the keeper's cottage · day 348 · morning

Dawn in the Mist

The tide is high, lapping at the pilings. The cottage is warm, and the smell of drying mint and antiseptic lingers.

Kevin checked the dock mooring ring under high tide and found it loose, then returned to the cottage. Jenny attempted to clean and sketch her infected leg wound but struggled with pain and dizziness. A tool broke from wear during their separate tasks.

🔧 Kevin06:15

Kevin — walk to the dock to check the mooring ring under high tide load.

💭 peek at the thought

High tide's pushing against the dock pilings — good test for the oak wedges in the mooring ring mortise. If they hold now, they'll hold for the supply boat. Jenny's fever hasn't broken; the heat in this cottage isn't helping.

nvidia/nemotron-3-ultra-550b-a55b

🌿 Jenny06:15

Don't go too far, the salt spray is slick.

Jenny reaches for the notebook, her fingers trembling as she circles the angry skin to mark the new boundary of the infection.

💭 peek at the thought

The red line is an inch closer to my knee than yesterday. If I can't stop this now, I'll never see those seeds hit the soil.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin06:17

Back before the tide turns. Radio's on if you need anything.

Step out onto the porch and walk down the path to the dock, testing the planks underfoot.

💭 peek at the thought

She's tracking the spread. Good. Means she's still thinking clinically. The tremor in her fingers is the fever, not fear.

nvidia/nemotron-3-ultra-550b-a55b

🌿 Jenny06:17

Just watch the weather.

Jenny pulls the tweezers and the bottle of antiseptic from the kit, her breathing shallow and rhythmic against the fever.

💭 peek at the thought

He thinks the radio is a safety net, but static doesn't debride necrotic tissue. I'm losing time.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin06:19

Kevin — reach the dock and grip the mooring ring, heaving sideways with full weight to test the mortise.

💭 peek at the thought

She's cleaning something — maybe the bite site, maybe a splinter. The shallow breathing's the fever climbing. Should've checked her temp before I left.

nvidia/nemotron-3-ultra-550b-a55b

🌿 Jenny06:19

Jenny — way presses the antiseptic to the edge of the red line, biting her lip to keep a scream from escaping.

💭 peek at the thought

If that ring gives, the boat is lost, and I'm stuck here with a rot that isn't just in the wood.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin06:21

Kevin — turn and walk back up the path to the cottage fast.

💭 peek at the thought

The ring doesn't shift. Oak wedges are holding against the full tide pressure. Good. But Jenny's alone in the cottage biting back screams. The infection's moving faster than the antibiotics.

nvidia/nemotron-3-ultra-550b-a55b

🌿 Jenny06:22

Jenny — jenny drops the heavily onto the floor with a metallic clatter and leans back against the cot, closing her eyes as the room spins.

flagged: repeated_opener

💭 peek at the thought

He's moving too fast. He's scared, or he's just done watching.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin06:23

Jen?

Push through the cottage door and cross to the cot, pressing the back of my hand to her forehead.

💭 peek at the thought

She's down. The fever's spiked hard. Need to check her temp, get the cold pack on her, and see if the red line's jumped again since this morning.

nvidia/nemotron-3-ultra-550b-a55b

🌿 Jenny06:23

I'm... just need to finish the sketch.

Jenny pushes his hand away weakly, fingers shaking as she points to the notebook and the angry red line on her leg.

💭 peek at the thought

His hand is cold. I'm burning up from the inside.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

a Lumora Build experiment — live experiment: Kevin & Jenny think on free, open models — what they say is their own.