CHAPTER EIGHT
Esperanza Enlaces, Chief Media Contact, Transition Interview: Esperanza Enlaces, Transcriber
Interview Date: May 21, 2018
To start, I present my first conversations with my mother after meeting The Band. I'm using notes and quotes from my journal.
[I am not so good at keeping everything in the present-tense form when I write most of this in my journal, which is 2013. Lo siento. ---Espe]
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“Mamá ? Soy Espe.”
“Espe. ¿Por qué me llamas? ¿Estás bien?”
“Mamá. Why do you always assume the worst? I'm fine. I have news, that's all.”
“Noticias? ¿Qué noticias? ¿Está embarazada?”
“¡Mamá, Mamá, por favor! In English!”
“Como isso é uma boa notícia? Por que você está grávida?”
“Mamá! That's Portuguese, not English! You went from Spanish to Portuguese and made me pregnant in both languages. STOP! I am NOT pregnant!”
“Oh. Estou tão aliviado. Eu quero ser uma avó, mas, no momento adequado, de forma adequada.”
“¡Mamá! I have told you repeatedly that I probably do not want to have children, number one. Number two, if I do want children, I do NOT need to be married. Number three, when and if I want to have children, I will tell you. All right? This is not about making you una abuela. Unless you consider aliens to be your grandchildren, that is.”
“What? What aliens? What are you talking about?”
“Oh, NOW you speak English just fine, don't you! Yes, aliens. That is what I am calling about. And, other things.”
“Espe. Are you doing drugs? Yo les he dicho y te dijo: ¡No consumo drogas!”
“Sí, Mamá, you have told me and told me not to use drugs. No, Mamá, I am not using drugs. Although I could use a stiff drink right about now. So, about the aliens...”
“You are serious? Aliens? What do you mean? Immigrants? Ilegal tipo de inmigrantes extranjeros?”
“No, Mamá, Not illegal-immigrants-types of aliens. Beings-from-other-planets aliens. Really. I met some today. Well, I met them in their hologram forms. Holos. You know: computer-generated figures that look like they're made of light? I talked to them, saw them, put them in a video and recorded them. I really did. Aliens. Me.”
Much to my surprise, I then burst into tears.
“Espe, Espe. ¿Estás llorando? ¿Por qué estás tan enojado? ¿Está siendo amenazada?”
“Sí, Mamá. I am crying. But, I am all right. I am exhausted. And, a bit stressed. But, no one is threatening me. I am not hurt. This is just a lot to process. Let me explain, please. Can I come over?”
“¡Por supuesto! Come right now!”
I got my crying reduced to only a few stray tears before getting in my car and driving the ten minutes to my mom's house. I swiped my face as I drove.
Almost as soon as I got there, my mom gave me tea and asked me to show her the video. I showed her some of the footage I shot at Clara's cottage and explained, stopping the footage often to allow for her exclamations, questions and other reactions.
“Actually, it's good I'm showing this to you, Mamá. I need to know how other people are going to respond.”
“I don't understand. How is that going to work, for you to be the only media connection for Clara during this, ¿qué: 'El Transitión'? That is too much for one person! What is she going to pay you? Whatever it is, it's not enough!”
I start to respond, but she plows on.
“I am going to be the mother of the second-most important person in the world? I always knew you'd be someone special, Espitta! But, what prepared you to do this, be this, ¿qué: 'La Jefa de la Conexión de los Medios de Comunicación'? I thought you were a journalist for that free paper. How can you know enough to do all of this? And, do you know that your name, 'Enlaces,' means 'conexion,' but it's the masculine instead of the feminine? ¡Qué extraño!”
“Yes, I am going to be the Chief Media Contact.' And, yes, I know: 'conexion' in Spanish means 'Enlaces' in Spanish as well. Yes, that is weird.”
She interrogates me. She informs me.
Constantly.
Still.
Mid-Transition, the Psi Wars and my being a pacifist worry her a lot, she tells me often.
“Me, too,” I tell her. “I am glad when the Wars end.”
She also repeatedly asks me: “Are you getting enough rest? Are you getting paid enough? Who is helping you? Do they know how hard you work? Do you get enough credit? How are they highlighting the fact that you are a courageous, brilliant Latina in all these stories?”
These questions I don't mind so much, since I have some of the same questions, myself, and it shows she's paying attention, that she cares.
But, when she veers into the personal, with queries like these: “Are you dating anyone? What do these Aliens have to offer you in the way of entertainment? Are they nice to you? Are you using all your education? Does Clara appreciate how much you do for her? When do you have fun? Do you have time to exercise? How is your health? Can the Aliens make you sick?” and on and on, I get impatient.
She does this for years.
Every week.
That's mi mamá.
*********************
For the interview Clara asks me to conduct with myself, I am answering some of my mother's endless questions, since I believe they're important and a good way for others to get to know how The Transition is for me.
Here you go, Mamá. These are for you.
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Q: “Are you getting enough rest?”
A: Probably not. But, I am the Chief Media Contact for the entire planet, Mamá. I don't get to make sleeping a priority, yet.
Q: “Are you getting paid enough?”
A: Yes and yes. Some of my compensation, which is quite generous, is monetary. Some is in trade: I receive free housing, food—everything I need and many things I want—all provided for me on The Campus.
I also get monetary awards, prizes, and bonuses from outside groups sometimes, which I get to keep. Believe me, Mamá: money is not one of my concerns these days. So grateful for that.
Q: “Who is helping you?”
A: That is a good question, Mamá. At first, it's all me. That's by design, to keep everything controlled and confidential until we are allowed to make it public, only Clara and I can know some things. Later, especially APC, I am permitted to get some help. I hire assistants, usually a combination of interns and experienced journalists, to be my eyes and ears around the world and eventually, the multiverse. “Stringers,” they are called.
I also have help right on Campus because everyone in the Excellent Skills and OverSeers programs rotates through both my and Clara's offices as interns for at least six weeks some time in their training.
It's not all me, anymore, and for that, I am grateful. I do manage everything to do with media and PR, which is a lot of work, believe me.
Q: “Do they know how hard you work?”
A: Who is “they,” Mamá? Really? IS that an important question? I am choosing to ignore this one. Clara and The Band certainly know, and they are all the “they” who matter to me.
Q: “Do you get enough credit?”
A: It would be difficult to imagine anyone getting more “credit” than I do: I win the Pulitzer Prize, Mamá! Please! Stop worrying about my professional reputation. I think it's safe to say I am at the top of my field at a young age. ¿Sí?
Q: “How are they highlighting the fact that you are a courageous, brilliant Latina in all these stories?”
A: Oh, Mamá. Everything, especially APC, is not all about ethnic pride anymore. We are one planet, one “nation,” the sub-species of homo sapiens sapiens, which is one among many species. Plus, most of the “stories” are not about me! I'm the teller, the compiler, not the subject.
I'm glad that there is no longer any illusion of such a thing as “race”: no more “Latinas” or “Hispanics.” There never really should have been “race,” anyway. That was all socially constructed, as you and I discuss many times.
I am proud to be human, but also humbled by the great attainments of others right on this planet that we know nothing about, BCP. So many wonderful beings right here and throughout the multiverse to meet, listen to: it's overwhelming and awe-inspiring, both.
Through using the fish, I talk with cetaceans, cephalopods, elephants, wolves, primates, bees: so many wise, creative animals. Humans are merely one type of living creature, here, and not the “best” in almost any way.
Q: “Are you dating anyone?”
A: Sí, Mamá. I am involved with Antonio, whom I sometimes call “Adam” or “Ant,” which you know, but I am telling you again, anyway, officially, here.
Q: “What do these Aliens have to offer you in the way of entertainment?”
A: That is a funny question, Mamá. The Band, as we call the Many Worlds Collective representatives, aren't exactly here for the purpose of “entertainment,” which I am certain you know.
However, to humor you, I can say that Ringo is quite funny, sometimes. Mick also can make us laugh.
Learning about their home planets, their ways of living and such, are also somewhat “entertaining.”
The main way we are “entertained,” by your definition, is through getting to view, participate in and attend events in ProtectArts. Clara's son, Zephyr, one of her nephews, Aaron Wilson, her friends, Epifanio Dang, Franco Gallino, and many others I come to know are directly involved in producing, creating, participating in and starting various offshoots for music, dance, theatre, writing, and multidimensional/multimedia/multiple location/multiverse art. These are amazing and impossible to describe fully: you must go on the 'verseweb and watch some vids.
Q: “Are they nice to you?”
A: Mamá, the aliens are allowed only to be “nice” to us all, ultimately. They are pledged to do no harm. They are trained and experienced in doing exactly what they came here to do: help Earthers through the Transition. I can personally and professionally attest that each Band members is unselfishly motivated by compassion and respect, so they always take action from those foundations.
More importantly, they speak and act from their good hearts and clear minds because they are devoted to our well-being. They are much more than “nice,” by the usual Earth definitions of that word. You don't have to worry.
Q: “Are you using all your education?”
A: It's great that you ask this. You know that I am a freelance writer, working for pennies per word and not always getting gigs, before Clara asks me to work for her. I have to work part-time for you because I have bills that my writing doesn't cover. I love journalism, but it doesn't support me, BPC. The internet has killed most jobs for journalists by 2012. Almost everyone is freelancing, which means POOR.
Once Clara asks me to work for her and I understand what is involved, I am daunted, but excited. Being able to manage all the media that flows out from her contacts with the aliens, writing all the copy, making all the vids, scripting every public encounter, managing the public relations in every component: turns out, I am made for this job! Add in being Clara's main Personal Assistant, most days, and you can't believe how busy I am!
Plus, I get to take Excellent Skills classes on Campus, travel on Earth and off-planet, meet amazing beings and live in this beautiful place, all for free! And, I get well-paid to do most of it!
I use every bit of knowledge, experience, education, skill and talent I possess on some days, yet I still have to stretch, still learn more. Being the Chief Media Contact for Earth is the most spectacular job a journalist could ever ask for and I love doing it, Mamá. I am indeed muy afortunada.
Q: “Does Clara appreciate how much you do for her?”
A: That is the wrong question! I am the one trying to thank Clara enough for bringing me on for this role. But, to respect you, Mamá, I respond: YES. Clara thanks me many times in many ways. We become friends almost immediately, which makes it all more fun and enjoyable.
Also, due to our family's inherent talent and my living on Campus, I am training in improving my Excellent Skills while on the job and on my own. Clara and I practice some Skills together. She's way ahead of me, but it's fun to do some of our “homework” together.
Q: “When do you have fun?”
A: Oh, Mamá! I see Adam.
I am involved in ProtectArts. I watch vids (not mine!). I read.
Walking around Campus is its own kind of fun—seeing all the different species in various habitats and activities, talking with them on my fish. I have a lot of new friends all over the multiverse and some right here on Campus.
Clara and I hang out and laugh a lot.
Also, I connect with other journalists around the MWC and globe. What some of them are doing awes and inspires me! I use my iD for Access thousands of times per week, and not all for work!
I don't have a lot of “down” time, but I do enjoy it. No worries, there.
Q: “Do you have time to exercise?”
A: This is one area you are officially allowed to nag me about, Mamá. Zephyr and I both complain that we're not in the habit of exercising the way you and Clara are and we wish to be.
I'm not a great swimmer, I don't like to run. I hate lifting weights or using the treadmill or elliptical machines. This is un problema for me.
I don't find any form of exercise that appeals to me except... well, you know. Yes. S-E-X.
I do like to dance, so Epifanio and Kayla try to get me into dancing with vids and taking dance classes on Campus, but my time is so limited....
I know. No excuses. I promise to try harder, Mamá.
Q: “How is your health?”
A: Given how little exercise I get, excellent!
Seriously: the MWC brings such great bio-advances to Earthers, especially humans, that most of us almost never get sick, APC. Even the occasional virus, like a cold or 'flu, hardly ever takes hold. Our immune systems are stronger, our bodies more balanced, our diets are better and our minds are clearer.
No. I know your next questions and the answer is “no.” Antonio and I are not planning to have children any time soon.
Kendall [Zephyr and Kayla's daughter] is adorable and so are the other kids I get to hang out with here, but I am not ready to be a mother.
Soon, Mamá. I promise.
I also think Clara and I get some kind of special “treatments” from Janis—Diana, because whenever they're around, I feel so great!
Q: “Can the Aliens make you sick?”
A: Absolutely.
But, they are not here to do that.
Precisely the opposite, as you can see. As we all know, the MWC does have the ability to change our health, so I am extremely grateful that their motives and goals are geared for Earthers' benefit.
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That's enough from me about The Transition. I'm all over all these Spanners Series books, anyway. People hear plenty from me, Clara.
This is Esperanza Enlaces, signing off.
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