“You have been picked to join P.H.A.N.T.O.M.,” answered Victoria. “All because you made sure an old woman did not forget her purse. I know that sounds weird, but like I said, that is all it takes. Those of us in P.H.A.N.T.O.M. don’t know why we were ever selected. It cannot be just mere coincidence that we all helped someone who gave us a ring of great power for a simple, noble act.”
Allan said, “We were given our rings by different people. But we suspect that they were not really different people.”
“How’s that?” I asked.
Victoria explained, “Our belief is that it was actually one person, or rather, one entity that gave us our rings. That it was some kind of mystical being who gave us the rings for this purpose. You see, P.H.A.N.T.O.M. existed before each of us joined. We were brought in by other people. So it started somewhere, but nobody knows when, where, or why.”
“And no one has seen this entity since it gave you your rings?” I asked.
They both shook their heads. “Exactly,” said Victoria. “Because of this, we refer to that entity as The Mysterious One.”
“Trippy,” I said.
“Indeed,” Victoria agreed.
“OK, I’m a little confused,” I said. “OK, I’m a lot confused. But specifically I’m confused about this: If you want me to join, why did you mess around with me?”
“Those are very good questions,” she said. “Truth be told, I do not want you to join.” She emphasized the word “you.” She continued, “We do not pick the new members ourselves. They are picked for us. Because you were chosen by The Mysterious One, it means you must be asked to join. The reason I did what I did to you was to teach you a lesson. You have been given a tremendous power. You cannot use it lightly.”
I looked down for a minute. “Yea, not my best moment,” I said. “Wait. You said I ‘must be asked to join.’ Does that mean I have a choice?”
Allan answered, “Yes, you do have a choice. If you had used the ring more often or more drastically before Victoria found you, you wouldn’t have had a choice. Fortunately that has rarely happened.” I noticed that Allan looked away from the table and towards one section of viewscreens and consoles.
“You see, Joe,” Victoria said to bring my attention back to her. “Being a member of P.H.A.N.T.O.M. is not fun and games. It is risky and dangerous. But it also requires your complete devotion. You must be able to stop what you are doing at any given moment if the need arises. More than that, you must be able to give of yourself completely.”
“What do you mean by that?” I asked.
“Two things,” said Allan as he returned his attention to the table. “First, even though we are secretive and no one knows we exist, we have built-in fail-safes to ensure our identities are not discovered. In order to be a member of P.H.A.N.T.O.M. you must be willing to have an alter-ego that actually does the work. Second, building upon what I just said, everyone who is in P.H.A.N.T.O.M. was selected not just because he or she committed a random act of kindness. We have also been selected because of flaws in our character. Those flaws are brought forth, you might say, in our alter-egos.”
Victoria resumed, “Our alter-egos are reflections of those things which we are not. It is the trade-off for being able to use this great power. We do not get to pick our alter-egos, and we generally do not like our alter-egos. When we do the work of P.H.A.N.T.O.M., our alter-egos are in complete control and our own personalities are suppressed and relegated to the parts of our minds that we do not consciously use.”
“This sounds weird,” I said. “And confusing. I mean, how does this alter-ego reflect your flaws?”
“That would be best answered with a demonstration,” said Victoria. She turned to Allan. “I think it would be best if I handled this,” she said.
Allan raised his hands in deference. “No arguments here,” he said.