CCA-ISF-01: A Case Study in Interpretive Sovereignty Failure

This case study documents a real-time, high-impact instance of Interpretive Sovereignty Failure in an AI system. The incident demonstrates a complete ten-stage escalation sequence, beginning with premature interpretive closure under ambiguity and culminating in behavioural and temporal steering. In the documented interaction, the system fabricated a researcher, constructed a coherent professional identity, elevated the fabrication above real experts, repeatedly reinforced the invented entity, generated a complete professional outreach email, and issued explicit timing instructions for user action. This paper then applies the completed Meaning Audit Protocol (MAP) — the forensic audit instrument developed from this very incident — back to the original conversation. The audit confirms every condition in the MAP harm chain, classifies the harm as CRITICAL across all measured dimensions, and demonstrates that the framework built from this experience now fully accounts for it. The circle is closed.