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I sit down in the slightly dumpy chair in my living room. The Angel of Enlightenment sits opposite me, perched atop his seat of… well, light. For some reason, he doesn't want to sit on my couch. I got it used, perhaps it had some unholy things happen with it.
"Well, just tell me this," I say, "about evil. Why does it exist? Why can we choose to do evil things? Why not just make humans only able to do good?"
Jophiel smiles at me. "I think you already know the answer to that. You humans know the answers to many of these questions, but you don't want to face them," he says.
I start to feel a little angry. "That's a cop-out," I say, "and you know it. You better know it, you know everything, don’t you?"
"You humans really think that, don't you? Why would I know everything?"
I roll my eyes. "Oh, so you're an Angel and you don't know everything? What do you do in Heaven all day, just water flowers?"
"I whisper encouragement. It is far more fulfilling than watering flowers. Only God knows everything. I am but a messenger." Jophiel smiles again. "From what I know about your culture, only God is known as Omniscient. You do know what…"
"I do know what omniscient means, thank you very much," I interrupt. I suppose I should have expected to be talked down to by an Angel. "Now, can you answer the question or not?"
Jophiel tilts his head and strokes his chin. He looks at Edd, my dog. Edd hadn't even batted an eye when the Angel showed up, unsurprisingly.
"I think this might help you understand," Jophiel says, "better than any answer I could give. Look at me!" At his command, Edd stared straight at the Angel. "From now until I say otherwise," Jophiel says solemnly, "you shall do nothing other than what your master commands. Nothing."
Edd freezes in place. I look at the Angel, then to Edd, and back again. "What did you do to my dog?" I demand.
"You should command him to breathe," Jophiel says, "quickly."
It only takes me a second to notice that Edd has stopped breathing, stopped moving, stopped looking around. He seems like nothing more than a stuffed animal.
"Breathe, Edd!" I nearly shout.
Edd begins to breathe like normal. I look at the Angel in anger, and he begins to disappear. He has his insufferable smile on as always.
"I will return tonight," he says, "take care of Edd in the meantime. You have his best intentions in mind, no doubt he will be happy."
In anger, I reach out to grab him. The Angel who harmed my dog, who had done nothing wrong. But he vanishes before I can reach him. I turn back to Edd.
"Edd," I say, "look at me."
The dog does so, and does not look away. He does not waver, he does not blink. He just stares straight at me.
"Act normal!" I say.
No response. Jophiel must have prevented that from working somehow. I utter a swear, one that Jophiel would no doubt be upset to hear. He was probably listening anyway.
I notice also that Edd is half sitting up- it doesn't look quite comfortable. So, I tell him to lie down, and he does so. I stare for a moment, unsure of what to do next. He can't just lie here for the whole day! I begin to wonder if he has eaten. I'm sure I fed him, but… did I? Or did I forget? Of course my memory would do this now!"
"Edd," I say, "come. It's time to eat." I expect him to jump up as he always does when I tell him it's time to eat, but now all he does is stand and step down from the couch. He walks over and stares at his food dish.
I pour some food into the dish. "Eat, Edd," I command. And he does. I quickly wonder if he will eat too much, if my command will make him eat until he is sick. "Stop, Edd," I say. And he does.
This is too much. I bring Edd back to the couch (I feel terrible commanding him like this) and set him down. He doesn't lay properly as I set him down, I have to order him.
I call work and tell them I won't be in. My dog is sick, and needs care. It isn't lying to them, he really does need care! I sit next to Edd and pat him. He doesn't deserve this; this was a conversation between me and the Angel.
A headache quickly comes on me. I feel sick. When an Angel shows up and offers to answer your questions, you don't expect to end up having to care for your dog like this! It should just be a simple thing.
The minutes tick by. I wonder if he needs to drink, or use the bathroom. Now I can't quite remember how often he does both! I think about the wording for the commands, how I can get him to do both if he needs, without doing it if he doesn't.

I am exhausted. Somehow hours have gone by, I have no idea how long exactly. The sun outside has gone down a little bit. I have Edd in my lap, holding him. Ordinarily he would have licked my face, but there is no way I could order him to do so. It had to come from his heart, he had to WANT to do it.
Then he does. His breathing picks up pace and he laps at my face- he's back to normal! I sigh in relief, it feels as though a weight has been lifted off my shoulders.
"You took good care of him," Jophiel says. "I expected as much."
I whirl around. "You!" I snarl. "How dare you do this!"
Jophiel sighs. "Humanity learns best be experience," he says, "and you have experienced it. Did Edd relieve himself on the carpet? Did he scratch at the doorpost? Did he bite you? No, I would wager he did nothing you would consider 'bad'."
"Y-you think that this is the same?" I stutter. "This isn't the same at all! You think that us not being able to do evil would be the same as being- as being a puppet like that?"
"Do you? That is what this was meant to find out."
"I- no! It can't be. I mean- I'll need to think about it, I- but you can't just do this!"
"I think your question has been answered," Jophiel says.
I can't refute him, not yet. I haven't had time to think about everything! I glare at him again. He should not have done this. Taking away his free will… Is that the same as making him unable to choose anything at all?
"If you are interested in more questions," Jophiel interrupts my thoughts, "I will be back at a later time. For now, I will leave you with your dog… who has CHOSEN to love you. Because he has the ability to choose for himself."
Jophiel fades away. I stay staring for a long time at where he stood.