Reality is a well-oiled machine, and Mr. Leroux is its mechanic. He is greatly dismayed when a strange young man stumbles in and breaks the finely-tuned mechanical marvel that he's spent his whole life maintaining.
He lost his hearing, eyesight, and 37% of his face in a freak explosion several years ago. In addition to hiding his deformities, the mask connects to his brain and allows him to see and hear.
(Completely Fictional is a web comic that I hope to launch sometime within the next decade.)