UMA (Underground Mutated Algae) based plastic filters simply called Umasks.

### **Oni and Tengu masks**

Any full or half masks representing onis or tengus belongs to the yakuzas symbology. The yakuzas have almost disappeared, so the significance has lost its weight. At the end of the revolt, only a few clans survived. This symbology is slowly reappropriated by the citizens, but it is still a reminder of the gangs war.

These are also found in metal and rap music groups, though it is always subjected to polemics. After all the war between the triad and the yakuzas made many victims. It is considered rude to wear them by the elders, risky by the others. But planet-wide, most people forgot its meaning.

### **Low-likes masks**

There is a sub-culture of both low-class people who’ve made it big, and people born to wealth, who’ve started wearing larger masks, usually with functions not found in the practical masks of the lower levels, such as internal “vape” units, voice modulators, and better communications integration. These units are casually referred to as low-likes.

Samourai half maskCánrěn maskLow-like half maskSkull half maskPlain half maskStylised half maskUmaskWhite Horse Deal maskStylised half mask