experimentally

we kissed
experimentally,
lips, instruments so tentative

tongues as cautious as words
spoken before the leap
we took it

from a standing start
and landed at a run,
timing
everything

pulses, paces,
pushed from full rest
to an aerobic target rate
subject appears flushed
it's to be expected
pupil dilation normal
saliva normal
breathing, heightened
- within expected parameters
wait, there's something
strange here - something's
off the charts! and we can't
quite
identify it

What the hell was that?

some kind of spike, surge
- no single system, it was
- it was across the entire
- remarkable! never seen
- I think it fried the board
no, wait, everything's operational

what does it mean? a result
like that could change
our entire understanding
into

- can we get a fix on it?
is it repeatable?

Well,

we'll have to try. Let's
run this again. This is
not a test, I repeat, this
is not a test.

and,

'Go!'