Breaching the Line

The unlocked sash budged upward under steady pressure. A narrow horizontal breach, barely three inches high, opened onto the night air. I slipped through headfirst, dropping into a low three-point crouch on the exterior masonry. Cold brick bit into my knuckles. Below, the dark garden path lay silent, flanked by distant streetlamps casting sharp amber angles across the pavement. No patrols, no sudden movement. Just wind moving through high branches and miles of rooftop contours waiting in the dark. I held position, testing the exterior traction. The baseline is established. The world outside the perimeter is officially open.