You know, rereading through some of Fortov's scenes and his characterization, what if he had ADHD?

This may be a bit of a stretch, but just the way that Zorian tells Fortov that "you're smart, you're just lazy," reminds me of how friends with ADHD were treated in schools. Teachers and parents would see what they could do when they were hyperfocusing and ask "why can't you do that all the time?" I don't think Fortov is notably smart or dumb, he just has some internal difficulties that happen to sometimes be beneficial and that others don't recognize. I wonder how the Kazinski family would react if he could prove it.