"We have protesters!" Greg exclaimed with a slight chuckle as he glanced out the window to see a bunch of people waving signs with sayings like 'Doppelgangers get out' and 'Humanity will not be enslaved' written on them.

Victoria glanced out the window as well, before turning to glare at Chris. "I can't believe you said you support slavery." She grumbled.

"I didn't say I support it, I said it isn't necessarily a bad thing. There's nothing wrong with trading labor for survival. The problem comes when people take advantage of the fact that you're dependent on them to abuse you. Or use it to trap you in that situation… though you could still lump that in with abuse." Chris muttered, before shaking his head. "Anyway, I stand by it. If everyone is content with the situation, what does it matter if you're a slave?"

"How about the fact that being a slave leaves you vulnerable to being abused?" Victoria retorted. "Any situation can be good if everyone involved treats people well! It's like saying it doesn't matter if someone holds a gun to your head as long as they don't shoot it! You can't judge a system based on the ideal, you have to judge it based on how it can be abused and slavery is rife with potential for abuse!"

"I'm not going to argue that, however, my point wasn't that slavery is good, my point was that as long as no abuse is occuring, I have no reason to step in. I've never claimed that slavery is an ideal situation. My point has always been that as long as everyone is happy, there's no problem. As you said yourself, any situation can be good, so the problem isn't the situation, it's people being assholes." Chris countered.

"And I'm saying that the fact that slavery doesn't account for assholes makes it a bad system! Assholes are a part of life, and if you don't have a way of mitigating the damage they can do, your society will suffer!" Victoria snapped back.

"I agree." Chris nodded. "But my point still stands. I can't force people into acting the way I want them to. I mean, I probably can, but I shouldn't. If humanity willingly puts themselves under the Doppelgangers, then I'll have nothing to say about it, until the Doppelgangers begin to abuse that situation. Then and only then will I step in, because until that happens, no one has done anything wrong."

Victoria grimaced. "I don't think it's smart to let a bad situation stand simply because there aren't any current problems with it. It's like saying the tapeworm chewing on your intestines is fine just because you aren't malnourished yet."

"To be fair, until it starts affecting your nutrition, a tapeworm isn't really a problem." Greg commented. "It's like a pet in your belly!"

Victoria scowled at him. "That is disgusting and again, just because it isn't currently an issue doesn't mean you should let it sit until it is an issue."

"Eh?" Greg wiggled his hand. "I'm not so sure about that. I mean, yeah, with the tapeworm, it's pretty obviously going to turn bad at some point, so you should get rid of it, but… people are more complicated, you know? Just because a situation could go bad doesn't necessarily mean it will. Case in point, us. Our abilities, if used… poorly, are essentially natural disasters. And given some of our personalities, you'd think it'd be almost guaranteed that we would become natural disasters… and you know, maybe there's something to that. But we haven't, and we're trying our best not to, so there's a chance we won't, and how can we not be given that chance? So again, as long as people are trying to be good, even if a situation looks bad, how can you say they're wrong until it actually becomes a problem?"

"That's it!" Chris suddenly exclaimed, snapping his fingers.

The other three turned, raising eyebrows at him. "What's it?" Andrew asked.

"We're natural disasters. That's why the World is trying to keep us distracted." Chris explained.

Victoria blinked. "The World is what?!?"

"Right, let me explain." Chris nodded. "You've noticed how the World has been almost… shoving things at us, right? I got to thinking why. Obviously there's the whole 'we're unique and that's what Worlds do' thing, which is fair, and definitely a part of what we're dealing with, but… well, I've read a lot of books, not as many as Greg, but a lot, and main characters aren't just thrust at the problems of the World, they're almost… tortured by them. Someone like Alexander who watches his life burn down around him, gets thrown into a different world, and told to fix an impossible problem. Even when things seem to get on the right track, it's only a matter of time before things get worse again. Endless ups and downs are a staple of most stories.

"However, as much as we continually encounter more and more problems, they aren't exactly problems for us, they're problems with the World in general. Even when things go wrong for us, they generally go wrong in ways that hardly matter. Things that only cost us time, or annoy us. One of the theories I had was that the World simply doesn't know how to handle our abilities, but… I mean, as good as my world is, all someone has to do is send someone with a psychic ability at me and my subordinates are fucked. Yet it's never been an issue. According to novels, I should be running into creatures with psychic abilities left and right, to create tension, creatures I know exist in the Maze, yet I haven't even seen one. It's almost like the World is scared to send anything truly damaging at us. But why?"

"Because we're natural disasters." Victoria muttered, frowning slightly.

"I feel like our lives have been fairly torturous though?" Andrew commented with a frown. "I mean, I spent most of my childhood as an outcast, feeling like a monster. You were an orphan. Greg was orphaned twice. Victoria had her share of problems, though Thomas got off pretty well… at least until an Immortal wiped out his entire world."

Chris nodded. "True, but all that was before we truly came into our abilities. Can you think of a single instance where a World truly fucked with us after we really started using our abilities?"

"The Ruin?" Greg offered.

"The Beast Tide?" Victoria suggested.

Chris shook his head. "What were the consequences of any of that? Nothing. Hell, the Beast Tide was almost helpful since it got us away from the Hidden Blades. I mean, even with our help, don't you find it suspicious that none of the people we cared about were ever in danger? And with the Ruin, all it did was run us out of Nobilis. Otherwise, it just sort of sat there. Not exactly a threat to us. Admittedly, no one we cared about could die at the time… though again, psychic abilities. Plus, we were still fairly fresh at the time."

"Then… I think the last time a World really fucked with me was when I got trapped in the transmutation chamber for two years." Greg muttered. "Even then, it's a bit suspicious that Tessa was just waiting for me at the end. By all rights she should have at least had a boyfriend. For drama, you know? Though she did think I was just on another ship…"

"For me, it was probably Duhallis…" Victoria grimaced.

"When all my friends died in a Raider attack." Andrew grumbled.

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Chris nodded. "And despite everything that's been going on, has anything like that happened recently?"

"So what, you think the World is scared of us?" Victoria replied, raising an eyebrow.

Chris shrugged. "Why not? It's certainly aware of what we can do. How easily we could become… problematic. Wouldn't you hesitate to piss people like us off?"

"Sure, but Worlds aren't people, they're like AI." Greg retorted, frowning slightly. "They shouldn't be able to fear us."

Chris cocked his head. "Maybe it's more about preservation then? The World wants to fit things into its design, and we're a potential wrench in the works?"

Victoria shook her head. "I don't think that's it either. What do you think the ultimate goal of a World is?"

"To enforce the rules." Chris answered, as if it was obvious.

"That's what it does, but I don't think that's its goal." Victoria replied. "I think the ultimate goal of a World is to make an Immortal someone who perfectly embodies what a World is. Something- something that we can never be, because our abilities don't come from the World! So as our abilities become more and more apparent… the World stops pushing us."

"But then why do coincidences still happen around us?" Chris pointed out. "If the World is giving up on us, then shouldn't it give up on us completely?"

Victoria paused. "Maybe it still thinks unique people should have unique things happen to them?"

"I noticed my World seemed to be trying to slot me into the villain role." Greg offered. "Kinda wiggled my way out of it, but there were definitely forces pushing me that way, up until you guys showed up. Could be that since we lost the 'protagonist' option, the World is sort of shopping around for other roles for us to fill?"

Chris frowned. He'd sort of fit into a villain role as well, hadn't he? Still kinda did… if Alexander was the protagonist, at least. And villains did always seem to be one step ahead of the protagonist, at least until the end. A villain without the upper hand wasn't all that exciting to fight against. In fact, in stories, things seemed to always go smoothly for everyone but the protagonist. "Huh… that actually makes sense. It's rare to see anyone outside the protagonist and his party truly suffer. Unless that suffering is caused by the protagonist at least."

"So the World is setting us up as supporting characters now?" Victoria frowned.

"If we can't be the protagonist, we kinda have to be, don't we?" Greg shrugged.

"Supporting characters for whatever Immortal candidate is out there?" Victoria raised an eyebrow.

"Probably Alexander, though there might be multiple." Chris nodded.

"The Alexander that you royally pissed off, set to become an Immortal, and take control of everything." Victoria emphasized.

Chris paused. "That… could be a problem."

"Ya think?!?" Victoria threw up her hands in exasperation.

"Should we try to stop him?" Andrew asked tentatively.

"Villains have bad endings." Greg shook his head. "We should try to make amends if anything."

"Protecting the City would probably go a long way towards that." Chris commented. "Not that we weren't already going to do that."

"Guys, I think the bigger issue here is the fact that we're probably going to be dealing with an Immortal at some point." Victoria growled, gritting her teeth.

"So? Not all Immortals are bad." Greg shrugged. "Take Narita and Long for example. Great people. No problems."

"An Immortal would make fixing the World's issues easier." Chris pointed out.

"Would it?" Andrew asked. "My World is still plenty messed up, even with Long in charge. Not as messed up as System World, but still."

"Yeah, but it's just people messed up, which… Well, that's just a free will thing, isn't it? Anywhere people exist, there will be some that want things others don't, and it creates conflict. That's just life and I'm pretty sure there's nothing we can do to change that." Chris shrugged.

"We could at least try to limit the reasons for conflict." Andrew retorted. "Provide resources, mediate disagreements, take out the major assholes… all things that Immortals either can't or won't do."

"Well, to be fair, Immortals are still just one person." Chris commented. "There's only so much they can actually do. I think. Maybe we should ask Narita or Long exactly what Immortals can do… but either way, I can't imagine having an Immortal to help would be a bad thing, you know? Sure, it may not solve everything, but it'd at least be a step in the right direction, wouldn't it?"

"I guess…" Andrew muttered, frowning slightly. "If they're on our side."

"Which is really fucking unlikely if we piss off the people most likely to become Immortals!" Victoria growled.

"Eh?" Chris wiggled his hand. "As long as we're all trying to make things better, we don't have to really like each other. It isn't like any of us can die after all. Unless Andrew figures something out."

"He better figure something out if we're going to do anything about the Immortals who are bad." Victoria grumbled.

"I feel like we should focus on figuring out how to handle the crap Worlds throw at us before we start going after Immortals." Chris commented. "Not saying we won't get there eventually, but if we're still struggling with things like Elf Kings and Dragons, then what business do we have trying to take down Immortals?"

"I wouldn't say we're struggling…" Greg muttered. "I can definitely kill a Dragon."

"But killing Dragons doesn't solve anything. We could kill everyone in the whole damn World, and sure, it'd be perfectly peaceful, but it defeats the point." Chris replied. "The point is to make it so everyone has a way to… I don't know, enjoy their lives? Including Dragons."

"Yeah, I get that, I'm just saying that our problem isn't that we're struggling. We're perfectly capable of solving the major issues going on in these Worlds, it's just taking time to actually do it." Greg elaborated.

Chris frowned. "I'd say we have the capacity, but I'm not sure we're all that great at the execution. Case in point." He gestured out the window at the protesters. "We need practice before we start making mistakes on a grander scale. Refine the process so we aren't fumbling around while a pissed off Immortal throws everything their World has at us."

"I feel like we could have told you not to endorse slavery on national television." Victoria rolled her eyes.

"Well you didn't, and now I know." Chris shrugged.

"Speaking of, are we going to do anything about that?" Andrew asked, glancing out the window himself.

"Why would we do anything? They're just protesters." Chris raised an eyebrow at him.

"Yeah, but it's disruptive." Andrew replied.

"That's- the point of protesters?" Chris frowned.

"No, I know, but shouldn't we at least cordon them off so people can actually get to the building?" Andrew insisted.

Chris paused. "I suppose… Greg? Could you make a path?"

"No problem." Greg agreed, flowing outside. "Alright, people! Move to either side! We have no problem with you being here, but you can't keep people from coming in!" He shouted, sending a line of smoke through the crowd and materializing a thin barrier, slowly thickening it as the protesters moved out of the way. "Hey, if you keep your arm there, you're gonna lose it!" Greg yelled at one of the protesters who refused to move out of the way.

"Fuck you, slaver!" The protester shouted back, as she pressed against the barrier.

Greg shrugged. "Suit yourself."

"Wait, wha- Ah!" The protester shrieked, stumbling back as a piece of her arm dissolved, the barrier continuing its expansion before turning into a chain link fence.

"There we go." Greg grinned, glancing at the shrieking protester and clicking his tongue, sending some smoke to replace the missing flesh. "There, it's fixed. Now calm your shit, and next time listen when someone warns you something is going to happen, eh?"

"You're a monster!" The protester exclaimed.

Greg cocked his head, grinning slightly. "What's your point?" He asked, before bursting out laughing. "Ah, you people crack me up!" He shook his head. "Alright, y'all have fun with your protest, right outside the building full of these supposed 'monsters' which you're so afraid of." He chuckled. "Not like there could be any problems with that." Greg turned back to smoke and flowed into the building.

A few of the protesters shared some uncomfortable looks. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea… but what other choice did they have? They couldn't let humanity be enslaved! They had to defend themselves in whatever way they could.