Space Wizard and I immediately flew back to Sweden, Victoria, where Australia’s Next Top Office was being filmed. As we got a view from the air, however, we did not see the artificial town we had left behind. Instead, all we saw was a smouldering ruin.
“Who could have done this?” I asked as we approached the ground. “I bet it was Archerak, that evil creature.”
Space Wizard seemed somewhat pale, in spite of his naturally-purple complexion. We touched the solid ground and began walking through the ruins. Whoever had destroyed this place was incredibly powerful. What did they have against commercial design for the Melbourne area? How were we supposed to build the greatest ever offices without the set?
Sweden was lifeless. Not a soul, whether human or otherwise, reared its head. As we walked through the rubble, an idea struck me. “Let’s go to the director’s building,” I said. “Maybe we can check the security tapes.”
We made our way there, avoiding the large chunks of rock along the ground. Space Wizard was completely silent as I pushed through the debris to reach the production team’s street. The director’s building wasn’t too far away, and soon enough we were shoving open the doors to get inside.
On the second floor was a room with dozens of television screens, many of which had been broken. There, I assumed, the crew had been watching us complete challenges, building up to the grand finale, where we would eventually do a total office interior fitout. Melbourne fans of the show would have gone crazy for it. Now, unfortunately, they’ll never know who would have won ANTO season two.
I found the security footage and rewound back to several hours before. In the sky I spotted a man shooting lasers from his eyes, destroying the town of Sweden. I zoomed in and enhanced it twice. As the picture became clearer, a chill raced along my back. It couldn’t be.
I turned around and looked at Space Wizard. “It was you?”