Somewhere downtown, a middle-aged scientist was sitting by a small fold-up table on a balcony in an apartment block. The sky was grey and foggy and the heat was somewhat unbearable - which was odd due to the fact the inhabitants of the apartment were far used to the warm, hot weather. In the distance, rows of towers and skyscrapers could be seen burning and there was the frequent sound of cranes over near the construction site.

Vidcund Curious stared into the apartment through the glass door and saw Loki come out in his pyjamas, Vidcund's own glasses in his hand. The door slid open and the elder scientist poked his head out: "You forgot these."

"Oh," Vidcund took the frames with lime-tinted lenses from him. "Thanks. Where were they?" He gave a puzzled look, knitting his eyebrows together.

"On the windowsill in the bathroom," he answered and rubbed his eyes, stepping out onto the balcony and grimacing when his bare feet touched the dusty concrete. He took a seat next to Vidcund at the table and took the packet of cigarettes that laid in the middle. He took one out and lit it, watching the burning buildings on the horizon. "Jesus," he muttered and turned around to face the blond in front of him. "Were there any more of those announcements on TV?"

"No," Vidcund responded, turning his head to the side to blow some smoke out of his mouth. "The power went out last night and I couldn't be bothered to turn the television back on."

"Ah," Loki nodded and crossed one leg over the other, facing the passerby on the ground. "Yeah, I did wonder why the fan in my room stopped working."

"We have windows, you know?" Vidcund raised an eyebrow as he scrubbed his cigarette out.

"What? You think I wanna invite the dirty air into my room?" Loki gestured to the derelict city surrounding them in disgust. "This entire town smells like my lab the one time something went wrong."

"It smells like a fuse that's blown," Vidcund sniffed, coughing slightly. He stood up and entered the apartment, gazing around the rather empty living room hopelessly. There was a brown worn couch pushed up against the ageing green walls and a small television across from it. There was a circular dining table in the corner with three chairs and to the right of it was the entrance to the small kitchen.

The hallway was quite long and consisted of two bedrooms and one bathroom, suitable for the two men. Vidcund entered his bedroom and made his bed, sitting on it tiredly. His eyes fell over to a photograph next to his bed of three boys: him, his older brother Pascal and his little brother Lazlo.

Three days prior, a terrified Pascal is awoken to find that their house is being bombed from above. He scrambles out of bed to rescue the youngest and takes off with him through the back escape. Meanwhile, a rather oblivious Vidcund Curious is in bed with his ex-girlfriend, Circe Beaker, her husband standing hopelessly in the hallway outside, his eyes glossy and heart beating tremendously after hearing his wife's own affair.

Vidcund's hands made their way to the frame and he uncovered the back of it, pushed the glass plate forward and taking out the photograph of his favourite redhead behind it: Circe. His roommate's late-wife.

Vidcund thinks back to the event only three days ago where he was standing in Circe and Loki's bedroom changing into his clothes after a rather good night with Circe.

Vidcund slowly opens the mahogany door and quietly sneaks across the hallway, taking off down the grand staircase of the Beaker castle and out of the exit. A hurt Loki is sitting at the dining room table, having just seen the boy flee. He notices the observatory on fire and his eyes widen, mouth open, as he stares at it's destruction.

The biologist held the dated photograph in his hand and rubbed the glossy print in between his thumb and pointer finger, swallowing hard.

His bedroom door opened abruptly and Vidcund almost dropped the frame to the floor. He looked up to discover Loki, his arms crossed. "Where's the milk?"

"In the fridge, Loki," he responded timidly, looking up only slightly. "Where else would it be?"

"Thanks," he closed the door and walked off. Vidcund sighed and put the photo frame back to it's usual state, only leaving the photo of Circe under his pillow. He laid down and stared at the bland ceiling just thinking about the invasion.

Loki made himself a cup of tea before sitting down at the kitchen table by himself. He took the TV remote and switched it on, an announcement already well underway.

"...it appears the entirety of Strangetown has been wiped out, we have four survivors and a few injured..."

Loki stared at the TV in horror as the list of names of the dead sims came up. "Strangetown Medical Research Team identified three bodies of Ripp Grunt, Johnny Smith and Circe Beaker."