The man met Jay at an ice cream parlor. Jay was in a more casual version of his black and orange outfit. He was a slim, somewhat feminine looking young man in a black shirt and pants, with short blond hair, and silver earrings. They sat at a booth to discuss his membership.
"So, what do you think?" Jay asked, idly looking at the front counter.
"I'm quite interested in your club," the man said graciously. "I've heard that it is one of the most selective and underrated Hunter clubs on Pioneer 2."
"Actually, I was asking what ice cream flavor you were going to get," Jay said and then shrugged, "but thanks anyway." An automated menu appeared on the table.
"Is it true that your club will only ever have 26 members?" the man said, picking his choice.
"Hmm, everything's sugar-free," Jay commented to himself. "Oh, well. Vanilla is vanilla. Stupid anti-candy legislation. What? Oh…yeah. Just fill out this form and we'll see if you're applicable." He passed the man a paper and pen. The man quickly filled out the form and passed it back, just as their ice cream was brought to them.
"I hope this will do," he said, digging into his treat. Jay read over the form and looked up at him with a silent snicker.
"Sorry, but you're not eligible," Jay grinned.
"What?!" the man exclaimed, nearly choking. "Why not? I'm a decent hunter. I don't have a criminal record or anything like that. What could possibly be wrong?"
"Two things," Jay held up the paper for him. "First of all, you're registered as a Humar. One of our secondary rules prohibits the membership of more than two of any class of hunter. We have two Humars already, Ace and me. However, if you were to change classes… Well, we might have a spot for you. We only have one Ramar and no Fomars."
"That's a bit extreme, don't you think?" the man raised an eyebrow.
"Hey," Jay chuckled. "After all the stuff you went through to get this far, I'd say you're a little extreme yourself. I mean come one, calling El at six something in the morning, calling Q at all, being put on hold for two and a half hours with sub-par elevator music, and then navigating your way through a recorded interface. Just try and tell me you aren't dead-set on joining this club."
"Fine," the man relented. "I suppose I could become a Ranger."
"That's the spirit," Jay smiled, dipping a spoon into his ice cream. "Just one other little problem…"
"What's that?" the exhausted man asked.
"Your name's no good," Jay said, arching an eyebrow.
"What do you mean?" the man asked, sighing heavily.
"Your name is Zedan," Jay said wryly. "All members' names must begin with the sound of a letter in the English alphabet. Not Espanol, not Mandarin, not anything but the Modern English alphabet… Although I hear our rival club, Alpha Beta, uses an even older, albeit cooler sounding alphabet."
"This is unacceptable!" Zedan exclaimed. "It's no secret that Alpha Beta prefers androids, cyborgs, and techno-geeks."
"Well, yeah, but no one says that out loud…" Jay muttered.
"And besides," Zedan continued, "my name does indeed contain the sound of an English letter. The syllable Zed is so audible, I don't see how anyone could miss it."
"This 'Zed' is not an English letter," Jay said, leaning his elbow on the table. "Sounds more like some sort of evil being. Now if your name was pronounced ZEE-dan…"
"Zed is the last letter in the alphabet!" Zedan yelled. "It's the same letter as Zee, just used in a different region, but the same bloody language!" Everyone in the parlor was staring directly at him.
"Damn, calm down," Jay said, finishing his ice cream. "I didn't know that Zed and Zee were the same… Let me just ask for a quick vote." Jay took out his phone and typed in a message for all the other members. Minutes later, he began reading the results. "Ace: no, Bea: no, Ci: yes, Heavy D: no, Mr. E: no. Not lookin' good for you."
"Let me see that," Zedan said, rushing over beside him.
"F: yes, Capital G: no, Kay: yes, El: no, Big O: yes, Pi: yes, Q: yes? I guess Q was in a good mood today. And Little T says yes."
"I win 7 to 6!" Zedan cheered, getting more stares.
"Actually, it's a tie," Jay said, putting the phone away. "My vote wasn't on there."
"So, what now?" Zedan asked disappointedly.
"Meh, no big deal," Jay shrugged. "Change your class and we'll talk."
"Thank you so much," Zedan said, shaking his hand. He paid for his ice cream and left happily.
Jay waited until he was out of sight, and waved over several people. They were a Hucast, Fomar, Fonewm, and a Hunewearl. "So, your name's are Zero, Zeon, Zeek, and Zima?"
"Who was that guy?" the short Hunewearl asked.
"Another potential member," Jay answered, beginning to smile. "Would you believe the guy spent hours torturing himself just to get to me about joining?"
"Why didn't he just look up who to ask on the web?" the white Hucast asked. "It's all over the website."
"And it's in all the credits of your cartoon shows," the kid Fonewm added.
"And in the Classifieds section of the e-news," the yellow Fomar added. "You'd have to live under a rock not to know."
"Or live on a hunter ship," Jay chuckled.