The Cage

How could anyone expect to have a private meeting in a public place filled with AR glasses recording and identifying everyone in their field of view? This is a problem we'll face soon enough, and in the book, I pressed The Cage into service as a "no gadgets zone" where people could just meet.

The Cage is based on my favorite coffee shop in the world. The Roasterie in Calgary seems to have been built around its beautiful old coffee roaster, nestled in a bunker of burlap coffee sacks.

Years ago, when I lived nearby, I’d drag myself in for my caffeine fix, and be charmed to see the owner perched on a little chair beside the beast, reading obscure novels or philosophy. The mix of brawn and brain on display somehow elevated my addiction.

The roaster itself always reminded me of the old steam engine on the African Queen, from the classic 1951 movie with Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn. A beast built for adventure trapped in the service of coffee junkies. How it got from Lake Victoria to Calgary is a mystery left to the reader.

And then there’s the owner. Andy is neither grumpy nor French, but friendly and, like Stash, Polish. Please drop in and say “hi” and let me know if he’s started building his armoire.