“I haven’t worn lipstick for such a long time,” I say as the make-up artist refreshes her brush. She nods but does not reply. As she continues, dulling any potential shininess on my face for the cameras while somehow making me look much younger than my 48 years, I study her face. With her face mask, I can only really see her eyes. Young eyes must be in her mid-twenties, something like that I think to myself. She was probably still at school when the first wave of infection spread around the world. I find myself wondering if she too is wearing lipstick under her mask. She smells faintly of cigarette smoke so maybe she does, smokers are allowed to take their masks off as they smoke outside in groups, each standing inside a square painted on the ground. That law spread a few years ago, copied from German train stations which pre-pandemic tried to separate smokers from non-smokers with painted lines on the platforms. Of course, that never really worked and the smoke drifted around annoying people anyway. Strange the things people believe.”
“Tonight, we welcome doctor Sandra Scholl, both an expert on mRNA technology and a scientific rebel.” The show presenter reveals perfect fake teeth as she reads from the teleprompter, an old-fashioned cathode-ray device, incongruous in this modern television studio. As she continues with the introductions, I repeat in my head the main points I want to bring across – increased testosterone and sex drive in men, in women increased oestrogen, reduction in cellulite combined in some cases with enlargement of breast tissue. Only if specifically asked would I talk about the claims of multiple orgasms; it is mainstream television after all and I should probably tone it down compared to my frequent social media posts. Viewers will anyway be notified about the availability of more information online and my social media presence is easy enough to find. Moreover, most people watch television on streaming services these days and this binds their viewing to related social media.”
“That is a great question” I lie in response to one of the other guests and continue, redirecting the discussion to “the indisputable fact is that mRNA vaccines stimulate the production of proteins and are twice as powerful at building muscles in men as anabolic steroids.” The other guest hesitates and I continue “hyper-stimulation of protein production in women has analogous benefits and well I don’t want to mention here on television the increase in … let’s call it satisfaction … which 87% of women experience.” I smile conspiratorially and lean back in my seat, nodding gently, almost laughing.
The other guest is a political activist. “Yes yes,” the guest says “we all know what mRNA vaccines really do, we know all about it …”
“Really?” I interrupt “so what does the abbreviation mRNA stand for,” I ask, betting on the ignorance of the overconfident.
He blusters “well ok you are the expert but …”
“Thank you” I smile.
He smiles back. Basic human psychology.
“Well don’t shoot the messenger … RNA” the smiling host adds unexpectedly.”
The guest looks briefly puzzled and leans forward, one elbow on his knee, hand open and waving slightly “so vaccines have risks and benefits but human freedom has great value too – why on earth do governments think they can force young healthy people to get vaccinated against their will?”
“On the contrary,” I say gently “vested interests are very happy with the current situation. The richest two-thirds of society are now vaccinated. Only the underprivileged and least productive third of society remains unvaccinated. That suits their agenda perfectly. The elite and their allies get stronger, happier and healthier due to the very real and undisclosed effects of mRNA while the unfortunate are kept ignorant of the real reasons why the elite take mRNA. The divides in society are amplified and the question we should all be asking is who benefits from the conspiracy theories being deliberately spread to manipulate the poor and the weak into refusing the so-called vaccine … imagine a boot stamping on a human face forever” I conclude emphatically.
“The Matthew Effect,” says the activist nodding “the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.”
A few weeks later as I take my dog, Puddles, for her morning walk, I pause for her to pee and sniff around and I look northwards to the edge of the park. The police have arrived and are trying to break up a disturbance. A long winding queue outside the vaccination centre has degenerated into pushing, shoving and queue jumping. Once relative calm returns, I walk past the lines of impatient people waiting in line. None of them looks my way. Mostly their faces are bent downwards, staring into tiny screens. Slowly the queue shuffles forward.