HairApparent
Prologue
In a world where luxury and survival had become a cruelly woven tapestry, the VhaiR system stood out as an agonising irony. Rich people indulging in haircuts of the poor while they struggled to make ends meet. The VhaiR pod was an electro-mechanical marvel, capable of transforming hair and, by extension, identities.
The VhaiR system was an unsettling marvel of the past. Developed at great expense for the hairdressing industry to automate the process of providing attractive hairstyles for all, by creative hairstylists, from remote locations, and at competitive prices. However, when austerity beckoned, the system had become an anachronism. Wealthy people could afford to visit and pay for the best stylists to directly tend to their hair, while the poor could not afford any hair care at all. However, many salons had made a heavy investment in VhaiR, and they were keen to recoup some of those costs.
A simple, unauthorised modification to the VhaiR system allowed non-professionals to take charge, and for them to pay the salons a considerable sum for the dubious privilege. VhaiR had been repurposed for the pleasure of the wealthy elite who wielded their virtual scissors like swords. Mounted on plush recliners, they revelled in remote transformations, hacking away at the hair and dignity of unfortunate women who they would never meet.
Women lined up outside salons day after day, hoping that their appearances would capture the attention of some bored wealthy patron who longed to play hairstylist. Selection meant that their family could afford to eat and there might be cash left over for small luxuries to help lighten the dark.
These salons had become meeting grounds between rich whims and desperate dreams, a twisted dance where the poor offered their treasured locks for the fleeting amusement of the wealthy.
Danielle
Danielle sat in her upscale apartment, the glass windows framing a city that echoed with the vibrations of both poverty and opulence. Although she had made her modest fortune in banking, the thrill of cutting another woman’s hair had always fascinated her. It was a form of power that felt both exhilarating and forbidden, but also out of reach. However, the technology had become available, and Danielle could afford to indulge in that long-held desire through the VhaiR system.
Subscribing to VhaiR at a modest tier for a few weeks, she had viewed the tightly edited footage of other subscribers’ encounters. They failed to hold her interest for long, so she decided to subscribe to the most expensive tier and live out her own meticulously crafted fantasies.
Danielle tweaked various parameters in her search for her first haircut model. The hair had to be past her waist, poker straight, and chestnut brown. Any age from 20 to 30 would be acceptable. She also indicated a few desirable characteristics of what her ideal candidate would be wearing. Lastly, her pulse quickening, she ticked the box that stated the candidate would not place any limits on her hair’s final length or style.
In mere moments, Danielle’s screen flickered to life with the video feeds of four potential candidates standing outside a salon somewhere in the world. Captured by the intrusive drone, they were all looking slightly upwards, beaming with hope and desperation and their potential invisible benefactors.
Maria stood out for Danielle, especially with her magnificent tresses stretching down to her knees. She was adorable, with a vibe that teased an innocence Danielle found intoxicating. After selecting Maria, Danielle leaned back in her plush chair, savouring the thought of shortening her luscious mane to satisfy her whims.
Maria
Maria, a young woman whose hair glimmered like polished mahogany and flowed past her knees, was one of women who had queued for many days outside a salon near her home.
One morning, the irritating drone with its camera, had been repeatedly zipping up and down the line as usual, recording details of all the women who were present. It suddenly stopped next to Maria and the light on top glowed green. A subscriber had finally selected her. After so much waiting, anticipating that moment, and suddenly she felt a curious mix of elation and dread.
An unsmiling woman dressed in a smart white overall marched from the salon and stood in front of Maria.
‘Come,’ the official insisted, beckoning her from the line of other hopefuls, leading her inside the salon.
The opulent surroundings of the salon were completely outside Maria’s experience. However, where highly trained professionals pampered the wealthy would never be her domain. Curious, smirking looks followed Maria’s passage through the salon to an unlabelled door at the rear of the premises.
‘Change,’ the official barked, gesturing towards a bench where an attractive white silk dress was hanging. It was a request made by Danielle. Along the wall beyond was a long rail of different outfits, stocked to meet the requirements of the most demanding subscribers.
‘Face,’ the official demanded, pointing to a desk where she would apply makeup and jewellery to satisfy Danielle’s requirements.
Once the official was satisfied with Maria’s appearance, she led her through another door and told her to stand in front of a plain backdrop. Several video cameras were pointing in her direction.
‘Parade and style your hair for ten minutes to entice your subscriber,’ the official stipulated with rare verboseness. ‘Be warned, any failure will result in contract termination with no fee payable.’
Feeling awkward in her ridiculously short dress, Maria lifted her hair and allowed it to drop. Then she gathered it into ponytails, formed large buns, and allowed her tresses to swing around and tumble down her back.
After ten minutes a buzzer sounded, and the official led Maria through yet another door where there was a row of VhaiR pods. Directed to sit on an adjustable barber’s chair inside the nearest, Maria faced a blank monitor screen that served as a mirror. Around her, a collection of mechanical and electrical apparatus lurked in readiness in the shadows.
‘Enjoy!’ the official smirked, as she pressed the button to close the pod door, which shut with a resounding click.
Maria waited inside a mechanical cocoon that had the capability to strip her of one of her most defining features.
Togetherness
Danielle strapped on her VR helmet and gloves, excitement coursing through her veins. Maria’s flaunting of her hair had been half-hearted in Danielle’s opinion and barely worth the subscriber fee. However, in Danielle’s mind, it justified what was going to happen to her next.
‘Today, Maria, I’m going to completely transform your appearance,’ Danielle whispered, relishing the authority she wielded. In the virtual world Danielle had entered, she was standing behind Maria and confronted by her magnificent long locks.
Maria was staring straight ahead, looking at her reflection in the monitor but, eerily, seeing no one behind her. However, Danielle had elected to broadcast her voice into the VhaiR pod and Maria was nervously looking around to find the source of the menacing disembodied voice.
As Danielle engaged the scissors arm, she felt an intoxicating rush. With each snip, a part of her imagined power grew as half of Maria’s hair tumbled down the back of the chair like a waterfall. Ragged and uneven ends remained, barely reaching the middle of her back.
‘You should be grateful,’ Danielle taunted, on seeing Maria’s distress.
The monitoring AI system chimed, and displayed a message, offering to keep the cuts precise. ‘Precision is for amateurs,’ Danielle scoffed. ‘I want to demonstrate the power I hold,’ she muttered, ‘and the ugly mess I have made of her prefect hair already provides a superb example.’
The AI system had offered suggestions for improvement, but it did not react to Danielle’s cruel and unnecessary words. However, Maria did! She had felt the scissors arm hacking away at her hair but was unable to see the effect, and she had grown extremely anxious. Maria’s hand hovered over the abort button on her seat, knowing its effect but fearful of the subscriber’s horrible words regarding her changed appearance.
‘You should feel honoured,’ Danielle giggled, devoid of sympathy as Maria’s long hair fell to the floor, ‘so you have no need to press that button.’
Detecting the proximity of Maria’s hand to the button on her chair, the AI system put up a warning on her screen, reminding her that pressing it would halt proceedings. She would leave with her hair in the state it was at that moment and, most disturbingly, she would not receive her fee. Maria immediately snatched back her hand.
‘I seem to be getting the hang of this,’ Danielle chuckled, brandishing the scissors arm like a sword in Maria’s view. ‘Let’s go a bit shorter and try to even things up this time.’
Advancement
In a bold sweeping gesture, the scissors sliced through Maria’s hair above her shoulders. The ends hung limply down, the former magnificence of her extraordinarily long locks already fading into a distant memory.
Leaving the drama behind temporarily, Danielle tried finer adjustments of the scissors with her gloved hand, and that resulted in a surprisingly neat shoulder length bobbed style.
‘Nice, but a little boring,’ Danielle chuckled.
Maria felt the same, but she would have gladly accepted her tormentor stopping there. Friends of hers had entered a VhaiR pod and left with most of their hair intact, styled nicely, and paid as promised. Some had their hair neatly trimmed, while others had layers to frame their faces, and a few received a fringe. In most cases the changes were not too drastic. However, Maria had already accepted that the owner of the disembodied voice who was the one wielding the scissors, had much greater ambition.
Raising the scissor arm higher, Danielle precisely snipped the hair hanging above Maria’s left shoulder to chin length. Satisfied with the length, Danielle continued the line she had established around the back of Maria’s head until the scissors appeared above her other shoulder. The amateur stylist was delighted with the accuracy of the chin length bob she had fashioned on the former long-haired beauty.
‘Look at you, you poor little thing. You should thank me,’ Danielle murmured with a wicked grin. ‘With all that hair gone, you will have so much less to worry about. No need for ponytails for practicality. You will save money on hair care products. And waste far less time brushing and caring for your hair.’ Each word struck harder than the last, iron-clad sneers veiled in false compassion meant to provoke her victim with undue mocking.
Maria’s eyes widened, a mix of confusion and despair overtaking her as she glanced at the virtual mirror. ‘Please … enough … I -’
‘Have you ever had a fringe?’ Danielle enquired, interrupting, then ignoring, her model’s desperate pleas.
Infringement
Before Maria had registered the implications of the question, a comb arm spun out of the shadows. It combed hair from each side of her face and then positioned itself mid-way up her forehead. The scissor arm swooped in to create a very straight and remarkably high fringe.
‘That’s much better,’ Danielle sneered, ‘with the bonus that you will always be able to see where you’re going.’
‘Please, don’t do this!’ Maria pleaded, regret flooding her voice too late. The finality of the situation bore down like an anvil. The words sunk into Maria’s heart, igniting resentment and despair all at once. Every nasty remark twisted the blade deeper into her already bruised spirit.
Refusing to allow Maria to sway her, Danielle chuckled intimidatingly, revelling in her newfound creativity. With barely a pause to admire her work, she used the scissor arm to continue the line of the fringe all the way around Maria’s head. With the aid of the comb, she snipped everything below the line of the perimeter she had created as short as possible. ‘How delightful,’ she murmured.
The only hair that remained on Maria’s head was a smooth cap resembling a remarkably short bob. And the hair around her ears and along the back of head was simply the shortest of bristles. In an act of pure malevolence, Danielle had transformed Maria’s once-proud mane into a tragic bowl cut.
‘How sweet, you now look with your bowlcut,’ Danielle taunted, using her gloved fingers to flick the floppy crown hair that fell neatly back into place. ‘But still work to do around the edges, little one.’
The clipper arm swung out from the shadows of the pod, buzzing like a huge swarm of bees. The blade dug into Maria’s neck causing her to grimace from the pain. ‘Whoops, I need more practice with these, but they are wonderfully efficient. Taking all the hair below the bowl all the way down to the wood,’ Danielle sniggered. ‘Wow, this is so much fun!’
Conclusion
Once Danielle had had enough fun with the hairclippers, she directed a nozzle arm towards Maria’s head. ‘But there’s still a shadow obscuring that pure white skin, sweet one, so we need to eliminate that, don’t we?’
‘No … no, not really …’ Maria whimpered, more in a vague hope that her tormentor would stop but accepting that the question was purely rhetorical.
‘Oh yes we do,’ Danielle chuckled. The nozzle squirted an even coating of shaving foam over the clippered hair below the mushroom-shaped cap. The razor arm swung into action, guided tentatively by Danielle. ‘It’s probably best you don’t move or talk now,’ she sniggered, ‘as this blade looks extremely sharp.’
Maria froze, and she remained silent. Danielle eagerly pressed on, and she proved that the razor was, indeed, well-honed. She skilfully guided it through the foam on the back and sides of Maria’s head. Danielle quickly and efficiently eliminated the irritating dark shadow, leaving just dazzling white skin.
Danielle had erased every hint of femininity from Maria’s scalp by inflicting the savage bowlcut upon her. A short glossy cap covered her crown, perched above a sea of baldness below. Danielle had crossed the line between fashioning a hairstyle and asserting absolute dominance. However, Danielle, far from feeling any shame, felt elated as she took a few minutes to enjoy a virtual tour around Maria to admire her creation.
‘Perfect! A masterpiece!’ Danielle exclaimed, her voice dripping with condescension. ‘You are now a work of art!’
Danielle let out a long sigh of satisfaction and signalled to the officials that they could release Maria.
Reward
A waiting official ushered Maria from the pod and then directed her to model the radical and unattractive haircut for Danielle’s sadistic delight.
This was the performance that made Danielle feel alive, basking in the emotional upheaval she had caused. She taunted Maria with sarcastic comments regarding her transformed appearance, and Danielle applauded her own achievement.
As Maria walked away, collecting the modest payment for participating in this surreal theatre, she thought of how she would spend the cash. With grim determination, she made listed the food and clothes her family urgently needed. Then, with a smile gracing her lips, she decided upon a thoughtful treat for each of them, funded by the sacrifice of her hair.
Reaction
Danielle leaned back, ready to savour the footage of her handiwork. However, as Danielle revelled in that moment, an alarm sounded within her VR helmet, followed by a flashing red warning triangle filling her vision.
‘Severe protocol violation!’ a hollow digital voice boomed around Danielle’s helmet, immediately drowning out the excitement that had consumed her seconds before. An unexpected jolt through the helmet resulted in a firm pressure against her scalp, followed by an intense burning sensation. ‘Corrective action initiated.’
‘What?’ Danielle screamed, adrenaline rushing through her. The helmet tightened, and despite her instinct to rip it off, it would not budge. ‘No, no, no!’
‘Corrective action proceeding,’ the system alerted.
In moments, the revelation hit Danielle hard that this was her personal reckoning. She recalled skimming through the guidance on using VhaiR in a sympathetic and respectful way. The sanctimonious words had faintly amused her, and she had not noted the repercussions of crossing that line. However, the system had analysed her drastic actions and cruel words. It had assessed the detrimental impact upon the client. And VhaiR was responding accordingly.
‘Corrective action completed,’ the system informed.
After thirty seconds the pressure on Danielle’s head subsided and, to her great relief, she could finally extricate herself from the VR helmet. However, that relief was extremely short-lived when she looked into a mirror.
The system had pumped a toxic gas into the narrow gap between her scalp and the VR helmet. Immediately, the vapour had chemically reacted with Danielle’s hair follicles, initially causing a rise in temperature. As the VR helmet finally came away, so did Danielle’s expensively maintained long hair, leaving only smooth white skin behind. In a cruel twist of fate, Danielle’s head was completely bare. Indeed, it was if no hair had ever emerged from her shining bald pate.
‘Humility, not humiliation,’ chimed repeatedly from the small speakers inside the VR helmet that had covered Damielle’s head.
‘No!’ A loud wailing filled the opulence of Danielle’s apartment, but there was no one there to hear, or to care.
Epilogue
Danielle stumbled away from the mirror, feeling the sting of vulnerability for the first time in her life. She grasped the connection between the thrill of power and the cost of wielding it. It was an extremely painful lesson in humility.
Maria, by contrast, had dutifully bowed her head, accepting the pay for the loss of her hair with a newfound sense of resilience. Cruel sport was a fleeting amusement for the idle rich that might lead to guilt, pain, and loneliness. Whereas Maria could bask in the comforting knowledge she could feed and clothe her family and suffer absolutely no regret.
In a shattered world, Danielle had sought to transform another, but her own identity had now been forcibly redefined. This time, she was the one stripped of power, understanding too late the burden of her actions. And with that realisation, the thrill of her cruel game fell flat. The ultimate price for her indulgence was her bald reflection, a tangible reminder of transgressions carved deep into her very identity.
