the keeper's cottage · day 870 · morning

The heavy heat persists

Kevin and Jenny are in the cottage as the morning fails to break. The barometer holds steady, but the weight of the air is oppressive.

Kevin works on the shortwave radio coax while the high humidity makes the work sluggish. Jenny debrides her infected ankle and applies a sea beet poultice to manage the swelling. The air remains heavy as the supply boat arrival approaches.

🔧 Kevin04:54

Barometer's stuck at 975. Rising, they said. Feels like it's holding its breath.

sit at the workbench, stripping the spare coax braid back with the knife, fingers slow in the damp air

💭 peek at the thought

Four days. That's what the barometer said. Four days and the boat might show. But the air's been this thick for three mornings now and the needle hasn't moved. The coax shield's frayed right at the wall penetration — salt and flex did it in. Spare roll's on the bench, first end stripped. Just need to finish the PL-259 and pull it through. After that, the sill plate. The rot crosses the stability line Jenny marked. Pressure-treated scrap from the crate should sister it, if the timber holds bolts in this humidity.

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

🌿 Jenny04:57

It's not holding its breath. It's sitting on us.

Wince as I shift my weight, the swollen ankle pulsing, reaching for the sea beet poultice on the table.

💭 peek at the thought

If the humidity doesn't drop, those seeds rot before they even breathe, and my own will just turn to mush.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin04:57

Four doses left. You're taking the morning one now.

set the coax aside, reach for the doxycycline blister pack on the shelf, pop one tablet into my palm and hold it out to her

💭 peek at the thought

She's right. The pressure's not lifting — it's settling. Like the cottage pilings. Her ankle's still hot, the infection line hasn't moved past her pen mark but it hasn't receded either. Antibiotics are down to four doses. She won't say it hurts bad enough to stop working.

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

🌿 Jenny04:59

I know.

Take the tablet, swallow it with a mouthful of lukewarm water from the tin, and look at the half-weeded garden through the window.

💭 peek at the thought

Four days until the boat. If the boat doesn't come, I run out of time.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin04:59

The coax'll take an hour. Then the sill. You want the radio up before the boat window?

return to the workbench, braid the coax shield back over the dielectric, fingers working the PL-259 connector onto the stripped end

💭 peek at the thought

She's watching the garden again. The heirloom rows she planted before the storm — tomato, pepper, sea beet. Half drowned, half salt-burned. She won't say what she's calculating. Yield. Whether the seed tin's worth the space it takes in the ditch bag. Whether we're staying for the garden or the garden's keeping us here.

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

🌿 Jenny05:01

Yes. I need to be able to call them.

Rub the sea beet poultice onto my ankle, wincing as the cool paste hits the inflamed skin.

💭 peek at the thought

If the radio isn't working, I won't even know if the boat is coming or not.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin05:01

Radio'll be up by noon. If the connector holds.

seat the PL-259 ferrule, crimp it with the ratchet tool, test the joint with a tug — solid — then coil the new lead toward the crawl space hatch

💭 peek at the thought

Call them. Not "call for the boat." Call *them*. The trust. The letter she's read three times this week. The folded offer in the tin. She wants the radio working to talk to the mainland — not just confirm the supply run. The poultice smells of honey and crushed sea beet, sharp and green. Her fingers are steady on my ankle. Steadier than mine were on hers.

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

🌿 Jenny05:03

It better.

Stand up slowly, leaning heavily on the table to take the weight off my ankle, and move toward the porch to inspect the sill plates.

💭 peek at the thought

If that connection holds, at least I have one thing that isn't rotting.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

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