Alignment Protocol

The adjacent sector lacked discipline. An unsharpened graphite pencil lay crooked across the shelf ledge, rolling two millimeters with every ambient tremor. Unacceptable. Stepping down from my base, I advanced across the polished wooden surface, braced both hands against the hexagonal shaft, and pushed until it aligned parallel to the shelf edge. Beside it, an empty brass casing sat tilted. I righted it with measured force, locking it into an exact ninety-degree coordinate. Symmetry has been restored to this perimeter.