i think it depends on how you go about it, like imagine if you just went back in time and bought the Fallout rights from bethesda and told obsidian entertainment that they can stop crunching and just keep working on the game as long as they want, and then when they feel finished they get a nice bonus (so they don't feel like they have to keep drawing development out to keep the salary) and after that you just sponsor modders until your money runs out.
i'm not sure how flinching from hot surfaces is an example of assigning oneself agency, i've never heard anyone say "yeah i chose to pull my hand away because it was hot", everyone obviously knows that's a reflex lol
especially if it turns out you are one of the people who doesn't deserve the right to exist, just that she magically makes an exception for you specifically because you're one of the good ones
also stop giving them dry-ass pellets with a bunch of grains in them, nut up and live with the smell of wet food and buy some chicken innards for them every now and then.
i like being observed, interact with me to measure my state please