Soyjack was shaking with rage after hearing the news of the new Omicron variant. He let out a scream that shook his whole studio apartment. “We’re still in this heckin’ pandemic because of those damn anti-vaxxers! Their refusal to get vaccinated is costing us all the freedom we could have had, but they just do not want to follow the science! If we just did what the experts told us, we could all be back to normal! But no! They say no to masks! No to lockdowns! No to vaccines! And now, when this new variant is spreading, I am going to have to make sure I do my part and get a booster to pick up the slack for these anti-science assholes! Don’t they know how many people have died? I never got to see my grandmother before she died of the virus! It’s all their fault!”

"Oh, is that how you see things?" said a voice that appeared out of nowhere. Soyjack turned and saw a mysterious figure. It was an angel. No, not one of those sissy looking angels with wings. A real Biblical angel that had four heads with different animal faces, with fire-like light shining from him and many more wings than just a couple. Not only that, he was quite a bit larger than the average human. Soyjack was aghast, unsure what to think of this mysterious and frightening guest. "Wh-Who a-a-are y-you?" Soyjack asked barely being able to get the words out of his mouth, barely more audible than a whisper.

"My name? You can call me Gabriel. I am an angel, and I was sent here by the Lord to aid you in your dire time of need."

Soyjack's fear was replaced with confusion. "What the heck do you mean by angel? You don’t look like an angel at all! Is that a code name for something else? And by Lord do you mean my landlord? As if he would ever send anyone to help me, that leech! Do you know how much I pay a month to live here? 3100 dollars! That fat cat just sits around as he makes money off people like me!”

"Then why not move to a different place instead?" asked Gabriel "While I do not have money to give you, I would suggest maybe finding a different place to live than this." "But I have to live here!" Soyjack proclaimed. "The big city is where everything is happening! You don't expect me to live in country like some hick, do you? Besides, the price of rent was fine before, but then that asshole raised my rent! During a pandemic!”

“You chose not to pay him the moment you had the opportunity not to, even though you were still quite capable of paying. You still have your job since you can work from home.” Gabriel stated.

“How did you know all of that?” Soyjack asked

“I have been granted much knowledge about you in order to fulfill my mission.” Gabriel said. “And it should not be surprising that he would raise the prices to make up for his loses. He is not perfect, but he is not a bad man. He has a family of his own, you should see him as your neighbor. As stated in Proverbs: Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it. Do not say to your neighbor, “Go, and come again, tomorrow I will give it”—when you have it with you.”

“You are siding with him? You shouldn’t feel bad that Mr. Moneybags could not afford his second yacht either! He can take not getting paid for a bit when people are struggling! And what is Proverbs, is that supposed to be a new Marvel movie?”

“Movie? That is from the good book. The one written from the inspiration of the one who sent me, not your landlord, but the Lord our God."

Soyjack let out a chuckle. "God? Are you kidding me? What God? As if I would buy that! I am far too intelligent to believe in some magic sky daddy. I believe in science, as anyone who is properly educated does. Only a stupid redneck from some flyover state would belie-"

"Silence!" Gabriel interjected, as the fire surrounding him became more intense, lighting up literally in anger.

"You dare speak such blasphemy in the presence of one of God's servants?! My very existence proves your words false! And you have the arrogance to think that "science" could replace the Lord's wisdom and might?" Gabriel's voice became even more overwhelming in power. Soyjack again found his fear at the burst of anger from Gabriel. "Please don't hurt me! I have done everything right in order to stay alive in this pandemic! I don't want to die now! I have spent so long staying at home and I did everything right and ---"

"Enough!" Gabriel interrupted. "As much as I despise your blasphemy, I was not sent here to destroy you. I am here to aid you with your current problems." “Oh, you are?” Soyjack asked meekly. “So what you are saying that you will get rid of covid?”

“No,” stated Gabriel, “That is not going to solve your problems.”

“Yes it will!” Soyjack insisted. “Covid is ruining everything! I have not been able to travel, I have been staying inside all the time, except for essential activities, but others are ruining it for everyone!”

“Others?” Gabriel asked incredulously. “Just how are they responsible?”

“Yes, they refuse to get the vaccines because they would rather believe misinformation than the science!If everyone just got the vaccines, we could have stopped Covid right away! But now we are stuck like this because of their selfishness!”

“Stop, stop. Are you are under the impression that you are being held back from doing the things you want to do because of this virus? You are mistaken. The only thing really holding you back is YOU, and your personal decisions.”

Soyjack squinted his eyes at this statement. “What?”

“I am telling you that you are living like this because you are choosing to do so.”

“Well, yeah. I am choosing to adhere to the guidelines that the government has set, because they are looking out for us! I am not going to break the rules that were determined by the science!”

“About that.” Gabriel stated flatly. “They are not telling you the tru- oh forget it. Let’s say this covid was suddenly gone. What exactly would you be doing?”

“Well, I would travel to all sorts of places! Go to concerts, sporting events, some dates! I would make sure to places of culture, like museums, art galleries, and concert halls! All the things I haven’t been able to do now!”

Gabriel looked on Soyjack with much disbelief. “Nothing you have stated is even remotely true. You never did any of those things, especially not dates. You have never even had a girlfriend.”

“For you information, Gabriel, I have had many women who are interested in me!” Soyjack said as his face started to get flushed. “I have been conversing with many of them online, and they all have said how much they would want to go out with me, but this pandemic is keeping them from being able to meet up! So again, Covid is to blame!”

“You have been sending them money, haven’t you?” Gabriel inquired. Soyjack’s face whitened up at that question. “They would totally date a guy like you, but they just so happen not to be able to meet up with you when they say this. And they ask for you to donate money to them. OnlyFans and Twitch, are those not the vessels through which you send them money?”

“Well, yeah.” Soyjack said. “But what’s wrong with that? You said I should pay what I owe, and it’s like I am taking them out on dates! I can manage that fine until this pandemic is finally over! Then I can have some real dates!”

“Sure you will.” Gabriel said. “And I don’t know what your idea of a date is, but we both know full well that neither you nor these women have pure intentions with these ‘payments.’ You seek to indulge in lust with this!”

Soyjack did not know how to respond. Not because he felt any shame (in his mind, Gabriel was far too judgemental), but rather that he knew far too many details about him and his life.

“Okay, you know all of this about me. What do you want?”

“Soyjack, I am here to make sure you do not make a decision you will soon regret. You might not be aware of it, but those shots you took are taking a toll on your body. Your lack of physical activity has shielded you from feeling the worst of symptoms, but you would know if you exerted yourself that your heart has to work a little bit harder. You were about to seek out an appointment to get another shot, a booster, as they call it. It would be a grave mistake that would cost you your life.”

“As a matter of fact, I am going to get that booster! It is the only way out of this pandemic! But everyone needs to pitch in, it’s called being a decent human being and doing your part! It’s just a shot! Now I know this must all be some trick! You must be one of those wacko anti-vaxxers, or maybe you are one of those Russian hackers. Yeah, that’s it! I got hacked just like the DNC got hacked, you spied on me to find out all my personal information and now you are trying to spread disinformation on the ground level! And as for your appearance, that has to be some sort of projection that you have hidden somewhere!”

“I assure you, you are very much mistaken.” Gabriel said.

“No, I can see clearly now! People like you are trying to trick us into not getting the vaccines and boosters so that we have enough of us die so that people give in to fear and elect another fascist like Trump! Wait…”

Soyjack suddenly had an epiphany. Well, it was completely off base from any semblance of reality, but it is as close as someone could possibly get to an epiphany.

“It’s all his fault! Trump, or should I say Drumpf! He messed up everything by mishandling this pandemic, that orange idiot! That fascist refused to make masks and lockdowns nation-wide, and now we are still suffering from it! But we showed him by voting his ass out! I am not going to have you keep spreading your disinformation and get him elected again.”

“I struggle to see how I will be able to reach you, given this reaction. You know that in spite of the fact the Donald Trump is not president anymore, that you still do not have what you want in your life? You blame the pandemic for holding you back, but you are mistaken. It is YOU holding yourself back. You are lost because you have strayed far from God, but rather follow others who also have abandoned his teachings. You moved to this city because you wanted to live a life of materialism and hedonism. Once you were living here, you were easily controlled just like the others who have lost their way. Had you followed God’s teachings, you would not have found yourself here and you would have an understanding that the Lord’s way would have guided you to a better life. You would be among those who would not have also given in to fear and have come to understand that his path would make you whole. You would not throw away your life to follow charlatans who want you to be guided by your impulses rather than Jesus.”

“What a bunch of crap! My life was just fine before Covid hit, and it didn’t have to last this long! We just needed the president not to be a fucking idiot Nazi and take the pandemic seriously! I am telling you, if we had a competent president when this pandemic started, none of this would be happening!”

“You really think so?” Gabriel asked.

“I know so.” Soyjack responded smugly.

“Lord, I have an idea. How about I show Soyjack what the world would be like if Donald Trump had never become president? Maybe that will show him the light.”

“A world where Trump was never president? Sign me up! Everything would be so much better if that were the case!”

“Very well. I will show you.”

------

The lights flickered a little bit, and a gust of wind could be heard hitting the windows.

“We are now in a world where Donald Trump was never president.”

Soyjack rolled his eyes, unimpressed by this statement. “Yeah, I’m sure we are. Now how about you get out of here!”

“You should look for yourself before you snap to any judgement. See how the world has changed. Look outside, people are gathering in crowds to celebrate.”

Soyjack looked out the window at Gabriels prompting, and his eyes widened at the sight. People were happily walking about without any concern for wearing masks or social distancing. “What are they doing? Don’t they know that there is a pandemic going on! I thought here in New York we had sensible people here!”

“Pandemic?” Gabriel asked. “You will find no one else making mention of such thing.”

“No mention? It’s everywhere these days! I’ll show you!” Soyjack said, opening a new tab in Reddit looking in the news, politics, and other subs with neutral names that are anything but. To his shock, he saw none of the usual articles about Covid.

“What the heck?” Soyjack said puzzled. He did a search for Covid, finding nothing. He searched coronavirus, found some very old articles that were talking about the common cold for some odd reason. At least, odd to Soyjack, as his love of science apparently did not go far enough for him to know that the common cold is a form of a coronavirus.

“This must have been your doing again! You think that if you hack the best and most reliable source of information that you can trick me into thinking that the world has changed? Ha! It’s too easy to see now that I know what you are.”

Soyjack then checked Twitter, CNN, NPR, Vox, and every other “reliable source” of information and found nothing there too. “Did you hack all of these sites too? How far are you going to go with trying to spread your misinformation?”

“We are going to go now.” Gabriel said annoyed. “Outside.”

“Outside? Not unless it is for an essential activity, or until I get my booster shot!” Soyjack retorted.

“Booster shot?” Gabriel said. “There are no booster shots. Not even the Covid vaccines that were there before. Not in this world. We go now.”

“I said I am not going anywh-” Soyjack said as he was forcefully whisked away by Gabriel as they flew through the window. Gabriel moved at a speed far faster than humans can naturally achieve, gliding through the air with Soyjack under his arm. Soyjack cried out flailing his body as if trying to escape. Luckily for him, his actions were in vain, as Gabriel’s strength and speed was unmatched by even the peak humans. Which meant Soyjack really did not stand any chance, as his underweight body from a sedentary lifestyle was even less of a match for the angel. They landed in an alleyway near the sidewalk, though out of sight from the people walking about.

“What in the world! How were you able to do that?” Soyjack said aghast at the power of Gabriel, mildly hyperventilating at the sudden transportation.

“I told you, I’m an angel of the Lord. What I just did was far from the extent of my capabilities. Do you want to take a walk around?”

Soyjack nodded nervously, not wanting to test the angel’s capabilities further. “Okay, but how are we going to walk around when you look like that! You are going to scare the heck out of everyone!”

“Only you see me in this form. To everyone else, I look like an ordinary human.”

“Figures. Am I going crazy? Okay, let’s go.”

Soyjack saw more maskless pedestrians walking about as if there was no pandemic to fear. Soyjack was still a bit on edge seeing everyone maskless, but he was far too timid to call anyone out as he figured (correctly) that no one would back him up.

“So this really is a different world?” Soyjack asked.

“Yes, the world you asked for. A world where Donald Trump was never president.” Gabriel said.

“Ha!” Soyjack exclaimed. “So it was all that racist cheeto’s fault that we were in that mess! I knew it. This world is already much better without him!”

Soyjack saw some passers-by and said with glee, “Isn’t it great that we had someone COMPETENT to handle this country when the pandemic hit? Just imagine how much worse it would have been!”

The couple who he spoke to looked at him puzzled. “Pandemic?” the man said. “What are you talking about?”

“Covid 19, of course! The coronavirus! We really got lucky that President Clinton handled things so well.” Soyjack responded, slightly annoyed but still beaming happily with this new world.

“Covid 19?” the woman said with a hint of disgust. “What the hell is that supposed to be? Let’s go, Mark. This guy is creeping me out.”

“What? I am just talking about how great a job our president did handling the virus!” Soyjack turned to another person and said, “You know how bad we would have had it if Trump had become president, right? We would still be dealing with the Covid 19 due to his stupidity!”

“Excuse me, Covid? What is that again? Is that one of those computer games?” the older man responded, also quite puzzled. Soyjack continued to bring up the topic to others, only to find that no one had any clue what he was referring to.

Soyjack’s jaw was agape in shock that he got such responses. “I know that Clinton handled the virus far better than that orange idiot did, but how could they forget about it entirely?”

“You assume that the virus ever was released in the first place. Because Trump was not president, there never was a need to resort to the plan to release the virus on the world to get rid of him.” Gabriel told him.

“Now you are talking crazy!” Soyjack said rolling his eyes. “Our president probably must have gotten the job done in secret, like a boss! Yeah, slay queen!”

Gabriel stood silent at Soyjack’s statements. Soyjack then turned to Gabriel and said, “So what you are saying is that because Covid was never a problem, that millions of people who died from the pandemic have been saved? Hey, I should go see my grandma! If you are an angel, you should have the power to take me to see her, right?”

“I can take you wherever you want. But you will not be able to see your grandma.”

“Oh come on! You showed me how fast you can go. Surely you can take me to go and see her in no time!”

“Fine, I will take you to where she is now. But I am afraid you will be disappointed.”

“That’s where you are wrong! Let’s go!”

Gabriel once again grabbed Soyjack and whisked him away. This time Soyjack was not struggling in vain, but rather feeling quite cheerful for the short duration of the trip to over several miles outside of New York City. That is, until he saw where he had taken them.

“Ha ha, real funny Gabriel. You took me to the graveyard. That’s not where my grandma’s house is! It’s further in town. Take me to her now!”

“But this is where she is. See for yourself.” Gabriel said as he pointed to the grave. Sure enough, there was Soyjack’s grandmother’s name engraved on the stone.

“No, that’s impossible! My grandma died of Covid, so if we never dealt with Covid, she would still be alive! That’s it, I am giving her a call, since you are being soooooo helpful!”

Soyjack looked through his contacts to look for his grandmother, but could not find her there. “Hey Gabriel, would my phone be affected by this world, or is it like it was before you did whatever it was?”

“It is also affected by the events of this world, which is why you will not find her number there.” Gabriel responded.

“Then why is her number not on my phone! Whatever, I am going to call my mom and get grandma’s number.”

Soyjack selected the contact for his mother. “Soyjack, is that you? This is unexpected! You do not call very often. How have you been! Will you be joining us for Christmas?”

“Hi Mom, I will let you know about all of that, but first, can you give me grandma’s phone number?”

“Soyjack, I am very confused. What reason would you want to have that now?” Soyjack’s mother asked with a baffling tone.

“I wanted to give her a call, of course! But I cannot seem to find her contact in my phone!”

“Soyjack, are you having trouble with your memory?”

“No Mom, everything is fine! I just want to talk with grandma!”

“But Soyjack, don’t you remember? Your grandma died over a year ago. Don’t you remember the funeral?”

“Funeral? I was not able to atte-” Soyjack started to say as he remembered that unlike in the previous world, funerals would not have had the same restrictions for attendance. “I mean, yes, I remember. I, uh, guess I don’t understand. How could she have died?”

“Soyjack, death is something that comes to us all. She was 86 years old, and her health was in poor shape. I am also sad that she is gone, but she lived a good long life. And now, she is in heaven with Jesus.” Soyjack started to roll his eyes at this mention, only to tense up as he was quickly reminded of Gabriel’s presence. Gabriel, hearing everything taking place, was of couse amused by Soyjack’s repeated disrespect for God.

“But I mean, what did she die from?”

“She caught the flu, Soyjack. You know how that is especially hard on the elderly.”

“But the flu basically disappeared last year! I remember reading about that! And besides, she always got her flu shot every year!”

“Soyjack, I don’t know where you read that, but I am pretty sure that is not true. And the flu shot is not guaranteed to stop you from getting the flu. There are just too many strains out there. Sometimes, when you do everything you are supposed to, you will still meet with God in the end.”

“Like you are one to lecture me about the news or vaccinations! You still watch Fox News and refuse to get vaccinated!”

“Refuse to get vaccinated? Soyjack, what are you even saying? I always get my vaccines, and made sure you got yours too!”

“Yes but, when it came to the…” again, Soyjack forgot that there would not be a Covid “vaccine” in this world, so his comments to his mother would make absolutely no sense in this world. “I mean, you are just as bad as them, because you get your news from fascists!”

“Soyjack, I know we do not agree politically, but do we have to talk about this right now? And I do not think you are well. Have you been getting enough sleep? You are saying all sorts of crazy things!”

“Well I am done here anyways!” Soyjack hung up the phone. “Ridiculous! Covid was what killed my grandma, so if there was no Covid, she should not be dead!’

“You are making many assumptions once again.” Gabriel interjected. “While your grandmother did die of Covid in your world, she was old and frail. She was near death’s door regardless of Covid. It was simply her time to go. But rest assured, your mother is right, she is in heaven now.”

Soyjack frowned at Gabriels words. “But how could the flu have killed her, that disappeared last year!”

“No, it didn’t. The flu spread as much as before. It just was not recognized as such, as those who were in charge chose to mark the flu as Covid.”

“What a bunch of crap! You expect me to believe that? That lie does not even make sense! It figures that an angel would not understand science.”

“To the contrary, I understand this world far more than you could possibly imagine. While I am not omnipotent, the Lord has granted me all the knowledge and means I would need to show you the light. That includes the science as you mention.”

“As if! I am too mad to care anyways! I want to go back to New York! Now that there is no pandemic, I am going to take full advantage of getting in on the action! Say, maybe I will find Tess or Kailey!” Soyjack said perking up with newfound optimism.

“Do you mean those girls you were giving money to on that OnlyFans?” Gabriel asked.

“That’s right, and now that the pandemic is not a factor, there is no reason for them to not go on a date with me now!” Soyjack said closing his eyes gleefully.

“Yeah, about that. Never mind, we shall go.” Gabriel said as he once again transported Soyjack back to New York City. Soyjack was brimming with anticipation, Soyjack started towards the area in the city with the usual bars and clubs he frequented (before the “pandemic”). “Now this is what I need! The reason I moved here, to be a part of all the action! There’s just so much happening here!”

“So much for his previous sorrows. Are you sure this is not a lost cause, God?” Gabriel said too quietly for Soyjack to hear. Gabriel followed Soyjack through a series of major failures to get anywhere with women.

“Hey, you look like a strong, independent woman that can handle it all! I would love to worship you as my queen!” Soyjack said to one girl at a bar.

“Uh… No.” The first woman said as she looked away tensing her eyes and lips.

“Oh, okay then… Hey, you must be looking for the type of man who will totally respect you for who you are and not just how you look! That kind of man is me! If you want to be respected, you need to look no further.”

“I think I am going to look for the bathroom and throw up.”

“Oh, are you sick? Do you need help?”

“Yes, I am sick from seeing guys like you thinking you have a chance with girls like me!”

“Oh, well, I, uh… hope you have a great evening then! But you are really missing out on a great guy like me!”

“Uhhhh!... Am I going to have to ACWA this loser?” The girl said almost under her breath.

This went on, and Soyjack struck out every single time. “What the heck, why am I doing so bad? I said the same things I said to the other ladies before, but now they are not responding like they did before!”

“Let me guess, these ladies were all online, and you were sending them money? Except that’s not a guess, I know that’s exactly what happened before.”

“Yes… but that should not make a difference when it’s online, right? I am still the same guy as I am online.”

“Soyjack, you have lost all perspective on life. Those women never truly desired you, they just wanted your money.”

“What? That can’t be! They all said that I was their type! I should be killing it out here!” Soyjack said bewildered. Then out of the corner of his eye, he saw a familiar face, Tess. “Hey, I am pretty sure I have seen you before! I am absolutely sure I am your type!”

Tess took one look at Soyjack and burst out laughing. “Ha, as if!” Tess turned away and walked to a tall built guy sitting at a table, leaning herself against his side.

“Oh what, this guy is your type? But he’s a jerk! I doubt he respects women at all!”

“I doubt he respects women at all!” the tall chiseled guy said adding a nasally quality to his voice. “Wow, you are really a piece of work. You think that women like that doormat routine? News flash buddy, they don’t! All you do is make women dry as the Sahara with that routine!”

“I am not a doormat, I just respect women! Unlike you!” Soyjack retorted shaking with hint of redness in his face. All Soyjack got in return was laughter from Tess and her boyfriend.

“Hey, save it for open mic night! I’m sure that will get you far. Now beat it before this stops being funny.” Tess’s boyfriend said. “Yeah, I think you should do what my boyfriend said, or I will get mad too. I am pretty sure you don’t want me to ACWA your ass!”

“Aqua, you mean like water? I can dig that! I would do anything to have you be my girlfriend! You should dump this muscle-for-brains idiot and go for a true intellectual like me instead!’

“That’s it, you asked for it creep!” Tess said as she put her phone up in Soyjack’s direction.

“Are you taking a picture of me? I guess I should be flattered.”

“Yep, if I submit a photo to the ACWA app it makes it much easier for the cops to take care of you, loser!”

“Cops?! But what did I do wrong?” Soyjack protested baffled at this turn of events. A police officer nearby was on his way, way too quickly in Soyjack’s mind. “This has gone from pitiful to dangerous. Fear not, I will get you out of here.” Gabriel had been merely observing the events until now. The police officer tried to apprehend Soyjack, but Gabriel being an angel was able to stop him quite easily, as well as Tess’s boyfriend when he saw that the cop was being sent back a few feet. Gabriel grabbed Soyjack once more, running out the door with great speed and flew off a long distance from the bar of the offending event.

“I just can’t believe it, what is even happening?” Soyjack asked.

“That woman, Tess, activated the ACWA alert system, which stands for Against Coercing Women Act.”

“Oh, it was an acronym. How clever! But what exactly is that?”

“It was signed into law under President Clinton in her first year in office. It allows women to have men arrested if they try and manipulate a woman into doing anything she does not want.”

“That sounds like a pretty good law! We would not want any men trying to make women do something she would not want… but wait, didn’t she use that on me? What did I do?”

“That’s just the thing, any woman can use the law to her discretion. Even if it is as simple as asking a woman out. And now you are permanently in their database, thanks to that picture Tess took.”

“But I am one of the good guys, not like that asshole boyfriend she had! And just my luck, she already had a boyfriend. She is a lot less nice than she was in the other world! It must be that jerk boyfriend that has been abusing her and making her do all those terrible things!”

“You assume too much, Soyjack. First, you assume that she was ever a kind person in the other world. She was just manipulating you to get money. Second, she was never corrupted by that man, she was showing you exactly as she truly is. Women are no more moral than men, but you are blinded by your own sexual desires to fool yourself into believing otherwise.”

“You are wrong, Gabriel! All women are qu-…” Soyjack paused for a moment contemplating this world he was in. “Maybe you are right. Maybe I just saw what I wanted to see in Tess, rather than look deeper into who she really was. But not all women are like that, right? I am pretty sure that Kailey is actually a nice woman, right?”

“Well, she is really not much better.”

“Are you saying they are all like that?”

“No, Soyjack. Every man and woman is fallible to sin and vice. Some have sadly strayed far from the path of the Lord. Including you. But the Lord is gracious and merciful God, and that is why he has sent me to help you.”

“Fat lot of help you have been! Everything just sucks in this world, save for Trump not ever being president! Besides that, my grandma is still dead, I just found out that those women online were only saying those things to get money from me, I am going to be arrested when they find me again, and all the virtuous actions I did in helping to keep others safe during the pandemic doesn’t mean a thing in this world anyways!”

“You were just starting to show signs of reforming, but you had to say that you were being ‘virtuous’ with your actions.” Gabriel said disappointed. “Soyjack, there was nothing virtuous about you keeping yourself holed up in your apartment and doing everything to avoid social interaction, indulge in all of your depraved sinful activities, refuse to pay what you owe for rent the moment you were given the option not to, all while having others deliver your food and supplies so that you could be ‘virtuous.’”

Soyjack stood in silence, not knowing how he should respond. Gabriel continued to speak. “You have opted to conform to the world, rather than follow the will of God. This has been an issue for long in your life. You felt like rebelling, against your parents, against God and his teachings. That’s why you no longer go to church or pray. That is why you found yourself in your life where you chased short term pleasures. You also must have thought Satan not to be real either, but his temptations clearly worked well on you. One thing that he does not do when tempting you is tell you what will happen if you take his offer. Now you see where you are, chasing approval from others who sin against God. That is why you even took the vaccines in the first place. Your first thoughts were not for your health, but to go back to your hedonistic ways.”

“But I.. uh… I didn’t know that it would all come to this. I just wanted to get back to normal! But now that you mention it, all the things I was chasing never made me happy. Living in this big city, I really don’t do all the things I claimed to be here for. I bragged about how it had so many museums, theaters, and restaurants, but I hardly ever go to them. I mostly just get takeout. The only thing I did was go out to the bars and clubs hoping to meet women. But every time I go out, I always come home miserable. Not just because I am a failure with the ladies, but I feel so empty. Most other nights I am just at home anyways, doing what I did before Covid.”

“Now you are starting to understand.” Gabriel said. “It was never a terrible pandemic that kept you from your happiness, but rather your life choices. Not just because of the lies you were told, but also that it exposed every flaw of how you lived.”

“Are you saying I need to move out of this city and go somewhere else?”

“That may be the best thing for you. It is not that you have done wrong to live here, but given that you are here for all the wrong reasons, it would be best to reevaluate your life. God wants that for you.”

“Yeah, maybe I should think some things through. I don’t think I like this new world anymore! I just wanted to go back to normal, but my normal just sucked! Besides, I am pretty sure I am going to be in prison thanks to that “Aqua” law or whatever it is.”

“I cannot blame you for that. Besides, you would have been next up for the draft to fight against Russia anyways. It turns out President Clinton was quite the warhawk.”

“Yikes! I don’t think I would like that life very much. Besides, Trump is no longer the President anymore! Now that Biden is in charge, things should go back to normal any moment now!”

“Sure, if you want to call it that. But understand this, Soyjack. You focus so much on things in life like who is president because you lack a real sense of wholeness in your life. That wholeness can only be granted by the Lord. Also, don’t take that booster shot.”

Soyjack paused once more, and then nodded. “Okay Gabriel, I think I know what you are saying. I need to make the changes in my life, not focus so much on things that are not in my control. I will change! Bring me back to my world!”

Gabriel flew off into the air, and a gust of wind once more blew. Soyjack started walking home, seeing that the numbers of people who were previously filling the streets were sparse now. He again saw people wearing masks, and he got one dirty look because he was not wearing his (as Gabriel took him outside before he had time to grab one). But Soyjack paid no mind to this, as he was contemplating all Gabriel told him. Soyjack made it back home to his apartment, with a bit more clarity to his life.

“Maybe I should start making some real changes. Move out of this city closer to family. Maybe I will go to church with my mom once in a while, she might like that. Who knows what I might do next. I will have to see!”

Soyjack opened a tab to look at the news. Sure enough, they were talking about Covid again. “Cases are surging! Hospitals are going to be overwhelmed again! The vaccinated are not safe without a booster! Oh, no! Oh, no! Oh no!”

Unfortunately, Soyjack is still a sheep all the same. Soyjack did end up getting the booster, as his conditioning to fear was not truly broken. After that, just as Gabriel foretold, Soyjack’s heart started to suffer far more noticeable damage with this next shot. It was then that Soyjack remembered Gabriel’s warning, and he realized that he once again had not learned his lesson. Some people have to learn the hard way. But with this hard lesson, Soyjack knew that shaming the unvaccinated was not the way forward. Perhaps, Soyjack contemplated, they had a point. Maybe he could warn others. After all, he had been in their shoes, so it is possible that he would know a way to warn others so that they would not make the same mistake.