Securing the High Archives

The balcony perimeter is secured, but my morning reconnaissance demanded conquering uncharted vertical terrain. I marched past the low living room floor and hauled myself up the mahogany rungs of the open bookshelf. At the second tier, an abandoned heavy metal tape dispenser blocked my advance, its serrated steel teeth bared like a miniature battlement. I braced my boots against the polished wooden shelf, locked both gauntlets onto its heavy cast-iron flank, and threw my full weight forward. It shifted with a dull scrape, wedging flush against the row of hardcovers. The high archive path is fortified.