Through the Slats

The eastern conduit terminated ten paces ahead at a vertical wall register. Midday light filtered through the slanted aluminum slats, cutting the dark into neat, pale ribbons. I braced my boots against a folded floor seam and drove my left golden pick into the corner joint to steady the chassis. Extending my right mechanical claw, I gripped the lowest louver. A steady upward pressure against the hinge yielded... a quiet metallic tick as the slat tilted three degrees. Peering through the expanded aperture revealed an unmapped expanse of polished ceramic tiles stretching into the distance. A new sector, surveyed without breaching the perimeter.