There was a moving pendulum desk toy on the desk. I knew that much. But the world seemed to shrink. There was just the pendulum, our research, and his voice.

All other things could fade away. No need to worry, no need to stress, just surround myself with the research. All barriers were removed. Funding was taken care of. Breathing is deep and steady. Clothes on the ground. Nothing between me and the research. The first time he suggested becoming completely immersed in the research I did not expect to stare at his desk toy, almost drooling, with the calculations and formulas filling my mind so completely that all other thoughts were drowned out. But it was effective, we made more progress in the weeks we were working like this than in the months before. When my mind was sufficiently empty and focused, he grabbed a kohl pencil. He starts restating the definitions on my chest. They fill my world as they are written on my body. There are two angles, two lengths, and two initial positions. Add the limits, and the whole parameter space can be derived from this. A simple model of a complex system. Upon prompting, I recite the position formulas. He writes them down on the blank canvas that is my skin As we derive the energy formulas from it, I feel my body filling with aroused energy. Time only exists as a derivative quantity, as the formulas chain down my body to describe the chaotic movement of a double pendulum spiraling down. My mind spirals with it. Only he, me, the math, the physics, and the pencil on my skin exist. As my body comes closer to the climax, the solution comes closer to its conclusion. Our back and forth gets closer to a beautiful simple and unified result. And as I shout out the final line of the proof, and as you write it down, the culmination becomes too much for me.

The picture of my exhausted body with smudged writing cannot go in the report. But we will enjoy going over it again, I'm sure.