That's a great metaphor, and I too sleep better at night with properly tested hardware. 🙏

I don't believe killing npcs or perhaps even more messily I could see circumstances where even /torturing npcs/ in a game is not actual torturing. I think it centers on the intent of the action, and if that intent is to cause actual realized suffering. It is very difficult to define and will be heavily subjective to the person, but I also think most people get a "sense" of where that line is naturally in person-to-person interactions.