MASS is an advanced military neural implant. It appears in the episode Men Against Fire.
Background
The MASS implant was initially devleoped by the United States military, however it is never explicitly stated that the soldiers in Men Against Fire work for the same organisation. In addition to helping with intel and communications, its primary purpose is to condition and remove emotions from soldiers to help them become more effective killers.
This is due to the fact that in past conflicts the vast majority of soldiers either could not bring themselves to shoot their fellow man, or suffered from severe psychological trauma if they did.
Features
- Intelligence:
MASS allows various pieces of intel (such as maps and schematics) to appear in a virtual display in the soldiers eyeline, eliminating the need for maps or tablets.
- Communications:
The implant enables soldiers to communicate with one another directly without the need of separate radio devices.
- Sense Dampening:
In order to keep soldiers more focused, MASS dampens their sense of smell and hearing, so they are unable to smell the blood or hear the human speech and screams of the "Roaches" they kill. This becomes apparent when Koinange's implant becomes faulty, and he is surprised that he can smell the grass.
- Sight Alteration:
The implant causes soldiers to view all "Roaches" as mutated, subhuman creatures with slimy white skin, sunken eyes and sharp teeth, when they are in fact regular human beings. This is done to prevent them from feeling remorse or emotion when they kill them, and allowing them to kill more effectively. It also enables the user to be rendered completely blind as a control measure, used by Arquette when Koinange tries to attack him.
- Dream Sequencing:
In order to keep the soldiers happy, and to reward them for Roach kills, the implant creates explicit sexual dreams for them to experience and enjoy as they are asleep. The excitability of the dream can be increased or decreased by individuals with the appropriate authority, such as Arquette.
- Memory Playback:
Footage of previous missions can be played back in the individuals head. This footage can also be unfiltered, which shows the true nature of the missions and that the military has been killing innocent human beings, not "Roaches".
- Memory Wipe:
After new recruits consent to having the MASS system implanted into them, their memories of consenting are deleted. After Koinange discovers the true nature of the mission after his implant falters, his MASS is reset, which wipes his memories of the events of the past days.