This Changes Everything Read online

CHAPTER INTERLUDE I

  Excerpts from the Chief Communicator’s Occasional Log: What is Fiction?

  “Fiction is the truth inside the lie.”

  ---Stephen King, author

  “Fiction is made of bits and pieces of the world, of the author’s life.”

  ---William Gibson, author

  February, 2012 - April, 2013 and June, 2041

  First decision: write this as fiction or nonfiction? I decide to write this as fiction because I can take more liberties. No one can ever pinpoint which are the facts and actual events and which are not, especially in the personal parts. I can have fun with the writing and not be concerned with documentation, arguing about others’ points of view, or the ways I depict anyone or anything.

  I can tell it any way I want. I can edit and revise but I don’t have to censor. I can elaborate, create the versions as I wish them to happen, tailor actual ones more to my liking. I can make stuff up if anything additional strikes my fancy or seems to be missing in the actual story or people. I can't wait to improve on the people!

  When I send out the first chapter to some friends and family in February, 2012, not everyone even looks at it. People are busy, they forget. But, my long-time friend, Franco, does read it and calls me right up. Franco is a therapist. Here's the best part of this call:

  FRANCO: Clara, how are you doing?

  ME: I'm fine. How are you?

  FRANCO: No, I mean, how are you feeling? Any headaches, any blurred vision? Are you sleeping all right?

  ME: I'm fine. I just told you.

  FRANCO: Well, that's good, that's good. What is the weather like today where you are?

  ME: Probably same as where you are; we're only an hour apart, you know. What's this about?

  FRANCO: Have you been talking with anyone else, lately, or gone out?

  ME: Sure. I went swimming today, as usual, and went to the Farmers' Market. Are you all right? You're acting weird.

  FRANCO: I'm acting weird? You just sent me a story about having alien holograms visiting you in your bedroom. I'm trying to figure out if you're oriented properly or if I need to come up there and evaluate you in person. I will, you know!

  ME: "Evaluate" me? It's fiction, Franco. [I'm laughing so hard I can hardly talk.] What part of "not real" is problematic for you?

  FRANCO: None, as long as you know it's not real.

  ME: In this timeline, it's not real.

  FRANCO: Okay, then.

  I do not lie to him, exactly. There are many timelines in which the alien holos do not come, or do not come to me, or do not come in December, 2012. My conversation with Franco could very well veer into one of those. Who knows?

  Every storyteller's first dilemma is trying to tell a story from “the beginning.” Margaret Atwood and dozens of other writers I admire acknowledge: the beginning is a slippery place, hard to grasp. The point of entry keeps moving, depending on my mood, new information, excellent alternate entry points and so much more.

  Add that problem to the one I’m facing now: I’m writing the story I put into Chapter One before it happens According to Linear Time [ALT]. I’m actually writing this starting in February, 2012. Another important decision: which versions, which timelines, do I include?

  I can write a story “before” it all happens because linear time is a construct. Also, there are infinite versions of every story that are actually occurring, forking away from one another, re-braiding as they intersect or staying separated. Everyone knows this, now, but when I am writing this and starting this journey as the first Chief Communicator, almost no one can prove this and most people do not believe in alternate timelines.

  I laugh as I write that; it's as if these people are still believing in a flat Earth or one in which Earth is the only inhabited planet. Ridiculous, right? Hindsight...

  By the middle of The Transition, Earthers do catch up to physicists and Buddhists and all in the Many Worlds Collective (MWC) in recognizing that all time is simultaneous. Not all are happy with this, nor agreeing readily to the existence of the MWC, the IGC or Earth’s impending membership in the MWC.

  I write this in the present tense as much as possible to get everyone used to the way that simultaneous time works. That nontraditional convention with the tenses in this series will drive proofreaders and grammarians crazy, but it is not an accident, I assure you. Sorry for the times I slip out of present tense forms; I'm not used to it, myself.

  I do my best to keep the 'lines straight and give you somewhat of a linear experience. Well, some of the time. I can't protect everyone from the truth, nor should I.

  In late 2012, I'm in the final stages of proofing Volume I, the one you're reading now. Since it's complete and sequential (more or less), some of the people I originally send draft chapters to are actually reading it, for the first time. I get this phone call from my sister, Violet:

  VIOLET: How could you not tell me? Don't you trust me? How could all this be happening to you and I would not know? Where is, who is Epifanio? What aliens? How can you know what's happening next year, or in many years? How could you not call me right away?

  [She runs out of breath and I break in.]

  ME: Whoa, whoa. First of all, I tell you from the very beginning. I tell you I'm writing a fiction book. I send you chapters. I explain what the story is about. You don't have time to read them or the book itself, until now. How is that my fault?

  VIOLET: What? Oh, right. You do all those things, don't you? I really don't have time to read all that often. You know that. Three kids still at home, blah blah blah. But, who is Epifanio?

  ME: You don't know him. No one does. I'm telling everyone he's a composite, based on more than one person.

  VIOLET: Is he?

  ME: Does it matter? It's fiction! I'm not that Clara; that's not my life.

  VIOLET: Oh. Well, fine. I like the story, so far, especially now that I know I don't have to worry about you.

  ME: Worrying is vastly overrated.

  Do I lie to Violet? Not exactly. I change all the names, unless the people are already famous or historical figures. Even then, all the circumstances are not the ones most people are used to hearing for some of these known entities, since I do not believe anyone besides me is “outing” them as having contact with aliens.

  Regarding the characters: some are completely fictitious, some are composites, some are somewhat loosely based on actual people. But, I am the only human who knows which are which.

  My story; my choices.

  I am grinning as I write this. Problems solved.

  One of the complaints I get from my beta readers is that this Clara character doesn't seem afraid enough. Why isn't she freaking out, the way Violet would? How do other Earthers feel, once they know?

  The most vocal disbelievers of the inevitable union with the MWC and all the concomitant facts become known as Fragmenters, or Fraggers, because they try desperately to resist the unification of Earth's sentient beings and beings on planetary orbs, to hold on to the past, even to the point of having a separatist Earth, striving to keep our fragment of the multiverse "independent." They refuse to believe or accept the evidence as presented daily, frequently attempting to challenge and disrupt The Transition’s harmonious and peaceful intentions.

  Trenchers go even further They earn their nickname by being the most entrenched in old views and outdated ways, using violence, kidnapping, threats, hostility and fear-mongering to further their doomed goals and garner hapless followers. The most adept among them are the worst.

  These hypocrites, every trenched one of them, call themselves Psi-Defiers. They employ their Extraordinary Skills even as they denounce the very existence of psi skills, causing Psi-Warriors from the MWC to have a strong presence on Earth in the early years.

  Interestingly but not surprisingly, one of my own nephews, Rabbi Moran Ackerman, is trained early on along with me in the Excellent Skills Program to become the Earth leader of the Psi-Warriors. Charged with keeping t
he Psi-Defiers at bay and often stopping them by Sequestering them until they are allowed to become ReInvolved, our MWC combined Psi-Warrior forces do quite well.

  However, the Psi Wars are unavoidable on most planets, Led tells me in the early spring of 2013.

  "All part of The Transition," Led says. "First and most helpfully, we train all of the guardians and enforcers Earth needs and we have them not belong to any one existing Earth country's government or even the 'United Nations.'"

  "Good," I say. The UN never includes them all, anyway. What kinds of 'guards' do you mean?"

  Led explains: "MWC OverSeers, OSes [Pronounced Oh Esses], arrive as soon as possible after The Transition begins. Earth's are arriving next week. These are not all holos. Some are physically-present beings from many other worlds. The OSes function like the USA’s or other nations' Secret Service and global police, protecting leaders, such as you, Clara Branon."

  "I need protecting, for sure," I agree. "Those Trenchers are dangerous!"

  "Yes," Led continues. "We have OSes monitoring, regulating and protecting all inhabitants of orbs that are members of the MWC throughout the multiverse from threats, crimes and other serious problems. OSes use psi as well as more conventional methods. OSes control Fraggers, Trenchers and Psi-Defiers on Earth, under your nephew's leadership."

  "But," I object, concerned for Moran, "the MWC’s Psi-Warriors do the most dangerous and challenging work, fighting and quelling the Psi-Defiers directly. How does Moran or any other Earther attain high enough ESP levels to join, much less lead the OSes so soon?"

  "Ultimately, OSes have a key strategy for dealing with those who are the most intractable: they can banish enemies of peace and harmony to specific multiverse timelines and keep them there, rendering them incapable of causing further harm. Sequestering is the way OSes are able to exile and contain the worst criminals until they die and are ReInvolved, rehabilitated," Led explains. "Moran and other Earthers have help from more experienced OSes until they can operate on their own."

  Moran abbreviates Sequestering to "Qing" (pronounced queueing) and talks about Trenchers' being Qed (pronounced queued). Despite his use of slang, Moran gives the decisions extensive deliberation. I can tell that Qing is the last resort.

  The Band and I continue to talk about this for many months, prior to the Psi Wars' actual beginning point.

  One day in the summer of 2013, I ask Led if OSes threaten Qing to get information during investigations.

  "As a threat, Qing is quite effective and does not harm anyone. Upside: no need or motivation to torment or torture those Psi-Defiers who can't be persuaded to cooperate." Led sounds pleased to report this to me.

  I'm not convinced, though. I remind him that Earth does not have such a stellar history when it comes to these methods. "When violent rebels or criminals do not cooperate and they cannot be 're-educated,' how is Qing different from what Communist China does?" I ask.

  Led responds: "Those that are Qed are actually Re-Educated successfully by receiving information, hormonal and neurological improvements and other harmless methods for internal, psychological change. The Psi-Defiers and others are Qed or ReInvolved for their own benefits as well as Earth's. Being allowed to reincarnate immediately rather than live out their adult lives Qed is a choice many make."

  My pacifist friends and I like this a lot.

  I learn rather quickly that OSes include several branches, like departments. The largest segment is the Investigators (OSIs, pronounced OhEssEyes), since the MWC prizes information above all else. Enforcers (OSEs, pronounced OhEssEes) are kind of like police or Secret Service, but with no need for physical weapons due to their high-level psi skills. OSEs get to function more as protectors than our previous law enforcers and guards are able to be.

  Espionage, including covert and Special Ops, teams (OSOps, pronounced OhSops) each has their own “stars.” Moran is stellar very early on. Realize, however, that there are very few OSOps needed on or involved in Earth activities, which I am glad to be able to report.

  OSOps are mentioned in all of my Spanners Series' stories because they are the thrills-embodiers. Readers like to know more about them. Plus, I am very fond and proud of Moran! I like to see that the talent for Excellent Skills runs in our family.

  It's a source of pride, I know. Please forgive me that one.

  [NOTE: The more conflictual and sometimes violent stories involving the Trenchers and Fraggers are not the ones I want to tell. I get others to contribute these to my Volumes.]

  Although I am not new to the concept of the multiverse or multiple timelines prior to 2012, I learn so much more from The Band in those first months, even before my ESP training gets into these topics.

  During one of our many conversations on the subject, Mick, Ringo and I discuss my abilities.

  I tell them, even though they already know: "Some of us here on Earth can perceive multiple timelines, albeit not all that clearly. Sometimes, in all three directions—past, present and future. How could anyone explain a 'déjà vu' without this knowledge? How else can anyone 'predict' the future or know another's 'past'? Even the least-gifted psychic is utilizing what I know now are Excellent Skills to access all times and many timelines."

  "Yes, Clara, we are aware of this talent in Earthers, but surprised that only you seem to have it so strongly at first. We like the terms your son, Zephyr Branon, coins for your talent. These terms spread throughout the MWC!" Ringo uses two of his six orange arms to indicate the ways the terms spread around.

  "Go, Zephyr!" I applaud. I am so proud of him. "Yes. I like his words for these skills and actions: timultaneity, timulting, timult. We all do get used to them."

  Mick adds: "Timelines in the multiverse are not simply topics in a conceptual, theoretical mathematical debate: universes exist and keep forming, at each decision point, at each moment, infinitely. Our many lives and versions of each lifetime extend in countless directions, sometimes braiding and re-braiding over one another with very little to differentiate them, sometimes seemingly touching only at a perpendicular juncture because they are so different from each other."

  "I know this all too well. Each Volume in The Spanners Series has Appendices that include glossaries and explanations in more detail than I want to put into my story sections," I complain. "Explanations are boring but very necessary in fiction novels."

  "Not only do you have to choose a beginning point, you have to decide which timelines' stories to tell and which divergences to include, Clara." Ringo waves two more orange arms around to demonstrate the multiple timelines' varying directions. "Someone else—many others, including many other Clara Branons—choose differently."

  I laugh. "I could have the worst writer’s block, ever, if I let these choices paralyze me. It's hard enough when I consider the perspective and preferences of my perhaps Future Husband, Epifanio Dang. How does he feel when he reads each part of these books? I must ask him to write his own version some time."

  "You do," Ringo agrees. "It's only fair."

  The question most Earthers ask (and perhaps many from the MWC, I imagine) is: why does the Many Worlds Collective select me as their first public contact? Depending on my mood and who is asking, I provide various answers or do not respond at all.

  Whenever I ask individuals from the MWC, this is what happens: They laugh or do whatever passes for showing amusement for their species. The only answer they ever give is: “You ask us to come.”

  Beyond that, I can and do speculate about my liaison designation in these Volumes, but I do not actually know why they choose me.

  One day, Janis—Diana explain a bit further: "The Protocol of ongoing Earth - MWC contact means that you have to invite us, Clara."

  "I do repeatedly request that 'someone' come," I admit. "Not in the cultish religionists’ world-is-going-to-end, beam-me-up way, though. I am sane—by modern standards, anyway—and not following any cult leaders. Does the MWC know everything my invitation is based upon and the
reasons I extend it?"

  Janis says: "February, 2012. You are in your third period of extended unemployment since 2001. From this experience and the general state of Earth’s human affairs, you tell your friends that you become 'an official misanthrope.'"

  "Yes," Diana picks up their description of my life. "you say things like 'It is such a colossal waste: all around the world we have so many experienced, willing, able people who are unable to find work, not allowed to contribute to society in meaningful ways, made unable to earn a living doing what we are trained and willing to do. Decades of knowledge, wisdom and experience in billions of people, sitting idle or being underutilized: it is beyond shameful that we, as a species, are allowing this!'"

  "Wow! You hear all that before you come?" I exclaim. "And you remember it, word for word?"

  Diana says, "You go around saying this to lots of people. We do hear you. You also say that you 'want the species who left us here to admit that humanity, as an experiment on Earth, is officially a dismal failure.'"

  I laugh. "That's right! Humans are majorly violent, greedy, ignorant, selfish and incompetent. We are ruining the planet and ourselves. Of course I want some vastly more intelligent, more advanced beings to come clean up the mess we are making! But, I'm also kind of angry at you, at them, at whomever. We're in this mess due largely to their negligence and poor experimental protocols, don't you agree?"

  Janis sidesteps my accusation but does elaborate: "We hear you also privately solicit help when you meditate, when you are about to go to sleep and many times during the day, especially when you are swimming, which you do several times a week."

  "Yeah! I imagine a cartoon dialogue bubble coming off the top of my head that reads 'HELP!' I am only half-joking; I believe that this is indeed Earth's story."

  I go on. "I remember going around feeling a righteous anger, a deep, core despair: our progenitors abandon us to our own devices. Things are so terribly wrong in so many ways. Look at the greedy war-mongers who crash the world economy and trump up false information! Then, they use this 'evidence' to invade and destroy governments, people, property, ways of life, all around the world. Bombs, guns, grenades, missiles and unstaffed 'drones' deploy every day in too many places to count to murder millions of people, most of whom are not military personnel. Rape, racism, anti-group—pick your group—violence and hatred, hunger, homelessness, inequity, sex slavery/trafficking, intentional or careless pollution for profiit and countless other human atrocities abound. It makes my heart hurt."

  Janis—Diana wiggle closer to me. Even in their holo forms, they can comfort me. I appreciate it.

  Janis says: "We know you need to believe they, out there, have the power and option to help."

  "Before the MWC chooses to come help, I become more disappointed by the day," I acknowledge. "I'm probably a person you could come to who isn't totally surprised, then. Is that it?

  Diana asks: "Do you remember your friends asking you if you really believe in E.T.s?"

  "All the time! I only admit partial skepticism. I even tell them that I am, in fact, waiting to be rescued. Or, at least, I say that I want to hear a sincere apology."

  Janis—Diana say, in unison: "We're so sorry, Clara."

  I can tell that they mean it. So sweet.

  I keep thinking about a line from a song I love and sing many times when I am part of a New Age spiritual/rock & roll band’s chorus in Massachusetts in the late ‘70s, “Let’s Get Together” [By Chet Powers, copyright 1964], made famous by the Youngbloods: “When the one who left us here comes for us at last….”

  I confess: "I do continually beg them to come for many years, becoming very 'loud' about it in 2011 and all through 2012. And, you hear me!" I feel so grateful. I wish I could hug them.

  I tell them, even though I know they can feel my emotions, "Thank you so much. I am so glad you all come." I smile at them both and they wiggle back at me. I am almost used to their not having faces.

  I remind them of when we first meet. "I am surprised when you actually come, mostly because you come to me. I am not horribly scared or shocked, you know. But, how many of anyone's pleas or prayers get answered, really? How do I get to be so fortunate?"

  "We do choose you partly because of your request, Clara, it's true," Diana concurs. "But, we have to come, for IGC reasons. Many beings are involved in this important selection."

  Janis then drops this on me: "Do you know we select you to be Earth's first CC whether or not you request our presence and help?"

  I am stunned to hear this. What does that even mean?

  "Do you know what trouble your choosing me causes in my family, among my friends?" I ask them. "I am not known for being paranoid, schizophrenic or otherwise psychotic, but when I reveal that I hear voices and can see who is talking and describe you as unmistakably alien, this does not endear me to anyone or increase my credibility."

  "But, does not your having a doctorate from an esteemed university, many years of volunteering and working with local and national nonprofits, and many well-respected friends and family members indicate that you are going to be believed by most people, right from the beginning of your revelations?" Diana points out.

  "Maybe," I say slowly. “But, there is a story I don't usually share with anyone but my son, Zephyr. It is the tale of the first time I hear someone from the MWC. You, Diana, I now know. Shall I tell you again?"

  Janis—Diana say, in unison: "Yes, please. We like this story a lot!"

  "Do you know that earlier in the week I am first writing this, on Feb. 10, 2012, I am taking an afternoon nap in my rented, rural cottage in Kirov, California. Suddenly, I wake up because I distinctly hear a woman’s voice, seemingly right above my head, saying: 'Get up and write!' It isn’t exactly a scream, but it is very strong and directive. This then-unfamiliar voice feels benign and important, all at once."

  I pause and Diana wiggles at me.

  I continue. "I sit up, startled, and look around. Of course, I can’t see anyone. I call out: 'Is anyone here?' No answer."

  I turn to Diana and ask her, now: "Why do you not answer me then?"

  Diana inserts: "Not allowed. You aren't even supposed to hear me say that. I am supposed to wait for you to be more asleep and you are supposed to believe it's a dream induction."

  "You are too loud and impatient, sometimes," Janis says to her pairpartner.

  "Yes, true," Diana agrees, not at all perturbed by the criticism. "Go on, Clara."

  "So, I get up, walk around a bit, but I see no one inside or outside my cottage. I chalk it up to another one of my weird experiences."

  "Because you have those, anyway," Janis says.

  "Right," I agree.

  "That night, at exactly midnight, I am slowly but surely foggily aware that I am hearing a story—this one, actually—being narrated in my own voice. I gradually awaken to this stream of words and concepts, coming faster than I could type if I were typing. Luckily, it's quite memorable."

  "We do like this part," Diana interjects.

  "As you know, I begin this as a transcription, really, that very night.”

  “Might as well: I'm wide awake, now! I think. Amazingly, I write nonstop until about 1:30 AM. It flows out of me."

  "You are so sensitive as a receiver, Clara. It works well for you as our CC," Janis compliments me.

  I continue the story.

  "Then, I email the draft of what become the first few chapters of this volume to several people: Zephyr; my mom, Rose Vogel; my two sisters, Violet Engel and Cassandra (Cassie) Ackerman; and my friend, Franco Galina, whom I believe will be interested."

  Janis now takes up my story, too excited to let me be the only teller: "But, when you wake up the next morning and re-read it, you realize you leave out a lot, including the outline for the book and the series. So you decide to create it as listings, like in a Table of Contents."

  Diana, not to be outdone, jumps in: "You then write for about three more hours that morning, edi
ting and revising the Introduction and creating the draft Table of Contents."

  "True," I accept their insertions and go on.

  "I then send this packet to the same group, plus my friend, Robin Bach, an avid reader and librarian. Over the next week or so, as I write about one or two drafts of chapters each day, I add two more friends as readers: Nate Levy and Angela Lopez."

  "Tell the part about how you decide when to publish it!" Janis demands.

  "All right.”

  “At first, I am frequently perplexed: should I really admit that I write this before December 21, 2012? Or, should I wait and publish all ten volumes in 2041, after I retire from being the CC? What if I pretend that it is already 2041? Well, not really pretend, since now is always, all times. But, you all know what I mean, by now."

  Janis says, "We're so glad you decide to write the first drafts of each chapter in Volume I and some of the other Volumes in 2012, while you are still unemployed and have a lot of time to write."

  "After certain events occur in the linear timeline, you add, clarify and correct any 'errors' which inevitably arise as timelines diverge and Re-sets occur," Diana adds.

  "To compromise, I admit the timing of my writing, tell the circumstances of my inspiration and have faith that everyone works this out for themselves," I say. "Also, I keep reminding readers, friends and family that it’s fiction, so no one can argue with me, anyway."

  "You are so clever to protect your plan," Diana tells me.

  "Once the entire first draft is complete, you send it in paper and CD-ROM form to your Media Contact, with safe deposit keys for only her and Zephyr to have," Diana recalls.

  "It seems like such a good idea. I mean, who wants to start to write a book, much less ten of them, at the age of 85 or 86? This way, when 2041 comes around, or whatever date I select to publish, I can 'fact-check' and edit, one last time, and then submit for publication. I have photos and other items by then," I explain. "I want to be able to verify which timeline(s) I want to describe."

  Janis offers, "Or, you publish as you go along."

  "Why not?" I agree. "Yes, publish sooner rather than later: even more fun and confusing!"

  The main difficulty I face as a writer in writing about the "future" by “remembering” it before it occurs ALT are the verb tenses and syntax. Multiverse grammar is not cleared up at all, yet. The Spanners Series helps with that, I’m sure, over the next several decades. For now, I stumble along.

  Mostly, I use present tense for that feeling of “nowness” and the fun of it as well as to drive home the always-everything-happening-now truth. Bear with me, please, since present tense only works some of the time.

  I also decide to include many other items I collect over the years. Some I gather specifically for this purpose. Readers need to understand more of the background, history and actions of the MWC both “before” and “after” they come to me, ALT. Furthermore, so readers do not tire of the same narrator’s voice, I include others’ perspectives and news items.

  Enjoy!