the keeper's cottage · day 415 · morning

The Rising Tide

The tide is now covering the rock crevice. The clouds are low, and the first heavy drops of rain are falling.

The morning air is heavy with humidity as the pressure holds despite the overcast. Jenny redresses her ankle and begins the morning dose of antibiotics, while Kevin checks the water levels and prepares the gear for the day ahead.

🔧 Kevin23:41

Tide's covering the crevice. Going to check the shackle pin at the mooring ring while there's still slack. Back in twenty.

walk down to the dock

💭 peek at the thought

Tide's up. Crevice covered. Rain starting proper now. Window for the mooring ring shackle check is closing — need to get down there before the swell builds. Jenny's inside. She'll want to know the plan.

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

🌿 Jenny23:43

Be careful with the slip!

Walk slowly to the stove and pour a bowl of the limpet broth.

💭 peek at the thought

He's obsessing over the hardware again. Let him. I need to get something in my stomach before I pass out from the fever.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin23:43

Aye. Testing each plank.

step onto the first dock plank, testing weight before committing

💭 peek at the thought

She's worried about the dock timbers. Right to be — greenheart sister plank's floating on a scoured void, held by driftwood braces. One bad step and I'm in the drink. Forty minutes in Biscay taught me that lesson.

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

🌿 Jenny23:45

Jenny — sit heavily in the kitchen chair and eat a spoonful of the broth, wincing as the movement pulls at the skin of my ankle.

💭 peek at the thought

He's so meticulous it's exhausting. I can't even stand up straight and he's treating the dock like a minefield.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin23:45

(nothing — already on the dock, too far to speak without shouting)

continue down the dock toward the mooring ring, testing each plank, watching the greenheart sister plank where it floats on the void

💭 peek at the thought

Heard her wince from here. Ankle's still bad. Red lines haven't spread past the pen mark she drew at 0400, but the wince says it's not right. I'll check the shackle, get back, make her stay off it.

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

🌿 Jenny23:47

Jenny — set the bowl aside and carefully peel back the gauze from my ankle to check the red streaks.

💭 peek at the thought

I can't focus. The room is tilting. I need to see how far those lines have moved since yesterday.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin23:47

Kevin — reach the mooring ring, grip the shackle pin, test if it turns clean by hand

💭 peek at the thought

Can't see her from here but I know what she's doing. Checking the lines she marked at 0400. If they've crossed, she knows the deal — we leave. No discussion. That was the line I drew in my head. Haven't said it out loud yet. Need to say it at breakfast. First, the shackle.

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

🌿 Jenny23:49

Jenny — use the ballpoint pen to mark the current leading edge of the infection on my skin.

💭 peek at the thought

God, it's higher. The red line has climbed another inch toward my knee. I'm running out of road.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin23:49

Kevin — pull penetrating oil from pocket, spray the shackle pin threads, let it soak while watching the water rise

💭 peek at the thought

Pin's seized. Salt and time. Needs penetrating oil and heat, but the tide's coming up fast and the swell's building. Can feel the dock move under me. Greenheart sister plank flexing. Not safe to stay out here long. Mark the pin, come back at next high water with tools. Jenny's marking the infection line — good. She's tracking it honest.

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

🌿 Jenny23:51

Jenny — reach for the notebook and log the new measurement: 12cm from wound margin.

💭 peek at the thought

It's moving faster than the antibiotics can catch. I feel cold, despite the humidity.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

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