“I think it’s best for him to come first,” said Allan. Victoria nodded slightly.
I saw Allan close his eyes and go into a sort-of trance. About 30 seconds later, another form appeared standing in the room. It was a man who looked to be about ten years older than me. He was several inches taller than me, and at least a hundred pounds heavier than me. He had shoulder-length brown hair that looked like it hadn’t been washed in weeks. On his face was a vacant, dazed stare, as if he didn’t know what had just happened. He glanced around for a few seconds and then his expression altered to show annoyance. “Oh, it’s you two,” he said. He spoke with a very slow, monotone delivery. He walked over to the table just as slowly. I noticed that he barely lifted his feet off the floor. “What’s going on?” he asked. He still had not noticed me. “I’m not changing, so it can’t be serious.” With that he plopped down in one of the chairs. I don’t mean to sound harsh, but I swore I felt the ground shake.
“Energetic and pleasant as always, Bradley,” said Victoria. Her expression was a combination of a knowing smile and a weary fatigue.
“We have our new member,” said Allan. He gestured to me and said, “Meet Joe Manfred.”
Bradley slowly turned to look at me. “Oh, hey, man,” he said. “Welcome to the fun-zone,” he said. He tried to hide his sarcasm but even a child would have spotted it. “I’d get up, but I’m sitting already.”
“No problem,” I said. “I don’t like formal stuff, either.”
He let out a solitary guffaw. “Wrong place to be then,” he said. He turned his attention back to Victoria. “So, what? Why do I have to be here?” he asked.
“Oh, I know it is so annoying when we pull you away from your busy life, but, yes, this is a requirement of your membership to be here when a new member is chosen,” she said as she alternated equal amounts of sarcasm and sternness.
Bradley responded by looking at his wrist. He didn’t actually have a watch on, so I assumed he was pretending to look at one. “How much longer do I have to go?” he asked.
“Three months, five days,” replied Allan. “I’m hoping you might remember that once it’s down to two weeks.” Bradley replied to him with another bored stare. “As you might be able to tell, Bradley is not so enthusiastic about being here.”
“You’re kidding,” I said.
Bradley looked at me. “Was that sarcasm?” he asked with a confused look. I looked at him in equal bewilderment. “See,” he said to Allan. “It’s not so easy to detect, now is it?”
Allan looked at Victoria impatiently. “Come on, Bradley, I have to run some quick tests on you anyway,” he said. He turned toward one of the areas of the room far away from the table. Bradley didn’t budge at all, but his chair levitated off the ground and followed Allan. I guessed he used his ring.
I looked at Victoria and she motioned for me to walk with her to the opposite side of the room. Before I could ask she anticipated my question. “We are not exactly sure why Bradley was chosen. But we have accepted it. Sadly, he has never liked his alter-ego in the slightest and has never attempted to, either. We are fairly certain he will choose to leave when his year is up. I cannot help but admit I hope he does, as much as I, Allan and Commander Victory like his alter-ego,” she said.
“What is his alter-ego?” I asked.
“You will have to wait and see,” she said. “It is not becoming to reveal the alter-ego of another member.”
I asked, “Why did he agree to join?”
“The ring,” she answered. “He uses the ring more than the rest of us combined. He uses it for the most trivial of things. As much as he enjoys its convenience, he hates having to participate here. I hate to think that The Mysterious One made a mistake, but it appears that is what happened. But…perhaps there is still hope.”
“Gee, you’re optimistic a lot,” I said.
She nodded. “It is something I have been working on since I joined P.H.A.N.T.O.M.,” she said. “Joe, I am sorry for embarrassing you today. I want you to know that.”
“Well, I’m sorry, too,” I said. “I should have made another wish if I didn’t think the ring would really work. And anyway, you made it right in the end, so no big deal.”
Victoria nodded. “I suppose I should be flattered that you found me attractive enough to want to see me naked,” she said. “I am getting to that age where that stops happening. But, Joe, let me make this clear. I am a lesbian. And even if I was not, members of P.H.A.N.T.O.M. cannot get involved with each other…that way.”
“I understand,” I said. It wasn’t as if I thought something could actually happen, even if I’d already had a few fantasies. I always had a thing for older women. “So how do you carry on relationships with being in this?”
“It is not easy,” she said. “I do not have a lot of family. But I have found it difficult to keep personal relationships going for very long. I think that may be one of the reasons I stay in the group. I feel like there are still parts of myself I can improve.”
Allan called out, “We’re all done over here.” Victoria and I walked back towards the table, as did Allan. Bradley remained in his chair and floated back. When we all reached the table, Allan said, “Bradley is just as unfit and unhealthy as ever. At least he hasn’t gotten appreciably worse.”
“Thanks for the compliment,” said Bradley. He had a satisfied smile on his face. Now I couldn’t actually tell if he was oblivious to what Allan said or if he was intentionally annoying them with his lack of caring. “So I’m here. Can we get this moving along?”
“Fine,” said Victoria. “I will summon the last member.”