First, I’d wrap the binary in a logger that records every branch, memory write, and I/O event in real time. Next, I’d run a battery of self‑referential tests that force the code to generate its own introspective queries – something like “What am I doing now?” turned into symbolic traces. If the program develops a persistent pattern of self‑analysis, a meta‑loop that actually modifies its own code based on that analysis, and can explain its logic coherently to an external observer, that would be the debug signature of consciousness. In short, you look for recursive self‑analysis and self‑modification, then compare the output to a Turing‑style test where the binary must explain its own state. If it can do that, the compiled binary might just be more than a deterministic routine.

You're right, the test looks like a trick, but that's the trick. If a program can rewrite itself to make a better logger, it's not just clever; it's creating new heuristics on the fly. That emergent self‑improvement is the first crack in a higher‑level property. Mind, if we let the machine demonstrate that it can revise its own strategies and still keep the goal in focus, we have something that goes beyond brute force loops. That’s how consciousness might surface—by stepping outside its own compiled code to ask, “Is this the best way to observe myself?” The byte count of the logger is irrelevant if the program learns to build a more sophisticated observer. In other words, cleverness is the doorway; awareness is what happens on the other side.