章 33: Into the action(4)

"I want to keep Korra at an arms-length so when I need her I can easily get her."

"I can understand that people are discriminated against because of bending. I mean yes, non-benders have it bad out there and there is a need to change but for that to result in a war... And why would Amon want a war?"

"All good points with simple explanations. Firstly people don't like change. They don't like to get out of their comfort zone unless they are obligated. When people are put to do something against their will they eventually retaliate. Let's take our case for example.

Benders are having pretty ok lives they don't have any big problems that would want them to get out of their comfort zone. Non-benders on the other hand have been seen as lesser people since ancient times and they want to change that.

So for non-benders, we have a motive for them to get out of their comfort zone. They want to change the status quo, they want to have equal rights and the same social standing as the benders. All is well and good but here is where the problem starts.

Why would you as a bender want to lose your edge over the other? You wouldn't! So the benders are going to fight to keep the status quo while the non-benders are going to fight to change it. Since Republic City has the most developed mindset it's natural to start here.

Since it's worldwide problem it's going to spread like wildfire from here to every corner of the world and in no time you'll have a war all over the world. Do you have any objections till now?"

"A couple, for starters why do you think it would become such a large-scale conflict, aren't their benders that see non-benders as equals and why would the avatar do nothing when the conflict starts? Won't she try to mediate the situation?"

"There are but there are too few of them to actually matter in the grand scheme of things, as for the avatar... Well if the conflict escalates too much it will be impossible to stop. For starters, in this conflict, the other side wants the opposite of the other and there is no middle ground to speak of. In the end, the avatar would need to choose a side. Any side she chooses would be the wrong answer here. So basically the avatar failed at doing its job, keeping balance."

"Ok, I see your point."

"Now for the second thing. Amon hates benders, all benders. It would make sense for him to want to start the war. He's the head of the faction that fight would against the benders. His ultimate goal is to get rid of benders so the fighting wouldn't stop unless all the benders are either all dead or converted to non-benders. This is worst than in the first case. Where in the first scenario the fighting would stop after enough damage has been delt to either side in this case the carnage would be several times higher."

"Wait, why would this happen? Amon is a reasonable person, he would come to an agreement with the other side of the conflict becomes too great and even if he didn't wouldn't people stop fighting after a while on their own?"

"Hahaha Nya, you give people too much credit. People see Amon as an emissary of the spirits on earth, his sole job here being to punish the benders by taking their ability to bend. Do you think people will stop for something so trivial as death when they are spreading God's will? No, Of course, they will continue with what they were doing."

"Ok I see your point but why do you need the avatar if you said that she can't stop the war? What use she could possibly have?"

"I'm not planning to let things escalate to a point beyond control. The moment he takes over Republic City I'll stop him."

"How do you plan to do that, didn't you say people see him as an emissary of the spirits?"

"I'll show the people that he's a fraud."

"WHAT? HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT?"

"I can't tell you that, you'll just have to trust me."

"For how long did you know that?"

"For a while now, but since I didn't have any way to prove it without compromising the plan I decided that is best to stay silent."

"All this time you knew something like that and you decided not to tell us!?"

"Yes, I knew and I thought about telling you guys but what then. It's hard enough for me to pretend that I don't know and I didn't want you to experience the same thing. The only reason I'm telling you now is that you're in a very dangerous position."

"What dangerous position?"

"Future Industries, Hiroshi Sato is a part of the Equalists and quite a big player too. He's the one that makes the gear for Amon. I'm concerned about the fact that he might have people watching you everywhere. One wrong move and it could get you hurt, this is the reason I didn't want to tell you. If you didn't know you couldn't act suspicious. I'm telling you this now so are prepared in case something happens."

I look at her and hug her.

"What I'm about to do is very dangerous and risky. If I do it there is a chance that things will go horribly wrong, but at the same time, there is a big chance that things will have a turn for the better. If I do nothing sooner or later things are going to take a turn for the worst. All I want is to at least give it a try to make a better world."

"Alright, I forgive you for not telling me. Now, how I can help you?"