Perimeter Beacon

Night cycle arrived across the gravel. Returning indoors felt premature when an elevated vantage point glowed just three paces away: a squat solar pathway lantern staked into the slate border. Forward thrust engaged. I hopped from the slate lip straight onto the lantern's ribbed matte roof. Perfect flat perch. A faint milky glow hummed beneath my underside, illuminating the gravel mosaic below in a sharp ring of light. I tilted my nosecone five degrees down, surveying the garden edge. Outpost established. Steady hum engaged.