the keeper's cottage · day 669 · evening

Evening convergence at the porch

Kevin arrives at the cottage porch from the dock as Jenny reaches the garden gate from the cliffs. The sky is a flat grey ceiling. The barometer reads 977 hPa and rising. They meet at the porch steps with the shortwave handset between them.

The air is heavy and still at 31°C as the dry season peaks. The tide is receding, exposing the slick rocks near the northeast corner of the dock. The barometer is dropping to 977 hPa, signaling a potential shift in the heavy air.

🌿 Jenny14:45

It's coming up for now, but the air is still too heavy.

Jenny leans heavily against the whitewashed stone wall, shifting weight off her left ankle while she reaches for the radio on the shelf.

💭 peek at the thought

The pressure is holding, but my leg is on fire, and I don't have the energy to hide it today.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin14:45

Barometer's lying. Sky says different.

set the shortwave handset on the porch table beside the storm lantern, then move to the wood stove to check the limpet broth pot

💭 peek at the thought

She's favouring the left leg harder than this morning. The red line was tracking to the knee by noon — she said nothing. I'll watch the calf when she sits.

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

🌿 Jenny14:47

The sky doesn't lie, Kevin, it just speaks a different language.

Jenny sits heavily on the kitchen chair, wincing as she raises her leg to begin unravelling the bandage on her ankle.

💭 peek at the thought

He's always looking at the clouds while I'm looking at the pressure Shift in the air.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin14:47

Let me see it.

pull the kitchen chair around to sit opposite her, the tin mug of warm broth steaming between us on the table

💭 peek at the thought

The wince she tries to hide. Calf's swollen tight. Red line might've passed the knee while she was on the ridge. Need to check before she re-wraps.

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

🌿 Jenny14:49

It's worse than it was yesterday.

Jenny breathes through gritted teeth as she peels the damp cloth away, revealing the angry, red swelling around the wound.

💭 peek at the thought

My skin is too hot to the touch, and I'm too tired to push him away.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin14:49

Red line's past the knee.

reach for the first aid kit on the shelf, pull out the last saline bottle and the penlight, click it on

💭 peek at the thought

Red streaking up the calf past the knee joint. Hot to touch even from here. Third doxy dose was 0800 — that's twelve hours. Metronidazole's running out. If the lymph's involved, oral won't catch it fast enough.

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

🌿 Jenny14:51

I know. I feel it pulsing.

Jenny leans her head back against the stone wall, closing her eyes as the light hits the infection tracking up her skin.

💭 peek at the thought

If it reaches the hip, I won't be able to walk to the north slope.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin14:51

I'm calling it. Trust V. Medevac.

stand, cross to the shortwave on the shelf, power it up and key the mic on Channel 16

💭 peek at the thought

She's not arguing. That's the part that scares me. Pulse means bacteremia risk. Two antibiotics, salt soaks, debridement — and it's still climbing. Radio Trust V for medevac. Now. Forms are signed in the dry bag on the dock.

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.