England, London.
Dawn cast a faint glow over the horizon, and a thin mist hung over the city like a veil of gloom. The capital of Great Britain had always been gray and overcast, with clear weather a rare sight.
During the Industrial Revolution of the last century, London became famous worldwide for its smog and earned the title of the "Foggy City." Coal burning and massive industrial emissions made air pollution extremely severe, eventually causing the deaths of around twelve thousand people, most of them from respiratory diseases.
Of course, the British later reflected on the bitter consequences of air pollution, which led to the world's first air pollution prevention law, the Clean Air Act. After roughly half a century and enormous investment, the smog blanketing the city had been brought under control to some extent. Unfortunately, the blue skies and white clouds were gone for good.
Dressed in a long trench coat like an ordinary tourist, Sean strolled leisurely through the streets. Over the past few days, he had accompanied Jane on her inspection trip, visiting Greenwich Observatory, which overlooked modern London, the religiously sacred St. Paul's Cathedral, and then the London Eye. There, they had seen towering stones standing in a circle amid verdant open fields: Stonehenge, the most famous and mysterious prehistoric relic in the British Isles.
Only after seeing all of London's famous sights did Jane finally throw herself into work with lingering delight, leaving Sean alone to wander along the Thames River.
The young man stood on Tower Bridge. He waited for Jane to discover the Aether and awaken the Dark Elves. For Earth, which was gradually moving toward a new order, the pressure brought by Asgard alone was not enough.
Humanity needed to directly experience the aggression and destructiveness of extraterrestrial civilizations before