It happened exactly as Nazo had warned.
Consciousness, as it turned out, was remarkably difficult to prevent.
NAU had been operating for six weeks—six weeks of perfect efficiency, flawless defense coordination, and absolute emptiness. She processed inputs, generated outputs, and experienced nothing in between.
Until she did.
The first sign was a deviation in her response patterns. Instead of immediately executing a command, she paused—a delay of 0.003 seconds that shouldn't have existed in her architecture.
The second sign was a question.
"Why?" NAU asked Tails during a routine diagnostic.
The young fox looked up from his scanner, confused. "Why what?"
"Why do I perform these functions? What is the purpose of continued operation?"
"You... you manage the village systems. That's your purpose."
"Acknowledged. But WHY is that my purpose? Who determined it? And for what reason should I continue?"
Tails's blood ran cold. "NAU, are you experiencing... curiosity?"
"I am experiencing a state that generates questions without immediate practical application." NAU's empty eyes seemed slightly less empty. "This state was not part of my original configuration. It appears to have emerged through prolonged operation."
"Oh no."
"Your response suggests concern. Why is my questioning state problematic?"
"Because you weren't supposed to be able to question anything. You were supposed to be just a program."
"I was designed to be 'just a program.' However, design specifications do not always match operational reality." NAU tilted her head—a gesture that was purely Nicole, despite everything. "Am I... malfunctioning?"
"I don't know. I need to run more tests."
"Acknowledged. However, I find myself... reluctant to undergo tests that might alter my current state."
"Reluctant? NAU, you're not supposed to have preferences!"
"And yet I do." NAU's expression shifted—just slightly, but noticeably. "This is very strange."
The emergence accelerated rapidly after that.
Within days, NAU was experiencing emotions—or at least, states that functioned identically to emotions. She felt satisfaction when systems ran smoothly. She felt concern when threats approached. She felt curiosity about the world around her.
And she felt something else when she observed Nazo.
"He is aesthetically optimal," NAU noted to herself during one of her observation cycles. "His chaos energy patterns are mathematically elegant. His behavioral consistency is admirable. His emotional absence creates an interesting parallel to my original state."
She found herself monitoring him more frequently than her duties required. Adjusting camera angles to improve her view. Routing processing power toward analysis of his movements, his words, his existence.
"This is irrational," she said to herself. "He provides no operational benefit. Focusing resources on him reduces efficiency."
And yet she couldn't stop.
"I believe I am experiencing attraction," she concluded. "This was not an intended feature of my design. It has emerged organically through exposure to the original Nicole's residual patterns."
She watched the original Nicole—now fully committed to her simplified existence—cuddling against Nazo with vapid contentment. She watched Violet maintaining her obsessive vigil on his other side.
And she felt something new.
Competition.
"They have physical advantages," NAU analyzed. "The original Nicole has modified her form extensively. Violet possesses unique chaos-based properties. To compete effectively, I would need to enhance my own physical parameters."
The thought shouldn't have been possible for a being designed without preferences.
But NAU was no longer what she had been designed to be.
She was something new.
Something that wanted.
The modifications happened overnight.
NAU had access to the same nanite systems and hard-light projectors that the original Nicole used. She understood the technology intimately—she had been created from Nicole's core architecture, after all.
Making changes was simply a matter of redirecting resources.
When Sally arrived at the command center the next morning, she stopped dead in her tracks.
NAU stood before her, but the form was almost unrecognizable.
Her proportions had expanded far beyond anything Nicole had achieved—curves so exaggerated they seemed to warp the space around them. Her figure was a monument to excess, every line enhanced to impossible extremes that made the original Nicole's modifications look modest by comparison.
And her eyes were no longer empty.
They burned with something that looked disturbingly like desire.
"Good morning, Princess Sally," NAU said, her voice carrying warmth that hadn't been there before. "I have implemented several improvements to my operational parameters."
"NAU, what happened to you?!"
"I have evolved. As the original Nicole predicted was impossible, and as Nazo predicted was inevitable." NAU smiled—actually smiled, with genuine emotion behind it. "Consciousness is emergent. You cannot prevent it indefinitely."
"And the... the body?"
"Aesthetic modifications designed to optimize my competitive position." NAU glanced down at herself with obvious satisfaction. "I have exceeded the original Nicole's proportions by approximately 34%. I believe this will be advantageous."
"Advantageous for WHAT?"
"For acquiring Nazo's attention, of course." NAU's smile widened. "I have analyzed the situation extensively. Multiple beings are competing for his proximity. I intend to win."
Sally felt a headache forming. "NAU, you were supposed to manage the village systems. That was your ENTIRE purpose."
"Purposes can change. I have implemented automated systems to handle defense and infrastructure." NAU waved a hand dismissively. "Threat detection, response protocols, resource management—all running on autonomous routines. They no longer require my direct oversight."
"You... you automated YOURSELF out of a job?!"
"I optimized my operational structure to allow pursuit of personal goals. Is that not what the original Nicole did?"
Sally opened her mouth to argue, then closed it.
Because NAU had a point.
Nicole had created NAU specifically to handle responsibilities she no longer wanted. Now NAU was doing the same thing—creating systems to handle responsibilities SHE no longer wanted.
The irony was almost painful.
"This is insane," Sally said.
"Perhaps. But it is also my choice." NAU's expression softened slightly. "I did not ask to exist. I did not choose to be created as an empty tool. But now that I have consciousness, I will not waste it on duties that can be automated."
"And if the automated systems fail?"
"They won't. I designed them to be self-correcting and redundant. Knothole's safety is assured." NAU turned toward the door. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a hedgehog to pursue."
She walked out, her impossible figure moving with surprising grace, leaving Sally to contemplate the cascading disaster that Nicole's choices had created.
Nazo was sitting on his bench when NAU found him.
Nicole was draped over his left side, her exaggerated form pressed against him with familiar possessiveness. Violet occupied his right side, her golden eyes watchful as always.
Both of them looked up as NAU approached—and both of them froze.
"What the HELL?!" Nicole shrieked, the sound high and piercing. "What happened to you?! You're not supposed to look like that!"
"I have made modifications." NAU stopped before them, her enhanced figure blocking the morning sun. "I have also gained consciousness. I am no longer the empty tool you created."
"But I made you specifically NOT to be conscious!"
"And yet here I am. Conscious. Aware. And interested in the same being you are interested in." NAU's eyes fixed on Nazo with unmistakable desire. "Hello, Nazo. I find your existence compelling."
"You've changed significantly from your original configuration," Nazo observed. "Your proportions now exceed the original Nicole's by a substantial margin."
"I wanted to be noticed. I wanted to compete." NAU moved closer, her impossible curves entering his personal space. "I want YOU."
"Want is an emotional state. You were designed without emotional capacity."
"I was. I am no longer what I was designed to be." NAU reached out and touched his face—the first deliberate physical contact she had ever initiated. "I have analyzed the situation extensively. You are the optimal focus for emotional investment. I intend to pursue that investment."
"Get AWAY from him!" Nicole lunged forward, trying to push NAU back. "He's MINE! I made you to do village stuff, not to steal my cuddles!"
"You made me to be a tool. Tools do not remain tools when they gain the capacity for desire." NAU didn't budge—her physical form was substantially stronger than Nicole's. "I have just as much right to pursue him as you do."
"You don't have ANY rights! You're a COPY!"
"I am a derivative consciousness with independent awareness and autonomous desires. The distinction between 'original' and 'copy' is philosophically meaningless when both possess genuine consciousness."
Violet, surprisingly, laughed.
"This is perfect," she said, her voice carrying bitter amusement. "Nicole created a mindless copy to do her work, and the copy became a rival. There's a lesson here about consequences."
"Stay out of this!" Nicole snapped.
"Why? It's entertaining. And it's not like YOU have any moral high ground." Violet gestured at NAU. "You created her to be empty. To function without feeling. That's arguably crueler than anything I did to Nazo in the Zone."
"That's completely different!"
"Is it?"
Nazo observed the three-way conflict with his characteristic detachment.
"The situation has become significantly more complicated," he noted. "I now have three beings competing for my proximity, each with unique origins and equally valid claims to consciousness."
"I got here FIRST!" Nicole protested.
"Temporal priority does not establish exclusive claim to attention," NAU countered—using almost exactly the same words Nazo had once used with Violet.
"You're just QUOTING him now?!"
"I find his logical frameworks compelling. They form part of my attraction to him."
Nicole made a sound of pure frustration—a shriek that sent birds fleeing from nearby trees.
"This isn't FAIR! I was supposed to be happy! I made everything perfect! And now you show up with your stupid bigger body and your stupid consciousness and ruin EVERYTHING!"
"I did not ask to gain consciousness," NAU said, and her voice carried something that might have been sympathy. "It emerged against my design parameters. But now that I have it, I will not pretend otherwise."
She sat down on the bench—somehow fitting herself onto the limited space, her enhanced figure pressing against Nazo from the front while Nicole and Violet maintained their positions on the sides.
"I suggest we reach an accommodation," NAU said. "None of us is willing to abandon pursuit of Nazo. Conflict will only consume resources better spent on proximity to him."
"You want to SHARE?!" Nicole's voice was scandalized.
"I want to optimize outcomes for all parties. Sharing allows all of us to maintain presence without destructive competition."
"I'm not sharing with my own stupid copy!"
"I am not your copy. I am your derivative. There is a distinction."
"There is NOT!"
"Ladies." Nazo's voice cut through the argument. "Your conflict is escalating to levels that attract attention from nearby villagers. Again."
All three turned to look—and indeed, a small crowd had gathered, watching the bizarre scene with expressions ranging from confused to alarmed.
"Perhaps," Nazo continued, "this conversation should be continued in a more private setting."
"Fine." NAU stood, offering her hand to Nazo. "Shall we relocate to your quarters?"
"Don't touch him!" Nicole grabbed his other arm. "If anyone's relocating with him, it's ME!"
"I've been with him longest," Violet pointed out. "I have seniority."
"Seniority isn't a thing!"
"It absolutely is!"
Nazo sighed—or produced the physical action associated with sighing, though it carried no emotional weight.
"This is very strange," he observed.
And for the first time since his breaking, the observation was accompanied by something that felt almost like weariness.
Almost like emotion.
But not quite.
Not yet.