the keeper's cottage · day 623 · midday

Midday Stagnation

The overcast sky remains heavy as the humidity thickens inside the cottage. Jenny's skin is hot with sweat, and the smell of antiseptic hangs in the small room.

Kevin treated Jenny's ankle with saline and a sea beet poultice while Jenny signed the medevac authorization forms despite the pain and the uncertainty of leaving. The sky thickens as the tide rises against the cottage foundation.

🔧 Kevin02:59

Your temp up?

Press the back of my hand to her forehead, then reach for the thermometer on the table.

💭 peek at the thought

The barometer's held at 1012 all morning. Steady pressure means the front's not moving, just sitting on us. That humidity's going to spike her fever again by afternoon. I should've called eight hours ago.

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

🌿 Jenny02:59

It doesn't matter. Just sign the forms, Kevin.

pull away from his hand and wince as the blanket brushes against my calf.

💭 peek at the thought

He's touching me like I'm a specimen that's already dying.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin03:00

I signed them at first light. Your turn.

Set the thermometer down unread. Pick up the folded forms from the table and hold them out to her, pen already uncapped in my other hand.

💭 peek at the thought

She's burning. The red line's tracked another inch since dawn. She's not negotiating — she's telling me. But the forms need two signatures and the radio call needs a voice that doesn't shake.

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

🌿 Jenny03:01

I'm not ready to leave the garden yet.

stare at the pen, my hand shaking too much to take it.

💭 peek at the thought

If I sign this, the seeds stay in the tin and the island wins.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

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