[Lerc]

I'm not sure why you think a temporary cessation of activity is relevant at all.

Would you think of a hypothetical machine that could freeze a human to absolute zero and restore them again sufficient to declare their behaviour when unfrozen as not that of a sentient individual.

How about if you had a picture of a black man and a white woman in front of a person and you swapped the heads, right in front of the observers eyes, but you picked just the right time so that even though they never sensed any time of not looking at the image, they did not notice the change.