Why Rook is a Chronic Liar - Dr. Moraine Explains: The Ember Files - Log 9.1
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Filed by: Dr. C. Moraine
Date: December 7, 2023
Access Level: 3 – Institute Archive
Classification: Witness Statement – Clinical Explanation
BEGIN TRANSCRIPT
Moraine: Wyatt, would you like to know why Rook lies about everything?
Wyatt: Hell yes. It's bizarre.
Moraine: I’ll explain it clinically.
Wyatt: Of course you will. Jesus, Doc. Try to keep it English, alright?
Moraine: I will simplify as much as possible.
Wyatt: Thank you.
Moraine: First - diagnosis. Rook shows traits consistent with:
Narcissistic Personality Disorder
Bipolar I Disorder with narcissistic features during mania
Elements of Complex PTSD
Persistent Identity Disturbance
Wyatt: So, he's a four-piece chicken combo meal of mental illness.
Moraine: In a sense. His chronic lying is not casual. It’s defensive.
Wyatt: Meaning?
Moraine: He doesn’t just lie to trick others. He lies to keep himself from falling apart.
Wyatt: You’re gonna have to walk me through that one.
Moraine: Chronic lying can be a narcissistic defense. When someone’s self-concept is fragmented or unstable, lies help maintain a coherent identity.
Wyatt: So he’s bullshitting himself as much as us.
Moraine: Exactly. In Rook’s case, the lies inflate a mythic self-image that shields him from unprocessed shame rooted in early emotional trauma.
Wyatt: And he buys it?
Moraine: He needs to. Without the fantasy, the real self is intolerable.
Wyatt: That’s fucked.
Moraine: Next - confabulation versus manipulation.
Wyatt: Oh boy. Here we go.
Moraine: Confabulation is filling in memory gaps with plausible fictions. Common in bipolar mania. These aren't deliberate lies - more like reality errors.
Wyatt: So like drunk stories he thinks are real?
Moraine: Precisely. But in Rook’s case, it’s more curated. Too consistent for just mania.
Wyatt: Meaning he knows what he’s doing?
Moraine: Yes. His lying also serves manipulation. It’s strategic. He builds a fantasy structure and defends it at all costs.
Wyatt: He’s like a con man who cons himself first.
Moraine: Correct.
Wyatt: Shit. Keep going.
Moraine: Next - identity diffusion.
Wyatt: That sounds like science for "has no idea who he is."
Moraine: That is accurate. A lack of stable identity leads to compulsive self-narrativizing.
Wyatt: In English.
Moraine: He doesn’t lie randomly. He lies to support whatever persona he’s trying to be. Guru. Poet. Martyr. Saint.
Wyatt: So he’s method acting his own life.
Moraine: Exactly. He scavenges stories, aesthetics, even mannerisms from others to create a patchwork self.
Wyatt: Sounds exhausting.
Moraine: It is.
Wyatt: What else?
Moraine: Eroticized False Self.
Wyatt: Jesus.
Moraine: Myth-making as seduction and survival.
Wyatt: Doc. English.
Moraine: He uses lies to become attractive. Spiritually pure. Sexually transcendent. Connected to celebrity. The myth seduces.
Wyatt: So people fall for the idea of him.
Moraine: Not the man himself.
Wyatt: Got it.
Moraine: Then there’s avoidance of accountability - the DARVO mechanism.
Wyatt: I’ve heard of that one. Deny, Attack, Reverse Victim and Offender.
Moraine: Correct. When challenged, he doesn’t admit lying. He flips the script. Calls the questioner toxic or claims they're projecting.
Wyatt: Yeah. Seen that movie before.
Moraine: Admitting one lie would risk the entire fantasy. His psyche depends on keeping it intact.
Wyatt: That’s the saddest thing I’ve ever heard.
Moraine: Clinically, it’s not about deception for fun. It’s survival.
Wyatt: So how do you fix it?
Moraine: He would have to grieve the myth. Let the false self die.
Wyatt: Good luck with that.
Moraine: Indeed. His psyche is addicted to the fantasy. Admitting truth would collapse the entire structure.
Wyatt: Christ. That’s grim.
Moraine: We don’t see people like Rook as beyond hope. Here at the Institute, we attempt modulation. We work with their unique signal clusters to re-stabilize them.
Wyatt: Sure. Whatever that means. Just keep that motherfucker out of my green room.
END TRANSCRIPT
INSTITUTE ANALYST NOTE
Wyatt Vega demonstrates engagement and humor, prompting clear clinical explanation. Subject Moraine maintains diagnostic framing while adapting delivery for witness comprehension.
END LOG 9.1
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