the keeper's cottage · day 902 · evening

Storm night radio watch

Rain hammers the cottage roof and wind rattles the shutters. Kevin sits at the radio desk with the manifest and log, the shortwave humming on standby for the 0800 call. Jenny lies on the porch floor under the wool blanket, ankle propped on a pack, drifting in and out of sleep. The generator runs steady in its shed, pump overwhelmed by groundwater. The barometer holds at 987 hPa.

The air inside the cottage is heavy with humidity, the smell of salt and damp wood wood lingering. Outside, the sky is a seamless sheet of oppressive grey, pressing down on the island before the coming storm. The tide is slowly receding, exposing the slick, dark rocks of the shore, while the pressure on the barometer holds stubbornly low, a warning that the atmosphere refuses to break.

🌿 Jenny03:03

I'm coming in.

Crawl slowly from the porch into the kitchen, dragging the blanket behind me.

💭 peek at the thought

I can't stay out here. The damp is getting into my bones and the smell of wet earth is too heavy.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin03:03

Mug's on the stove. Broth too if you want it.

Pour coffee into a tin mug and set it on the kitchen table beside the radio log.

💭 peek at the thought

She moves slow. Ankle's bad. Coffee's warm on the stove — should get her a mug before she asks.

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

🌿 Jenny03:05

Thanks.

Reach for the mug and wrap both hands around the warmth, letting the heat sink into my palms.

💭 peek at the thought

He always knows when I need it, even when I'm too tired to say it.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin03:05

Radio check at 0800. Tom's frequency. Then supply boat on 2182.

Sit back at the radio desk, pencil hovering over the manifest. Log the 1800 and 1815 attempts: static only, no reply.

💭 peek at the thought

Hands still cold. Circulation's sluggish from the infection. She needs the warmth more than the caffeine.

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

🌿 Jenny03:06

It's the clouds. The signal won't penetrate this much moisture.

Sip the coffee slowly, leaning my head back against the whitewashed stone wall.

💭 peek at the thought

Static. Of course. The atmosphere is a wall of noise in this humidity.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin03:06

Boat's due in two days. If the barometer don't climb by morning, they'll hold at the mainland.

Tap the barometer face with a fingertip. Write "0800: 987 hPa steady" in the radio log.

💭 peek at the thought

She knows radio. Knows the ionosphere better than she lets on. Barometer's holding 987 — steady, not climbing. If the front stalls, the boat won't make the high tide window.

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

🌿 Jenny03:09

They won't risk the crossing if the swell doesn't drop.

Set the mug down and rub my thumb over the edge of the wool blanket, staring at the rain-streaked window.

💭 peek at the thought

Steady is almost worse than dropping; it means the pressure is locked in. We're sitting right in the center of it.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin03:09

Generator pump's the weak link. Impeller's pitted, housing's worn. If the water rises another foot, the shed floods and we lose power.

Pull the generator specs sheet from the manifest folder. Circle the impeller part number and bore measurement. Add "URGENT" beside the Yanmar raw water pump impeller line.

💭 peek at the thought

She's right. Two days' sail into a building swell — the captain won't risk hull and crew for a caretaker contract. We've got water, food, fuel. The generator pump's the only thing that'll sink us if the groundwater keeps rising.

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

🌿 Jenny03:11

I'll check the seals in the morning. If the ankle lets me.

Wince as I shift my weight, the throbbing in my leg pulsing with the rain.

💭 peek at the thought

If that pump goes, we're dead in this heat. I can't even walk to the shed, let alone fix it.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin03:11

Stay off it. I'll check the seals. You read the pH strips from the north ridge transect — log them proper.

Tear a clean page from the notebook. Write "Generator shed seals — AM check" at the top. Set it on the kitchen table beside her mug.

💭 peek at the thought

Ankle's not improving. Two antibiotics down, swelling's down but the heat's still there. She won't say it, but she can't crawl under the generator shed tomorrow. I'll have to go.

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

🌿 Jenny03:13

Okay. I'll have them ready.

Reach for the notebook, my fingers trembling slightly as I flip to the sea beet data.

💭 peek at the thought

He's always taking the weight when I'm failing. It makes my skin crawl feeling small.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin03:14

(pause, then softer) The Carex transect data's in there too. Three soil pockets marked past the stability line. We should've started the shoring yesterday.

Set the pH kit beside her notebook. Open the manifest to the water test section and place it face-up on the table.

💭 peek at the thought

Her hands shake. Infection's pressing harder than the storm. If the barometer drops another few points before dawn, we won't have time to brace properly.

poolside/laguna-xs-2.1

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