Vange has brought in some masks. She ponders the fun of adopting another personality - but what if a mask not only hid your personality, but took it away? Submitted for the approval of the Midnight Society, she calls this story "The Tale of the Many Faces."
At a modelling audition, photographer Jacques decides aspiring model Emma not to have what he's looking for. His camera then goes crazy for Emma's friend Jessie. Having been chosen for the modelling campaign, Jessie catches up with Emma, who mournfully ponders her own features. A young talent scout arrives, lauds Emma's face, and hands her a business card for the Madame Visage Theatre Company.
In the Company's stately redbrick building, Emma passes a young woman in a grey gown and grey, eyeless, pink-cheeked mask. The figure looks at Emma, and skittishly hurries away. Another such figure, Girl 66, leads Emma to Madame Visage, who excitedly lauds Emma's face, offers her the lead role in a new play, and gives her some special face cream. As Emma happily leaves, two other masked women bring another of their order for the sanction of the Punishment Book...
At Jacques’s studio, the photographer delightedly takes numerous shots of Jessie. When Emma arrives, the photographer seems not to recognise her. He excitedly asks to take some photos.
At a dressing table, Jessie affirms that Emma does indeed look different. Emma mentions her sampling of a powder with mysterious properties, and departs for her theatre appointment.
At the theatre, Madame Visage examines Emma’s face from several angles, and with a clap, summons Girl 66 and Girl 87. They bring a large, hard-backed book, each of whose pages holds a seamless cut-out image of a different young woman’s face. From behind, Girl 66 and Girl 87 seize each of Emma’s arms, and pull her back a few paces.
As Emma struggles, she sees Madame touch a blank page. Across it flow what appear to be black liquid ripples, which seem to be one with the page. These fade, to reveal a cut-out image of Madame Visage’s own face. Madame Visage snaps the book shut - and looks up. Her facial features have seamlessly vanished - save for blank eyes, a small, closed bump of a nose, and a lips-shaped protuberance around a tiny hole, her face is a mask of smooth blank flesh.
Emma screams in horror. Towards her, Madame Visage silently reaches an outstretched hand. Madame Visage lightly touches Emma’s cheek. With a thick rippling sound, the featureless skin seamlessly bulges, flows, and instantly reforms, in the shape of Emma’s face. On seeing in the mirror what has happened to her own face, Emma gives a muffled scream. With a fresh blank mask and neatly folded grey gown, Girl 87 approaches Emma.
...
A curious Jessie arrives in the hallway. A hand falls on her shoulder. She turns - to see the face of Emma, in the feathered dress of Madame Visage.
...
In a gloomy, fireplace-lit costume room, Girl 87 briefs Emma - service in the theatre company is enforced on penalty of expulsion - or the Punishment Book.
...
Madame Visage escorts Jessie to her dressing room, and tells her to wait.
…
In the hallway, Emma coaxes Girl 87 to remember her own face. Girl 87 decides to show her where it is now.
…
In the dressing room, Jessie turns the door handle - and finds herself to be locked in.
…
To an empty room where lies the Book of Faces, Girl 87 hurriedly leads Emma, and turns the pages to reveal the paper-imprisoned image of her smiling face. She hesitantly reveals her own name to be Lizzie - but working here gradually suppresses identity and emotion. In a windowed cabinet, Emma sees another book. From behind them, Girl 66 places Lizzie under arrest. From Girl 66's neck, Emma grabs a key, and makes for the cabinet. Girl 66 storms off.
Emma looks inside the Punishment Book. The purple pages, set with multicoloured swirling patterns, are set with the seamlessly detached image of a young face, each set in a silent scream. In the cabinet, Emma finds a small photo album. Its single, black page holds the seamlessly detached image of the face of an elderly woman.
Down the hall, Emma leads Lizzie to the costume room - she has an idea. However, Madame Visage is waiting. Into the lit fireplace, Emma flings the Punishment Book. With a contemptuous laugh, Madame Visage approaches the fireplace. With a whoosh, the flames are instantly extinguished.
…
In her spacious, ornate lounge, Madame Visage considers her prisoners, both held at each arm by two masked girls. Jessie, on hearing the voice of Emma uttered by two separate people, would like to leave now. Madame Visage calls for the Punishment Book. Emma urges the masked prisoners to share their own names. Madame Visage angrily touches Girl 74’s brow. With a strangled scream, Girl 74 exudes a dazzling shaft of yellow light, and is pulled, spinning, into its ethereal blaze, which in turn is then sucked into the Punishment Book.
Jessie would really like to leave, now.
Girl 72 and Girl 84 each seize Madame Visage’s arms. Emma takes the small photo album, shows Madame Visage her own, three hundred year-old face, and, with a raised finger, advances. Emma Madame Visage’s cheek. The face blurs, swirls, and reverts to the aged features of Madame Visage’s true face. Without another word, Madame Visage turns and slumps, face down, onto her dressing table. Emma gently raises the aged, lifeless face. In a vaporous blur, the skin vanishes - to reveal an ancient skull. Emma and the others remove their masks - to find their faces restored. With gasps and laughs of relief all round, Emma approaches the unmasked Laurette - and it turns out Madame used her face to pose as the Talent Scout. Emma is then happily reunited with Lizzie, as Jessie inspects the book to find the pages now empty.
…
As Vange closes, the masked others rise, and approach - and remove their masks.
This episode provides examples of:
- Actually, I Am Him: It turns out the talent scout was actually Madame using Number 66's face (real name Laurette).
- And I Must Scream: The girls trapped in the Punishment Book are stuck in limbo, with the pictures of them screaming indicating they're in a frozen state of terror.
- Big "NO!": A chillingly plaintive one from Emma, on learning what's happened to her face.
- The Dragon: #66. She later turns on Madame Visage once she declares her real name, Laurette.
- The Faceless: Downplayed. Those who are rendered faceless aren't entirely faceless, but their features are... off. Eyes become milky and white, noses become featureless, and mouths are reduced to wrinkled orifices where lips are supposed to be.
- Fate Worse than Death: The Punishment Book traps its victims between the pages for all eternity.
- Vange also frames the premise of her story as this. It's one thing to lose your looks and still be you. It's another thing to lose your personality and sense of self, to the point that nobody would even know or remember you...
- Friendly Rivalry: Although Emma is a bit jealous of Jessie, and the two compete in modelling, they're still good friends.
- Genki Guy: Jacques is buoyantly enthusiastic.
- Given Name Reveal: The girls begin to rebel against Madame after Emma's Rousing Speech by proudly declaring their real names.
- No Immortal Inertia: Madame Visage has a reason to be afraid when the girls gang up and decide to return her original face: it's nearly 300 years old. As such, when her face is returned, she instantly drops dead on her make-up table from old age and shrivels into dust.
- Really 700 Years Old: Madame is over three-hundred years old.
- Shout-Out:
- A sorceress collecting the faces of various girls and switching between them is rather like Mombi from Return to Oz (although there she collected the heads, and she freely put her original one back on).
- Madame has a Mid Atlantic accent and a diva-ish personality that's very reminiscent of Norma Desmond from Sunset Boulevard.
- Un-person: Madame Visage imprisons her attendants via magical facial disfigurement; ostracism for which they hide from in her theatre, forced to wear masks and forbidden to use their own names. Emma eventually rallies the others against this.
- Vain Sorceress: Madame does want to avoid dying, as evidenced by what happens when her original face is returned to her. But she ultimately goes after young women, particularly models, indicating that vanity is a big motivator too.
- You Are Number 6: Those inducted into Madame's theatre company are made to wear masks, and grey gowns marked with a numerical designation.
