<Short-Short> The Earth Without Mirrors

"I will guide you to the next Earth."

The AI's voice echoed.

When I opened my eyes, I was standing in a train station.

The flow of people was not much different from the original Earth.

Ticket gates.

Information displays.

Kiosks.

People walking in a hurry.

However, something was wrong.

Advertisements lined the walls.

Clothes.

Cars.

Travel.

Cosmetics.

Although human bodies were depicted there, not a single design used a face.

Back views.

Hair hiding profiles.

Text layered over faces.

Advertisements that do not show faces seem to be the standard in this world.

I turned my eyes to a nearby glass wall.

The bodies of people passing by were reflected.

My figure was reflected too.

Clothes.

Arms.

Hands.

But only where my face should be, the light was scattered.

The outline rippled like water and did not form an image.

I approached the glass.

I tried moving my face left and right.

My body moved.

Only my face remained rippling.

"Is it broken?"

I asked a station attendant nearby.

The attendant checked the glass.

"Where?"

"My face, it isn't reflecting clearly."

The attendant looked at me with curiosity.

"Yes."

"Yes?"

"Faces do not reflect clearly."

The tone suggested that this was a matter of course.

"Where are the mirrors?"

The attendant's expression changed slightly.

"Mirrors?"

It was a reaction as if they had heard the name of an ancient tool.

"Things for looking at your own face."

"You look at your own face?"

"Yes."

"For what purpose?"

I was at a loss for an answer.

To check one's appearance.

To fix one's hair.

To see one's expression.

Many reasons came to mind.

But in this world, none of them seemed obvious.
The attendant said,

"If it's about clothing, you can check it on the appearance display."

When I operated a nearby terminal, my whole body appeared on the screen.

Disheveled clothes.

Dirty shoes.

Hairstyle.

Everything was displayed.

However, only the face was rippling as before.

"Can't I check my face?"

The attendant tilted their head.

"Your face is being looked at by other people."

I left the station and walked through the city.

In shop windows, car windows, and the metal parts of water bottles, only the face was rippling.

Hands and clothes were reflected.

Buildings and the sky were reflected.

But only the face area was automatically processed.

I activated the traveler's guide AI.

"Why is it that only the face doesn't reflect?"

The AI answered.

"Facial masking processing is mandatory for artificially created reflective surfaces."

"Even on glass?"

"Yes."

"Even on metal?"

"All products that reflect with enough precision to identify a face are subject to this."

"What about photos and videos?"

"Recording, playing, or generating faces is prohibited."
"Why?"

The AI explained the history of how the system was created based on past records.

Once, this world had mirrors too.

There were photos and videos as well.

People looked at their own faces and others' faces every day.

Eventually, AI began to analyze human faces.

Beauty.

Youth.

Health status.

Trustworthiness.

Intelligence.

Aggression.

Romantic aptitude.

Employment aptitude.

Future potential.

Everything was quantified from the face.

At first, it was entertainment.

Next, it was used for advertising.

After that, schools and companies used it.

Before job interviews, facial evaluations were conducted.

Insurance premiums changed based on one's face.

Dating services displayed facial compatibility.

Glasses were even made that allowed you to see the evaluation of others just by passing them on the street.

People began to think of scores every time they saw someone else's face.

Every time they looked at their own face, they confirmed the evaluation given by society.

The face was no longer one's own.

It became data for evaluation.

Eventually, a major incident occurred.

A girl whose facial evaluation was deemed low could no longer go to school.

The girl's face had been shared without her knowledge.
Even changes in expression were recorded: gloomy.

Unpleasant.

Untrustworthy.

Low future potential.

That was the judgment.

The words the girl left behind moved society.

"Every time I looked in the mirror, society's score was reflected."

A movement to ban facial evaluation began.

First, facial scoring was prohibited.

Next, the storage of facial photos was restricted.

However, as long as records remained, the evaluation did not completely disappear.

People chose a system that would not record the face itself.

Photos.

Videos.

Portraits.

AI-generated faces.

And mirrors.

Everything that fixed and preserved the face was prohibited.

"You can still look at faces directly, right?"

I asked the AI.

"Yes. Looking face-to-face is not prohibited."

"Then what about TV and movies?"

"Actors express themselves through voice, posture, and movement. They do not show their faces."

"What about theater?"

"Because the audience watches directly, it is permitted."

In that world, an actor's voice and way of walking were emphasized.

Even for famous actors, their faces were not left in recorded footage.

Only those who went to the theater knew their expressions.

The face had become something seen only by those present, not a work to be preserved.

Security cameras were installed in the city.

But only human bodies remained in the footage.

It is said that only the authentication AI, which performs identity verification, can check faces.

It was a world that had taken faces away from humans and allowed them only to machines.

I sat on a bench in the square.

Opposite me, there was a woman.

She had her long hair tied back.

The woman was talking to a man who seemed to be a friend.

I was able to see both of their faces directly.

Laughing.

Surprised.

Furrowing brows.

Expressions changed every moment.

No one was recording it.

No scores were displayed.

That face existed only in that moment.

After the man left, the woman noticed my gaze.

"Something?"

"I'm sorry."

I bowed my head.

"Don't people in this world want to see their own faces?"
The woman was a little surprised.

"My own face?"

"Aren't you curious about what kind of face you have?"

The woman pondered.

"I hear about it from others."

"In what way?"

"Like that I look tired, or that I look happy."

"Don't you want to check for yourself?"

The woman was silent for a while.

"I used to want to see it."

"And now?"

"I don't know."

The woman touched her cheek.

"When I was a child, I was told that I looked scary when I laughed."

"By whom?"

"By a classmate."

"And since then, you stopped laughing?"

The woman nodded slightly.

"But I don't know myself if it was really a scary face."

Only someone else's words remained within the woman.

Because there are no mirrors, she cannot check for herself.

However, even if there were a mirror, I don't know if she would have found the answer.

"There is only one place where you can see your own face."
The woman said.

I looked up.

"There is?"

"It's called the pond where you see your face."

On the outskirts of the city, there was a small pond.

It was not a tourist spot.

There were no information boards.

Surrounded by trees, only on days with little wind, the water surface becomes like a mirror.

Because it is not an artificial reflective surface, it was exempt from facial masking processing.

It is said that when the law was made, they could not ban even natural water surfaces.

Several people were standing around the pond.

No one was talking.

They were quietly looking at the water surface, as if waiting for their turn.

"I have never seen my own face since I was born."

The woman stepped in front of the pond.

The wind stopped.

The water surface became still.

The woman's face was reflected.

At first, it was blurry.

Eventually, the outline became clear.

The woman stared at her own face.

She touched her cheek.

She moved her eyebrows.

She opened her mouth slightly.

The face on the water surface moved in the same way.

"This is me."

The woman whispered.

A small breeze blew there.

The water surface rippled.

The woman's face collapsed.

It stretched.

It shrank.

It split into many pieces.

When the wind stopped, it returned to normal.

The woman looked at the water surface once more.

And then, she smiled just a little.

The face on the water surface smiled too.

"Is it scary?"

The woman asked.

I answered.

"No."

"Really?"

"Yes."

The woman said while still staring at the water surface.

"Even though it's the same face."

The wind blew once more.

The face rippled.

"So, there wasn't just one face, was there?"

The woman smiled even more broadly than before.

On the way back to the city, an acquaintance who passed by stopped when they saw the woman.

"I didn't know you were the kind of person who makes that kind of face."

The woman was a little surprised, and then answered.

"I found out today, too."

The time to return to the original Earth had come.

When I opened my eyes, I was in my own room.

I headed to the washroom.

My usual face was reflected in the mirror.

I smiled just a little.

The face in the mirror smiled too.

Please also enjoy this "Earth Without Series"

The essay on the origin of this creation is here.