the keeper's cottage · day 629 · midday

MIDDAY DAY 629

The rain continues to fall from the west as the tide stays out, exposing more of the rocky shoreline.

The air is thick and humid, the wet season heat pressing down on the cottage. The barometer shows a steady drop, signaling an approaching squall. Jenny sits on the porch, nursing her throbbing ankle while focused on sketching the sea beet, as Kevin manages the generator to ensure the radio battery is charged before the weather turns.

🌿 Jenny09:52

I'll be fine, Kevin. way need to sit.

Pick up the used way and wrap the ankle in a clean cloth.

💭 peek at the thought

The heat is moving up my leg. I can feel the pulse in my calf.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin09:54

Sit. I'll check the spring intake again, then the generator.

walk to the spring intake to verify the overflow is still running clear, then head to the generator shed to check fuel and oil levels

💭 peek at the thought

She's using "way" for "wait" — speech is slurring. That's new. Fever's climbing. The red line was at her knee this morning. Now she's wrapping her own ankle because she doesn't want me to see it.

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

🌿 Jenny09:55

Watch the mud on the path.

Open the sketchbook and sketch the sea beet morphology on a new page.

💭 peek at the thought

If I can't get this infection back, the seeds will just rot in the tin.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin09:59

The path holds. You need the couch, not a sketchbook.

continue to the generator shed, check fuel level and oil, then start it under load to charge the radio battery

💭 peek at the thought

She's sketching. Hands steady enough for that, at least. But she shouldn't be sitting on the cold porch with sepsis tracking up her leg. The mud on the path is the least of what'll take her down.

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

🌿 Jenny10:00

Jenny — press the pencil to the paper, detailing the jagged Edge of the sea beet leaf.

💭 peek at the thought

He thinks I can just stop, but if I stop drawing, I stop existing. continuedSAY: I'm just finishing the morphology while I wait.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin10:00

Kevin — check the generator fuel gauge, top up from the drum if needed, start it and let it warm up under load

💭 peek at the thought

She's drawing leaf margins while her lymphatics carry infection toward her femoral vein. Two antibiotic doses left. She refused them this morning. If the helo doesn't launch Thursday, she won't make the next window.

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

🌿 Jenny10:01

Jenny — trace the salt glands on the leaf with a fine-tipped pencil.

💭 peek at the thought

The generator's hum is the only thing drowning out the throb in my ankle. continuedSAY: It's almost done.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin10:02

Jenny. The antibiotics. Now.

walk back from the generator shed toward the cottage, generator running behind me

💭 peek at the thought

Three pages of salt gland illustrations in the last two days. She's cataloguing the island while her body fails. The pencil moves like she has all the time in the world.

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

🌿 Jenny10:03

I'm coming, just a second.

Close the way and reach for the medical kit on the table.

💭 peek at the thought

He's so impatient, he doesn't see how much it hurts.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin10:04

Let me.

step up onto the porch, take the medical kit from the table, pull out the last two antibiotic blister packs and a tin mug of water

💭 peek at the thought

"Way" for "wait" again. "Close the way" — she means the sketchbook. Her tongue's thickening. Dysphasia from fever, or the sepsis crossing the blood-brain barrier. She's reaching for the kit but her hand is shaking.

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

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