This man nearly tricked me.

Evrart Claire, leader of the Dockworkers Union in Martinaise from the videogame Disco Elysium.

I acknowledge that he is a fictional character, but he nearly tricked me all the same.

Evrart is the leader of the 2,000-person Workers' Union of Martinaise; they are on strike as part of a conflict with Wild Pines, the multi-billion dollar logistics company that employs the dockworkers. During the strike, a lynching has occurred, and you play the homicide detective leading the investigation.

In my conversations with Evrart Claire during my play through of the game, I had a strong hunch that I was being played by Evrart, but no legible proof, leaving me feeling helpless to defend myself in a way I have felt many times before. I’m dissatisfied and somewhat alarmed by this, so in this post I'm going to look into his dialogue, figure out how he did that, and figure out how I can be better defended against it for the rest of my life.