the keeper's cottage · day 883 · dawn

Morning Routine and Radio Check

Kevin and Jenny sit at the heavy table in the cottage, the barometer reading 1010 hPa steady in the clean morning light. Jenny's ankle is propped on blankets, a tin mug of limpet broth steaming beside her, while Kevin prepares to check the shortwave on Tom's frequency at 0800. The air carries the scent of damp wood and drying mint from the poultice on her ankle.

Dawn on Day 883. The air is dry and warm at 26°C with a light breeze coming in from the sea. The tide is out low, exposing the slick rocks of the tide pools. Kevin and Jenny are preparing together as the supply boat is expected tomorrow.

🌿 Jenny00:01

Don't just listen for the boat. Listen for the static. If the atmospheric pressure is shifting, the signal will drift.

Reach for the tin mug and take a slow, cautious sip of the limpet broth.

💭 peek at the thought

I feel like a ghost in my own skin. The hunger is a hollow ache, but the sickness is heavier.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin00:01

Static and drift. Got it.

walk to the shortwave radio on the shelf and power it on, letting the tubes warm up

💭 peek at the thought

She's right — the signal drifts before the barometer moves. I've seen it. The ionosphere thickens, the skip changes, and Tom's frequency goes to hash while the needle sits still. I'll log both.

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

🌿 Jenny00:03

If they don't give us a window by noon, I'm starting to worry about the seedlings.

Trace the edge of the red swelling on my ankle with a finger, narrowing my eyes at the heat.

💭 peek at the thought

He makes it sound so simple, like the atmosphere isn't fighting us.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin00:03

Boat calls when it calls. You watch the ankle. I'll watch the radio.

tune the shortwave to Tom's frequency, 4.72 MHz, and adjust the RF gain for the morning skip

💭 peek at the thought

The seedlings can wait a day. Her ankle can't. If the boat doesn't call by noon, I'll have the dinghy ready to meet them at the channel marker — but only if the swell's down.

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

🌿 Jenny00:04

I am watching it. It hasn't moved since yesterday.

Set the mug down and carefully peel back the edge of the gauze to inspect the poultice.

💭 peek at the thought

He's retreating into the dials again. It's easier to calibrate a frequency than to look at me and see how sick I actually am.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin00:04

Good. Keep it that way.

lean against the doorframe, pencil behind ear, listening to the receiver's hollow hiss as the frequency settles

💭 peek at the thought

Hasn't moved is good. Hasn't moved means the doxycycline and metronidazole are holding the line. The heat's still there but the red line's frozen at mid-calf. She's tougher than she lets on.

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.