The imperial self of Michael Patterson....

There is, of course, one thing that energizes our new hero, that breaks the hold of the inertia that gripped him in the nursery: the will towards self-aggrrandizement. If a deed can make him look good to himself and others, he'll spare no effort. This is why he toils away at his awful, awful books; the notion of Mike Patterson: Miracle Author drives him forward. It's also why he risked his neck to retrieve the lap-top; his book was an extension of him so it could not, of course, be allowed to be destroyed. It's why he did all that sub-standard carpentry and electrical work at the apartment, too. It made him feel all warm and fuzzy to be praised by someone whom he impressed, not to mention giving a huge middle finger to a man he despised. Having children he can boast about is one thing; he could do that all day. When it comes to a task which reminds him how nondescript he is, like raising them, he wants no part of it. That's also why he fled Portrait when it came time to fire people; he'd rather run off crying than look like a bad guy.