“TOO MANY ALIKES,” it said on the screen.
Kiko stared at it.
“That doesn’t make sense,” he said.
“It was always colorful here.”
The robot penguin beeped.
“Analysis running…”
“Before: great color diversity.”
“Today: many similar color patterns.”
Kiko frowned.
“What does that mean?”
The owl walked slowly through the room.
“Many years ago,” she began, “Coloropolis was really different.”
“Every animal had its own colors.”
“Unique patterns.”
“Unusual combinations.”
She stopped.
“But then… everyone wanted to be the same.”
“How same?” asked Kiko.
“Like the most popular animals,” said the owl.
“The ones with the brightest, most striking colors.”
The robot penguin beeped again.
“Confirmation: trend detected.”
“Neon colors = popular.”
“Individual colors = rare.”
Kiko thought.
“So everyone tried to look the same?”
“Yes,” said the owl quietly.
“And at some point…”
“…no one was really different anymore.”
Silence.
Kiko looked around.
The machines. The empty displays.
“And that broke the colors?”
The robot penguin beeped.
“Possible.”
“System needs diversity.”
“Too many identical patterns = instability.”
Kiko blinked.
“That’s like…”
He searched for words.
“…like a picture made of only one color.”
“Exactly,” said Mila – who suddenly stood beside them.
“Then it’s somehow… boring.”
“And empty,” added the raccoon.
The owl nodded slowly.
“Coloropolis forgot that differences are important.”
Kiko looked at his spots.
Brown. Unobtrusive. Very different from the neon colors.
“I was never like the others,” he said quietly.
“Maybe… that’s good.”
The screen flickered again.
A new sentence appeared:
COLOR CORE RESPONDS ONLY TO TRUE DIVERSITY
Everyone looked at Kiko.
Again.
But this time…
…different.
Not like before.
Not dismissive.
But curious.
The owl stepped closer.
“Maybe,” she said calmly,
“you are exactly what the city needs.”