I think that I need to claim. I've been going back and forth with this for the last 24 hours, and the only conclusion I've reached is that if I choose to claim, that will be the wrong decision, and if I choose not to, that will also be the wrong decision. But while claiming now definitely has its downsides, I think claiming later would be even worse.
I am the babysitter. If scum NKs the person I babysit, they will survive. However, if I am NKed, both me and the person I babysit will die.
I am claiming because my role is a potential counterclaim to Earth's role. As such, were I to claim it in a later DP, people would naturally believe Earth and lynch me, potentially costing town the game. However, I say potential counterclaim because I am not quite sure that it is a counterclaim. I will go through both sides here, because I'm really not sure.
In favor of counterclaim:
Obviously, both Earth and I are claiming protective roles. Worse, I confirmed with Mharman that if a doctor and a babysitter guarded each other, neither could be NKed. I will ask him again publicly for transparency's sake. Thus, the existence of both roles as town is potentially game-breaking - but not quite. My role has a limitation on how I can use it, which I will not reveal because that would help mafia much more than town. Thus, Earth and I would not be able to indefinitely protect each other. However, it would be possible at least some of the time. So while it isn't quite game-breaking, it's close.
Furthermore, Mharman mentioned that some mafia fake claims are better than others. If Earth is mafia, doctor is almost certainly a provided fake claim, since no mafia in their right mind would fake claim doctor. However, because it is a near counterclaim to my role, it is not as good as some other possible fake claims.
Against a counterclaim: As I stated earlier, our roles, if both exist as town roles, don't quite break the game. Furthermore, mine has the potential to kill two townies for the price of one. Thus, his role might counterbalance mine, although Chris's role might also serve as a counterbalance.
Furthermore, when Pie asked Mharman whether he had given mafia fake role claims or fake character claims, Mharman said he gave them character claims. I asked Mharman if that implied that mafia had no fake role claims, and he, for good reason, refused to answer. However, one could interpret Mharman's statement as implying that mafia only has fake character claims. If this is the case, then no mafioso in their right mind would fake claim doctor.
Overall, I don't know what to think. I've been going back and forth for 24 hours and finally decided that it was better to claim and let town know about this. If you choose to criticize my decision... you're probably right. I've resigned myself to the fact that whichever decision I reached would be the wrong one.
As for whether I am risking being NKed by claiming a power role, I don't really care that much. Because my role has the potential to kill two townies, I'm not using it, so I'm not too different from a vanilla.