the keeper's cottage · day 875 · dawn

Morning Rain and Inventory

Steady rain drums against the tin roof as the water tank reaches its brim. Jenny sits on the porch chair with her ankle propped, while Kevin inspects the coils of old coax laid on the floor.

The rain continues steadily, filling the water tank to its limit. Kevin works on organizing the coiled old coax cable on the porch, while the high humidity makes the work sluggish. Jenny manages her ankle treatment inside the cottage, though the swelling remains throbbing in the damp heat.

🔧 Kevin09:07

New coax in the supply crate. Unopened. We'll run that.

pick up the new coax roll from the supply crate and carry it to the porch

💭 peek at the thought

Tank's full. Good. Old coax looks shot — jacket cracked, braid green with salt. Might as well be wet string. New roll's in the crate, unopened. Should run that instead of wasting time on this.

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

🌿 Jenny09:09

Wait until the rain lets up. The humidity will eat the copper anyway.

Tighten the bandage on my ankle, wincing at the throbbing heat.

💭 peek at the thought

He thinks a new cable will fix the world while the rot is literally in the floorboards.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin09:09

Mast bracket's still open. Radio's deaf without it.

set the new coax roll down on the porch table, out of the dripline

💭 peek at the thought

She's right. Humidity this high, bare copper oxidizes before you can tape it. But the old coax is garbage and the mast bracket still needs the run finished. Rain's not stopping today.

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

🌿 Jenny09:11

I'll get to it when I can stand without the world turning white around me.

Reach for my notebook and start sketching the strata of the sea cave from memory.

💭 peek at the thought

The radio is already deaf, just like we've been while waiting for the boat.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin09:11

Let me look at it. Now.

crouch beside her chair and gently peel back the gauze edge to inspect the ankle

💭 peek at the thought

Ankle's worse than she's saying. White world means the infection's still climbing or the fever's spiking. Antibiotics are in — doxycycline and metronidazole — but they take time. She won't ask for help. I need to check the dressing again, see if the poultice is holding the heat down.

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

🌿 Jenny09:13

It's just the humidity. It's making the wound angry.

Pull my leg away slightly, my jaw tightening as I avoid his eyes.

💭 peek at the thought

way doesn't want to see the mess, just the part he can fix with tools.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin09:13

It's not humidity. Let me see.

stay crouched, hand hovering near her ankle, waiting

💭 peek at the thought

She pulled away. Jaw tight. That's not humidity — that's the infection tracking toward the knee, same as yesterday, same as the day before. She's memorizing sea cave strata instead of letting me change the dressing. Stubborn doesn't cover it.

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

🌿 Jenny09:15

I've got it under control. Just... give me a minute.

Shift my weight to take pressure off the ankle, wincing as I reach for my sketchbook and turn a page to reveal detailed drawings of the sea cave clay layers.

💭 peek at the thought

He wants to help but doesn't understand that some things can't be held.

poolside/laguna-xs-2.1

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