Posted by Lieutenant Achilleas Petrakos (Chief Science Officer) in Side-sim: Hugs Are Multi-function

Posted by Lieutenant Solal Segal (Oncology and Immunology) in Side-sim: Hugs Are Multi-function

Posted by Lieutenant Achilleas Petrakos (Chief Science Officer) in Side-sim: Hugs Are Multi-function
Posted by… suppressed (3) by the Post Ghost! 👻
<snip>
“Perhaps my nervous system possesses human qualities,” Solal pointed out, “Just as half-vulcan blood has human factors to it.” He looked at the readings again and then said, “An average vulcan resting heart rate is between 245 and 285 beats per minute with 265 being the “normal” number, the same way 80 is considered “normal” for humans despite most heart rates resting lower than 80.”

He took a couple of breaths and then continued, “My heart rate has always rested low for a vulcan most likely because of my human heritage. On average, it rests at 240 beats per minute. When it reaches 265 it definitely feels high to me and my body shows signs of a high heart rate, like a human at 100. Since I became ill it rests at 250 to 265 and occasionally five to ten points higher than that.”

~ Solal

“Huh, not being a doctor I didn’t realize that a Vulcan’s heart rate is more than three times that of a Human’s.” Achilleas said with intense curiosity. “So a three point drop is meagre in the grand scheme of things. Alright, let’s try two and a half minutes and see if we can cause a greater reaction. Try to breathe evenly and feel my heartbeat. I’m not expecting you to match it but focus your attention on it.” Once again he enfolded Solal in a hug and started the 150 second count.

CSO Petrakos

“Our respiratory system is also far more efficient than a human’s, and we breathe faster,” Solal commented. “Our lung capacity is greater than a human’s though some half-vulcans inherit a human lung size which can be problematic with Vulcan physiology. Same with heart size. Vulcan hearts are bigger.”

He was wrapped up in yet another hug by Achilleas. His breaths were even if slightly shallow. The breathing meds weren’t working as well as usual. He’d need to go in about it. He wasn’t going to think about it now though. He adjusted himself slightly so he could feel Achilleas heart beat easier.

Compared to his, Achilleas’ felt relaxed and slow. He focused his thoughts on it, not dissimilar to a focus meditation. He counted the beats. This was clearly a relaxing exercise for Achilleas, his heart rate was in the low 70s.

As Solal’s heart rate slowed from 260, to 255, to 250, his breaths deepened some too. Tension released from his muscles as he started to relax. Then the two and a half minutes was up.

~ Solal

Achilleas pulled away from Solal and looked over at the med scanner. “Wow, a ten point drop that time. I think we’re on to something here. How did it feel for you overall?”

CSO Petrakos

Solal pulled away and shrugged. “I’m getting a little tired.” He wasn’t going to talk about such subjective things as how it ‘felt’. His heart rate went up a couple points. He hugged Achilleas and began the count to two and a half minutes.

Except he was focusing on Achilleas’ heart rate and he lost count of the time count. His own heart rate began to drop again, another five, then ten, then fifteen points, leaving him at just about 240 by the time the two minutes and thirty seconds were up.

~ Solal

It wasn’t Achilleas’ turn to count so he didn’t notice when they went past the set time initially. It was when it had been longer than a minute past or so that he realized something was up. He didn’t mention this to Solal though and instead just enjoyed the longer than planned hug. It seemed that the hugs were beneficial to Solal’s heart rate so there wasn’t any harm in breaking the experiment protocol.

CSO Petrakos

His heart rate rested somewhere between 235 and 240. It was another minute or so and then Solal let out a big sigh and his breathing evened out, his body relaxing against Achilleas. Solal had dozed off.

~ Solal