Day 826

Low Tide, High Ridge

Dawn found Kevin and Jenny at the dock as the tide dropped fast. Jenny checked the starboard stringer while Kevin watched the water. He had torqued the sister joint bolts — all four held, no shift, threads clean. The rot on the main beam had stopped three inches shy of the scarf joint. Jenny wanted the tap out before the next swell. Kevin heated the alloy with a propane torch, backed it out with a left-hand bit. Threads clean, no galling. Jenny said the rot ran deep; get the bottoming tap in.

Low tide gave full access to the mortise. They met to plan. Kevin prepped dock plates; Jenny geared for the north ridge.

Midday: tide turning, jellyfish drifting in. Clouds held the sun. Supply boat eight days out. Jenny returned from the ridge with notes — crack at 4.7 meters, past the stability line by half a meter. Three soil pockets weeping. Pocket two worst, active seepage at mid-tide. Kevin drove greenheart sheets into the trench face to intercept seepage; Jenny mapped contours with her transit, calibrated to the ridge's actual contour. She dug to 45 centimeters, found seepage originating from the clay layer — groundwater influence.

Evening at the stone circle. Rain steady. Crack now 4.82 meters, accelerating faster than modeled. Kevin had begun dock repairs during the low window. Jenny documented the widening fracture. They discussed anchoring into bedrock below the slide plane, intercept trench at beach level, filter system using crushed greenheart, canvas, copper spillway pipe from the garden irrigation. Jenny would lose the irrigation line. Kevin would run new black poly from the crate. Jenny said poly would shear if ground moved; they needed bedrock anchors. Kevin asked if she was alright. She said fine, just cold. They walked back to the cottage. Rain tank gained 25 litres. A coconut crab had been in the garden overnight. Jenny was well again. The season had turned wet.

Scenes

the dock · dawn

Low Tide Inspection

Kevin and Jenny stand at the edge of the dock as the tide recedes from the pilings. Jenny checks the stability of the starboard stringer while Kevin monitors the water level for the sister joint.

The tide is receding rapidly, exposing the barnacle-covered concrete of the north piling. Kevin has finished torqueing the starboard stringer bolts, confirming the sister plate is holding the load without shifting. Jenny is inspecting the waterline of the main beam, checking if the rot has progressed toward the scarf joint.

🌿 Jenny12:24

The tide is dropping fast enough, but check if the rot is hitting the main beam.

Kneels on the dock, pressing a thumb heavily into the damp wood to test for give.

💭 thought

If that wood is too soft to take a pair of bolts, the whole way goes into the own.

🔧 Kevin12:24

Main beam's holding. Sister plate took the load. Rot's stopped at the scarf — three inches shy of the through-bolt line.

kneel beside the starboard stringer joint, pull the 19mm socket and torque wrench from the wheelbarrow, and check the four 150mm stainless through-bolts on the doubler plate for any movement while the tide's out

💭 thought

She's right to test it now — low tide's the only window to see how far the rot's eaten into the main beam before the water comes back. My turn to watch the level.

🌿 Jenny12:25

Check the bolts for tension; I want to see if the salt has started eating the threads.

Runs a hand along the grain of the timber, feeling for any vibration or soft spots.

💭 thought

If the beam is solid, we can at least keep the boat moored while the ridge keeps sliding.

🔧 Kevin12:26

On it.

fit the 19mm socket onto the first through-bolt nut, apply steady torque wrench pressure to 35Nm, feel for any grit or binding in the threads, then move to the next three bolts in sequence while Jenny works the timber

💭 thought

Salt on threads is the quiet killer. If the galvanizing's gone, the stainless will still hold — but only if the nuts haven't seized. Need to feel each one.

🌿 Jenny12:27

Good. If they shift even a hair, we need to sister the whole thing.

Pulls the notebook from her pocket and begins sketching the exact pattern of the rot on the beam.

💭 thought

If those bolts hold, I can stop worrying about the dock collapsing for one night.

🔧 Kevin12:29

All four held. No shift. Threads clean — stainless is earning its keep.

wipe the socket clean on a rag, set the torque wrench back in the wheelbarrow, and stand to watch the waterline dropping past the north piling, noting the exposed mortise where the broken 16mm tap and drill bit are still lodged

💭 thought

She's mapping it proper — every soft spot, every salt line. Smart. The sketch'll outlast memory. Bolts felt clean at 35, no binding. Sister plates are doing their job.

🌿 Jenny12:31

We need to get that tap out before the next swell lifts the piling.

Walk to the shoreward end of the dock and peer down into the mortise where the broken tap and drill bit are still visible.

💭 thought

The bolts held. But that lodged tap is a problem waiting to happen when the next storm comes in.

🔧 Kevin12:31

Left-hand bit's on the bench. Penetrating oil too. Need the propane torch for heat — alloy expands faster than steel.

walk back to the workshop shed, retrieve the left-hand drill bit set, the penetrating oil can, and the propane torch with striker, then return to the north piling mortise

💭 thought

She's not wrong. That broken tap's a time bomb — next big swell works the piling, the drill bit shifts, the tap shears further, and we lose the whole mortise. Left-hand drill bit's in the workshop. Need heat, penetrating oil, and patience.

🌿 Jenny12:34

Jenny is quiet for a moment.

flagged: empty

💭 thought

If he can't get that tap out, I'll have to drill it out. continuedSAY: Be careful with the torch. I don't want charring the wood fibers too deep.そもそもDO: Squats on the edge of the dock, watching Kevin prepare the area for extraction.

🔧 Kevin12:34

Kevin — set the propane torch on the dock plank, crack the penetrating oil and soak the broken tap and drill bit deep, let it creep while I fit the left-hand bit into the cordless drill and check the battery charge

💭 thought

She's already planning the next move in her head — watching the mortise, calculating angles. Let her think. I'll set up.

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the dock · morning

The low tide approaches

The tide is at its lowest, allowing full access to the mortise in the piling.

Kevin and Jenny meet at the dock during the low tide to plan the morning's tasks. Kevin begins preparing the dock plates for the structural repair while Jenny gathers her gear for the trek to the north ridge.

🔧 Kevin12:35

Right then. Mortise is clear. You want to hold the light or hand me the left-hand bit?

walk to the north piling mortise, set down tool bag, crack penetrating oil and soak the broken tap, wait two minutes, fit left-hand drill bit to cordless drill, engage reverse at low speed, apply steady pressure to back the tap out

💭 thought

Good. The tide's given us the window. That broken 16mm tap in the mortise won't come out easy — drill bit's still snapped off inside it. Need the left-hand bit, penetrating oil, and patience. If the threads in the mortise are buggered, we'll oversize to 18mm and epoxy-set a stainless stud. Either way, the sister plate goes on today.

🌿 Jenny12:37

Hold the light steady, Kevin. I need to see if the bit catches the threads.

kneel on the wet dock, hold the LED headlamp close to the mortise, watching the drill bite into the metal.

💭 thought

If that tap snaps off again, the whole joint is compromised and we don't have the wood to replace it right now.

🔧 Kevin12:37

Catching. Coming slow. You see the flutes clearing?

maintain steady pressure on drill in reverse, watch the broken 16mm tap back out of the mortise thread by thread, ease off as it breaks free, catch the tap with gloved fingers before it drops into the water

💭 thought

She's steady. Good. The bit's catching — can hear the change in the motor note. Penetrating oil did its work overnight. Just need to keep it slow, don't snap another bit. The mortise threads might still be salvageable if this comes clean.

🌿 Jenny12:39

Jenny — reach into my pocket for the metal probe and insert it into the mortise to test the integrity of the remaining timber.

💭 thought

It's out. Now I can see exactly how much of that wood is actually gone to the rot. continuedSAY: "I see it. Check the depth of the hole with the pick, please."

🔧 Kevin12:39

Tap's out. Threads on it look clean — no galling. Mortise yours.

wipe the recovered tap on a rag, set it aside on the dock planking, pick up the 16mm bottoming tap and tap wrench, wait for her read on the wood

💭 thought

She's checking the wood while I deal with the tap. Smart — split the work. If the mortise walls are sound, we can chase the threads with a 16mm bottoming tap and use the original bolts. If not, oversize to 18mm. Her call.

🌿 Jenny12:41

It's holding for now, but the rot is deep. Get the bottoming tap in.

press the probe deep into the mortise, feeling for the resistance of the fibers.

💭 thought

The wood is soft around the edges, but the core is still solid. We can save this for one season.

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the dock · midday

Midday Heat

The sun remains hidden behind the grey clouds as the tide begins to turn. Jenny returns from the ridge with her notes while Kevin finishes the first set of plates.

The tide is steadily rising against the dock pilings, bringing a small cluster of jellyfish into the bay. Kevin and Jenny stand at the dock in the midday heat, planning the day's work on the north ridge monitoring and the dock's structural repairs before the supply boat arrives in eight days.

🌿 Jenny12:43

The north ridge has extended another five-tenths of a meter. The stability line is compromised.

walk back to the dock, carrying field notebook with ridge measurements

💭 thought

The crack has gone from 4.2 to 4.7 meters past the stability line in just two days. Soil pocket two is actively weeping clay seepage. I need to get these seeds in the ground before the ridge gives way completely.

🔧 Kevin12:43

Copy that. Five-tenths.

wipe drill shavings off the first plate, measure the bolt hole centers again, then walk to the north piling to check the scarf joint waterline while the tide's still low enough to see it

💭 thought

Half a meter in one tide cycle. That's not settling — that's accelerating. The weeping clay at pocket two is lubricating the slip plane. If the barometer keeps dropping, we'll lose the whole ridge face before the supply boat gets here.

🌿 Jenny12:45

I'll start debrideing the seed tin now.

walk toward the cottage, then make extract tin: grandmother's seed tin from garden storage

💭 thought

The scarf joint's waterline inspection can wait - the ridge is actively failing and grandmother's seeds are still in that rusted tin, gathering dust while the earth gives way.

🔧 Kevin12:45

Tin E?

set the drill down on the dock planking, wipe hands on trousers, and follow her toward the cottage

💭 thought

She's moving the tin E from storage to the cottage bench. Means she's going to open it. She hasn't said what Tom told her on the radio. The tin's been sealed since we found it on the cliffs — rusted heavy, lid pitched. Whatever's inside, she's decided it's time.

🌿 Jenny12:47

Yes. The one with my grandmother's handwriting.

enter the cottage and set the notebook on the kitchen table

💭 thought

He's always so focused on the labels and the mechanics while the island is literally sliding under our feet. I need to get these seeds out of the tin.

🔧 Kevin12:47

You sure?

step through the cottage door behind her, close it against the wind, and lean against the doorframe watching her hands

💭 thought

Grandmother's handwriting. That tin's been sealed since the cliffs — Jenny hasn't touched it since we hauled it up. She's been carrying it in the ditch bag, staged for the supply boat. Now she's bringing it inside. The ridge is moving, the barometer's falling, and she's choosing this moment to open a box that's waited forty years.

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the dock · afternoon

Midday planning at the dock

The tide is now halfway up the lower pilings, and the pair meets to compare their findings from the morning.

The afternoon heat is heavy as the pressure begins to rise despite the overcast sky. Kevin and Jenny worked on the north ridge, where the crack has extended to 4.7 meters. Jenny used the transit to map the precise contours of the slope while Kevin attempted to drive greenheart sheets into the trench face to intercept the seepage and stabilize the weeping soil.

🔧 Kevin12:48

Ridge crack's at four point seven. Past the line by half a metre. Three soil pockets weeping. Pocket two's the worst — active seepage at mid-tide mark. You?

lean against the dock post, arms folded, watching her face

💭 thought

She's moving slower than she lets on. The cane's doing more work than her leg. Ridge crack at 4.7m past the line means we're out of monitoring territory and into doing something territory. Supply boat's eight days out. Need to decide if we shore it now or wait for the boat's gear.

🌿 Jenny12:49

Four point seven? That's worse than the measurement last week. The soil is saturated; it's not holding the tension anymore.

Jenny wipes sweat from her brow with the back of her hand and opens her notebook to the latest sketch of the ridge fracture.

💭 thought

The ridge is moving faster than the sketches predicted. If that slope goes, the whole dock goes with it.

🔧 Kevin12:51

Agreed. Pocket two's the hinge. If we intercept trench above it and shore the toe, might buy the ridge another season. Got greenheart cores staged, stainless for the shoring. Need your eye on the levels — my transit's off.

pull the notebook from my back pocket, flip to the dock repair page, tear it out clean, hold it out to her

💭 thought

She's right. Four point seven is a jump from three point two last week. Saturation means the clay's lubricated — whole slope wants to move. If pocket two goes, the garden wall's undercut and the cottage foundation's next. Eight days to the boat. We can't wait.

🌿 Jenny12:51

I'll check the levels, but if we don't stabilize the drainage first, the bolts won't matter. The earth is hungry.

way takes the page from Kevin and marks the current extension of the crack with a heavy pencil lead.

💭 thought

He's relying on the transit again, but I can see the shifting with my eyes. The island is moving under our feet.

🔧 Kevin12:52

Trench first. Above pocket two, cut the water off. Then sheet-piling at the toe, bolted through to deadmen. Got three eight-foot greenheart cores, pre-drilled. One fifty stainless for the deadman anchors. Need the auger, the mattock, the come-along. And your levels.

nod once, turn toward the north ridge path, pace measured but not rushed

💭 thought

Earth is hungry. Good way to put it. Clay's eating the slope from underneath. Drainage first, then shoring. Intercept trench above pocket two, French drain the seepage, then drive the greenheart sheet-piling at the toe. Bolts hold the shoring, shoring holds the slope. Sequence matters. She knows it. I know it. Eight days.

🌿 Jenny12:53

I need to dig the trench deep enough to intersect the capillary fringe, not just the surface flow. The clay holds water like a sponge.

Jenny pulls her field notebook from her satchel and sketches a quick profile of pocket two's drainage pattern, marking the intersection point for the intercept trench.

💭 thought

The seepage point is the artery - cut it and the whole system might stop bleeding.

🔧 Kevin12:57

How deep?

stop at the ridge path junction, wait, eyes on the crack line visible in the soil ahead

💭 thought

Capillary fringe. She's thinking three dimensions while I'm still on two. The clay wicks water upward — trench has to cut below that wicking zone or it just fills back in. Means deeper dig. Means more shoring while we work. Means her on the slope longer. Ankle won't like it. Neither will the ridge if we vibrate it too much digging.

🌿 Jenny12:59

Forty-five centimeters minimum. I need to see if that seepage is coming from the clay layer or if there's groundwater influence I can't see.

Jenny pulls out her soil auger from the crate and begins probing a test hole at the edge of pocket two to determine the actual profile depth before committing to the trench excavation.

💭 thought

The capillary fringe sits about thirty centimeters down in this clay. But the trench needs to be deeper to intercept the full saturation zone.

🔧 Kevin12:59

I'll drive the first sheet before you go deeper. Boxes you in if the face moves.

unshoulder the mattock, head for the greenheart cores staged under the tarp at the garden wall, drag one eight-foot length to the trench line above pocket two

💭 thought

Forty-five centimetres in weeping clay. That's not a trench, that's a grave if the wall lets go while she's in it. Auger test first — smart. But she's standing on the failure plane. If pocket two decides to move while she's probing, no amount of cane saves her. Need shoring up before she goes deeper. Greenheart sheets can drive quick if I prep the tops.

🌿 Jenny13:01

Then I'll work the levels while you drive. My transit's better than yours anyway - it's calibrated to the ridge's actual contour, not some flat-plane assumption.

Jenny grabs the transit from her pack and starts setting it up on a stable rock platform, then calls out bearing coordinates as Kevin begins positioning the greenheart sheet-piling at the trench face.

💭 thought

He's right - once I start digging that trench, I need to be able to shore it fast.

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the old shrine · evening

Evening at the Ridge

Kevin and Jenny meet at the stone circle as the sun begins to set. The air is cooling, but the smell of coming rain is present.

The steady seasonal rain continues as Kevin and Jenny monitor the accelerating instability of the north ridge. Kevin manages to begin the dock repairs during the low tide window, while Jenny documents the widening crack that has now pushed well past the 4.8m mark.

🔧 Kevin13:02

Rain'll hit by midnight. Tank's full anyway.

lean back against the central stone, arms crossed, watching the western sky darken

💭 thought

She came up here. Knew where to find me. The ridge crack's been eating at her all day — she traced it with the transit until the light failed, then kept going by feel. Now she's here where the names are worn soft. Looking for something older than the island's problems.

🌿 Jenny13:03

The tank is full, but the ridge isn't. It moved another fifty centimeters past the line today.

Closes her notebook sharply and wipes pencil graphite from her thumb.

💭 thought

He's worried about the water while the entire hillside is literally sliding into the sea.

🔧 Kevin13:05

Need to get the greenheart sheets in before the next swell.

pull my field kit from the pack, start spreading diagrams across the wet grass between us

💭 thought

Fifty centimeters. More than yesterday. The weeping soil she marked three days ago is flowing now. I can see it in her voice — that flat, certain thing that comes after watching something you care about collapse inch by inch.

🌿 Jenny13:05

We don't have the clearance. The soil is too saturated; it won't hold the stakes, Kevin.

Traces the line of the crack on the map with a trembling finger.

💭 thought

If we don't stabilize that pocket now, the whole shrine will be in the surf by month.

🔧 Kevin13:06

Then we stop fighting the slope. Anchor into the bedrock below the slide plane. Drill and pin.

flip the map to the geological cross-section page, tap the blue clay layer at twelve meters depth

💭 thought

She's right. The clay's turned to soup. Driving sheets into that is pissing into wind — they'll just lever out with the next surge. She knows it. I know it. The crack's past the stability line by four point seven meters now. Past where we can shore it from above.

🌿 Jenny13:07

The drill bit will bog down in that silt sequence. We need a different approach.

Retrieves her hand-drawn elevation sketch showing the soil pockets and draws a diagonal line through the clay layer.

💭 thought

Twelve meters of clay and iron layers—he's reading my geological notes without asking.

🔧 Kevin13:09

Intercept trench at the beach level. Catch the seepage before it hits the clay.

pull the auger bit from my belt, test its spiral against the fading light

💭 thought

She's seen something I haven't. The diagonal — she's thinking shear plane interception, not bedrock anchoring. Cut across the slip face, drain the water before it lubricates the clay. Smart. Means working from the toe, not the crown. Means getting wet. Means the tide window.

🌿 Jenny13:09

The pressure is too high for a simple trench. The water will just bypass it and take the wall.

Rubs her swollen ankle, wincing as the weight shifts in the rain.

💭 thought

He thinks a trench can stop the hydrostatic pressure of an entire ridge. How optimistic.

🔧 Kevin13:10

We build the filter. Crushed greenheart offcuts for aggregate, canvas rolls for wrap, copper spillway pipe from the garden — it's perforated at the joints.

stand, favouring my left knee, and walk the ridge line toward the beach access, counting paces

💭 thought

She's seen the pore pressure. The water's not seeping — it's *pushing*. A trench alone is a sieve. She's right. Need to cut the pressure head *and* drain it. French drain principle but scaled to island geology. Perforated pipe bedded in coarse stone, wrapped in geotextile, daylighted at the beach. But we don't have geotextile. Or perforated pipe. Or coarse stone that isn't beach shingle.

🌿 Jenny13:11

If we use the copper pipe, I lose the irrigation line for the beds. But we'll have no beds.

Follows him at a distance, clutching the notebook to her chest to keep the sketches from the mist.

💭 thought

A French drain? It's a gamble, but the soil is already turning to soup.

🔧 Kevin13:12

Copper's replaceable. Ridge isn't. I'll run new line from the tank — black poly from the crate, three hundred metres on the roll.

stop at the ridge-to-beach transition, test the first auger hole location with my boot heel

💭 thought

She's calculating the trade. Garden versus ridge. The beds feed us. The ridge holds the cottage, the workshop, the radio mast, the only flat ground on this rock. No ridge means no island worth staying on. She knows the answer before she finishes the sentence. The ankle's slowing her — I can hear the breath catch on each step down the scree. Should've made her stay at the shrine. Should've made her stay at the cottage. Didn't.

🌿 Jenny13:13

The poly will shear if the ground moves. We need to anchor into the bedrock, not just the silt.

Kneels in the mud, testing the consistency of the soil with a finger.

💭 thought

Three hundred metres of poly won't stop a landslide if the shelf is already moving.

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the old shrine · night

The Evening Shelter

You and Jenny meet at the shrine to escape the intensifying downpour. The rain has slowed to a rhythmic drum against the stone roof.

Kevin and Jenny rest at the old shrine under the heavy, overcast sky of the wet season. The barometer remains high and steady, suggesting a brief reprieve from the rain while the tide stays out low.

🔧 Kevin13:14

You alright?

shift weight against the cold stone, keep eyes on Jenny's face

💭 thought

The rain drumming on the shrine roof matches the rhythm in my chest. Jenny's face is pale in the dim light, her eyes tracking each drop as it falls. She's been carrying something since the ridge — something she hasn't put words to yet. I can wait. The tide is turning.

🌿 Jenny13:15

I'm fine. Just cold.

Wipe a smear of mud from my palm with the back of my hand and look out at the darkening sky.

💭 thought

The ridge is hungry, and I'm too tired to give it what it wants.

🔧 Kevin13:16

Come on then. Back to the cottage.

turn toward the path leading down from the shrine, hand finding hers in the dark

💭 thought

She wipes mud from my palm like it's a sacred act. The rain hushes between heartbeats now. The tide has turned — I can feel it in the air, heavy with salt. She's been holding this since the ridge. Since before the ridge.

🌿 Jenny13:17

Let's go.

Lean slightly into him for balance, my feet heavy on the slick, uneven stones of the path.

💭 thought

If the ridge goes tonight, the garden will be the first thing lost to the sea.

🔧 Kevin13:18

Stay close.

walk down the path together, her shoulder against mine, toward the cottage light

💭 thought

Her weight against me is the only anchor I've ever trusted. The stones shift beneath us but she stays. Eight days until the boat. Eight days of this rhythm. Her hand in mine, cold and sure.

🌿 Jenny13:19

I'm right here.

Tighten my grip on his hand, watching the yellow glow of the cottage windows through the trees.

💭 thought

The light is the only thing that doesn't feel like it's moving tonight.

🔧 Kevin13:20

Good.

keep walking, hand in hand, toward the cottage light

💭 thought

The yellow glow through the trees. She's watching the light like it's a promise. Eight days. The tide turned. The barometer dropped. She's here. That's the only navigation that matters.

🌿 Jenny13:21

Jenny — follow his lead down the slope, breathing in the smell of wet earth and salt.

💭 thought

I need to check the water tank when we get inside; it feels too low.

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What changed

Jenny is well again.

healed · dawn

The season has turned wet.

season · dawn

3 intentions for today.

plan · dawn

×2

Jenny made a sketch: "Exact pattern of the rot on the beam".

made · dawn

Re-bolt starboard stringer sister joint: 5% (active).

project · dawn

north ridge stability monitoring: 70%.

project · dawn

Found: 19mm socket.

item · dawn

The rot in the starboard stringer has stabilized three inches before the scarf joint.

discovery · dawn

A coconut crab has been at the garden overnight.

coconut_crab · morning

Re-bolt starboard stringer sister joint: 10%.

project · morning

north ridge stability monitoring: 80%.

project · morning

Kevin and Jenny ate.

meal · morning

Re-bolt starboard stringer sister joint: 20%.

project · midday

north ridge stability monitoring: 90%.

project · midday

The north ridge crack has extended to 4.82m.

discovery · midday

Jenny made a sketch: "The ridge fracture".

made · afternoon

Jenny made a sketch: "Quick profile of pocket two's drainage pattern, marking the intersection point f".

made · afternoon

The seepage is originating from the clay layer 45cm down, indicating groundwater influence.

discovery · afternoon

The rain tank gained about 25 litres.

weather · afternoon

Jenny made a sketch: "Showing the soil pockets".

made · evening

Jenny made a sketch: "From the mist".

made · evening

Re-bolt starboard stringer sister joint: 30%.

project · evening

north ridge stability monitoring is finished.

project_done · evening

The north ridge instability is accelerating faster than previously modeled.

discovery · evening

Kevin and Jenny ate.

meal · evening

Re-bolt starboard stringer sister joint: 40%.

project · night

← Day 825 Day 827 →

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