Cape Point | Night Life

Continuing our look at Cape Point in the late 2020s. The numbers on the left correspond with the Cape Point map listing, the letter and number in brackets [eg: (G3)] are the map grid references.

23. The Drome (bar) (G5)

The Drome is the premier night spot for the fixers, street dealers, solos, cutters and the movers and shakers of The Hub's underground. A tunnel of brushed metal surfaces, cold blue neon, long landscape windows with metal strip blinds, awash in the harsh vibe of 'biz' set to a speed metal soundtrack.

28. Visage (nightclub) (E3)

Popular Photonic Wave club with pseudo 80s styling, built inside the defunct Traffic Department building. A dark cavern of dry ice, pulsing lasers, black walls with paint splashes, wonder-walls, chrome tubing, large dance floors, mirror tiles, worn red velvet seats and black ash effect tables and several bars with black gloss tops. The clientele are mainly poseur-types; women go for the classic tight black mini-dress, polished chrome is so awesome, there are glo-tats, light-panelled clothing and neon optics. Visage is staffed by classic 80s chrome sexy 'robots'. Some of the patrons (retros) are starting to go for the look too. The club is a real mix of Schotschekloof Filter players, the Bo-Kaap beautiful and Green Point slummers. Managed by a rictus-grinning, plastic-faced hyperactive calling himself Max Headfuck. 

29. Club Synapse (nightclub) (E6)

This converted warehouse is dirty, faded and dark, both inside and out. All the ground floor windows are boarded over and the upper windows have barred grills covering them. The Club Synapse sign was painted onto the building around 8 years ago, and years of acid rain have taken their toll. The once bright paint is faded and flaking. Kombinat foot-soldiers use the club as a pick-up joint.

The club is open 24 hours a day, with cycling staff shifts every 6. Stay in the club long enough, and you’ll notice the Punk & Bass play list runs on a loop. Security staff also operate in a shift pattern but they never seem to have a full compliment, so security is minimal and, very occasionally, non-existent. The place is regularly closed due to a shooting or stabbing. It is popular with the unemployed and shift workers and is only ever at one-third it’s capacity at any given time. There’s a 5eb entry fee, providing there is someone on the front desk to collect it.

Club Synapse is owned by Amadeus Burundi, a young and moderately well connected fixer who specialises in bringing those with a need together with those who have a solution. Amadeus rarely handles any tangible goods, preferring info and connections. He lives in a cramped loft apartment in Oranjezicht, near the geodesic, rather than above the club he mismanages. Amadeus is on good terms with the Kombinat.

30. Dawala Nights (nightclub) (I5)

Small Xhosa Trance club in a disused police check point that's been extended. Inside there is a gaudy animated holographic waterfall covering an entire wall, which only maintains the illusion of depth when seen from the front, and it doubles as the main light source. Popular with some of the more sociable tsotsi. All manner of narcotics are available here if you know who to ask.

31. Atrocity (nightclub) (G4)

This old shopping atrium has been converted into The Hub's premier Industrial Grind club. The dark interior is decorated with old medical apparatus, Geiger-esque furniture, sickly toxic coloured lighting that pulses through a series of grilled turbines in the ceiling. Body modified dancers gyrate inside dirty glass cylinders mounted on conduit covered metal plinths. Revoltingly exotic joy toys languidly splash around in shallow fluids, inside filthy horizontal tubes that hang over the dance floor and bar area. Biohazard symbols are projected around the main room, along with sinister Cthulhu-inspired symbols and images. Live grind bands perform sets on a grilled stage above the infamous mosh pit. Patrons openly flaunt body mods, scars, sickening tattoos, and horrific implants. Many wear masks and respirators, latex and rubber fetish wear. 'Slaves' on leashes are not uncommon. The club is designed to revel in an alien-ness, an otherness and body-horror. The owner (who prefers the term 'host') goes by the name of Tetsuo Lovecraft and he has large black almond-shaped eyes, pallid grey skin with implanted tubes and bearings underneath. His artificial hair is like the spines on a sick porcupine.

32. Eutectica (bar) (E2)

A reclaimed and modernised tea warehouse built of local stone, with one 3-storey wall replaced with smoked glass. Inside, the bar is spread over two floors and features laboratory style glass, metal and polymer surfaces, spill channels on the metal tables, beaker-like glassware, and brightly coloured vinyl upholstery. This is enclosed within unusual angles, hard shapes, spheroids and interwoven with carbon nano-tube helixes. A resident DJ handles the background music while holographic projections dance and shift the ambience in sync with the tracks.

33. The Athenaeum (nightclub) (H4)

This club's theme is exclusivity, power and wealth. The old Georgian exchange building is stylishly decorated with large, ornate gilt mirrors, monstrous leather sofas, heavy dark wood flooring, slate and granite slab tables, a dark marble dance floor, an oversized and overstated oak panelled bar, high backed chairs, lush red velvet walls and chandeliers. This club exudes decadence, old European quality and is very much about ego. Rich-kids hold court clustered in exquisitely furnished alcoves. Low level corporates come here to pose, boast and act like the mythical Eurozone power-players seen in the popular sims.

34. Brauhaus (bar) (F2)

One of the oldest public houses in Cape Point. Largely run down, the brickwork covered in gang tags, you wouldn’t know this was a bar if it wasn’t for the grime encrusted, flickering Carlsberg neon above the steps that lead down from street level. The upper floors are a mix of low rent apartments and dilapidated squats. The interior is decked out in a traditional bar room style - long laminated wood-effect bar with worn bar stools, table booths, round tables and chairs, a digital jukebox and various sports memorabilia. Three flatscreens are mounted above the bar, showing cricket, news, music or soft porn. The owner, Alzo, is a lethargic, wiry skinhead in his early 40s and can often be found reading a well worn bible, whilst taking hits from any number of bright plastic inhalers with Chinese labels that he keeps behind the bar. He carries a small supply of booze in case the PSA show up, but otherwise he normally supplies various recreational narcotics to his regular patrons.

35. The Five Flies (bar) (E6)

An older free-standing two-story building, its original purpose surely lost to the ages. A big red sign sprouts from a dirty gravel parking lot to proclaim the bar's existence. A number of vehicles, each one sadder-looking than the last, haunt the car park. 

A beaded curtain separates the entryway from the bar proper. Inside it's dim and seedy, and the air is a hazy pale blue from cigarette smoke. The cliché African theme permeates the whole room, with carvings of tribal statuettes and faded posters of various tropical paradises cover those portions of the walls that aren't dominated by eye-searing neon beer logos and ads for King Cobra whiskey. Ceiling fans with rattan blades rotate lazily overhead. A dust-covered plastic parrot on a little brass swing sits on the edge of the bar. An unplugged pinball machine sulks in one corner next to a dart-board that probably hasn't seen a game since the ANC years. Multiple TV sets mounted on the walls are tuned to some kind of brutal game show involving a family of five being chased through a maze by whip-snapping dominatrices with swastika armbands. Off to the side, a barely functional jukebox wheezes through a synthesised cocktail-jazz tune that's clearly intended to induce people to spend money to make the jukebox play something worth hearing.

From the entrance you can see the hallway that leads to the 'fragrant' restrooms, and two other doors that are marked as private. Etta, a mute, skinny, African barmaid with a shaved head, a limp, and a complexion like a grapefruit, hobbles here and there, delivering drinks and scooping up empty glassware where appropriate. On the opposite side of the room, the bar is tended by a huge white man called Brian, bald-headed with a luxurious moustache, a cut off rugby top, and crude, matching oversized cyberarms. And yes, there are way more than five flies in this place.

36. Third World War (nightclub) (F2)

A reclaimed 3-storey office block squeezed between other buildings. The ground floor is painted in a garish camouflage pattern with the name of the club in peeling white military stencilling. The door staff wear olive drab flak vests and night vision goggles; all graftees. The interior is clad in bare concrete slabs, each baring a variety of damage, including bullet holes. Dented metal panels painted in flaking military greens act as tables. Smoke machines enshroud the club in a misty, noisy haze. On the walls there are tattered national flags and large polymer screens showing silent footage of combat - GEVs, swarming drone attacks, burning suburbs, AV gunships in formation, convoys of motorised infantry and tanks, tac-nuke strikes, deltas carpet bombing villages, PA suits hitting a mine field… Animated holos of mushroom clouds detonate in time to the music. The club is renowned for zone-dancing. Third World War is suspected to be part of the Njombo Cartel's portfolio.

37. Rafiki’s (bar) (H2)

This long, dark, narrow space carved out of an old, corrugated polymer industrial unit is a haven for serious wirehead addicts and braindancers jacking illegal sims. There is no bar as such in this neon-tube lit ‘tunnel’; refreshment needs are catered for with a long row of poorly maintained vendomats. Seating is a ramshackle collection of decommissioned office chairs rescued from dumpsters, old car and AV seats and a scattering of disjointed plastic tables. The whole place reeks of ozone, nicotine, teenagers and hash. 

The owner, Rafiki, is a 25 year old hormone locked mixed-race asexual (appearing to be 14 and hauntingly feminine) and a hardcore button-head. They have an office at the back that consists of polymer lean-to’s attached to scaffolding rods with industrial adhesives. They’ll let you store stuff out back, no questions asked (Rafiki’s too lethargic to go and look at what you’ve stashed). Rafiki will accept payment in stimulants if you’re strapped for cash. Rafiki deals in info, sim-stim and softs.

Its rumoured that Rafiki has acquired a 'SQuID' (Superconducting Quantum Interference Detector) on the black market; US Navy surplus; used in the war to find subs and suss out enemy cyber- systems. Visual memories, passwords, key-phrases and the like can be extracted using Rafiki's tweaked SQuID.

38. Storm (nightclub) (FX)

This purpose-built, pale, three layered structure is constructed to withstand the coastal weather fluctuations, being situated as it is toward the far end of the docks where they meet the sea wall. Each layer is separated by glowing blue neon. A simple chrome plate by the entrance bares the name. The thunderous base the club is renowned for can be heard well before you get there.

The inside is dark and steel grey mixed with a variety of blues. Lighting consists of dimmed white light mixed with flashing blue lasers and randomly strobing UV. A huge polymer wall-screen shows images of thick, rolling clouds and stormfronts. Some of the interior walls are slabs of clear or dull transparent acrylic sheet with down-lit water flowing between them. The foyer features wild fountains, as do the washroom areas. Mounted above the dance-floor there is a crackling Faraday cage (which tends to mess with cheaper implants and cell phones). The musical flava here is Euro-Ziet. Storm is famous for it's wildly dramatic foam parties.

39. Apartheid Union (bar) (J4)

Located on the first floor of a poorly built apartment building on the edge of the Woodstock PeeZee, that dates back to the late 1990s, Apartheid Union squats above a grocers shop, a burger hatch and overcrowded flats. You have to enter the noisy building to climb the stairs to the bar. 

The first thing you notice when you pass through the leopard print curtains is the thick pot-haze that hangs in the air. Beyond the smoke, there is a small bar, painted in black, green, yellow and red stripes, plastic furniture liberated from a defunct fast-food joint and garish (but sticky) lino flooring. 

There's a large well lit fish tank dominating one wall, replica Zulu shields and assegai on another and a glowing plastic statue of Nelson Mandela healing a blind woman. A tattered poster of the Archbishop Desmond Tutu, resplendent in purple, smiles down from behind him. The guy skinning up behind the bar is a thin, drawn, bored-looking white man with thick dreadlocks and red ringed eyes. This is Snowcat, the owner and sole staff member as well as the self-appointed chairman of a growing, multicultural group of anti-corporate dissidents who long for a return to the optimism of the early ANC years. They get misty eyed singing reconciliation songs from the 90s.

40. The Factory (nightclub) (K6)

The original building was a small medical centre, but has been converted to house The Factory. The interior is tall and dark, with exposed steel girders painted with hazard stripes and smooth concrete floors. Orange hazard lights spin in the smoky haze. Spark emitters shower glowing orange rain over the crowd. Several deactivated industrial robots stand in salute above the dance-floor. Every few minutes, a large, dirty yellow spider-form robot descends with a pneumatic hiss from the roof, flashing lights on the tips of it's limbs, before being hoisted back into shadow. The entire floor space is the dance-floor, the bars being set flush with the walls. The vibe of the clientele is 'punk-chic' - military style, epaulettes, thin ties, short hair, almost fascist-style fashion. The music played here is a clever hybrid of Electropunk and Ambient Mood-Swing. The club is currently suffering from gang activity, drug dealers, weapons and organised criminals. Another place eclipsed by a geodesic.

41. House of Blue Lights (bar) (L10)*

Where do you go when you absolutely need to guarantee a little privacy for a discussion or a meeting? The front room of The House of Blue Lights is a well-lit but windowless bar with exits on no less than three sides of the building. The Blue Lights does a decent business on the bar service alone. High class call girls with a variety of ethnicity's will be noticeable in the bar area. What separates it from other bars is that in the back area you can rent a guaranteed-private chamber for an important "hush-hush" business discussion. Simply approach the attendant at the entrance to the back area and:

A)Mention to him/her that you want to rent a privacy room, and 

B)Give him/her the "password" you want others to have to give him to be allowed to join you.  This allows parties to arrive at different times and makes it more difficult to figure out who is in what room.

You will then be buzzed through a locked door and can go through a hallway to the room in question. People are not allowed to languish in the hallway (the attendant has an indicator on his/her desk that illuminates when someone is in the hallway and only lets one person or party use it at once), so there isn't really a way to be sure who is in what chamber if you are trying to watch from the bar area. A typical chamber is a small, windowless room similar to a blue-lit train compartment. It can hold about six people. It is fashioned in seamless clear plastic over white acrylic and features two moulded benches facing each other. The benches are more like smooth shelves built into opposite walls, the idea being that there is really no place to hide a bug. Each chamber is insulated, acoustically deadened, and is fitted with a scanning device that illuminates a warning light if something in the chamber is transmitting radio waves. Each chamber is swept for items left behind or other tampering immediately after each use. In short, there's no way to access what is said or done here without smuggling in a recorder of your own. Yes, they have a ventilation system, but they use white noise generators to keep them secure.

The staff is friendly and pleasant overall and have had some training to spot ruses and con jobs aimed at compromising security, but there are a few house rules that will get you thrown out if you don't observe them. They are posted just inside of each of the public doors and are :

1. If you ask questions of the staff as to who is onsite or where they are or when they were here, you will be denied service and immediately asked to leave.

2. Absolutely no cameras or other recording devices are allowed. If you are seen by any staff member with such a device, you will denied service and immediately asked to leave.

3. Absolutely no designation or insignia tying an individual to a media organisation is allowed. If you are seen by any staff member with such designation, you will be denied service and immediately asked to leave. Sorry, open declarations of media affiliation undermine the confidence of the patrons.

In addition, people who try to loiter around the attendant's desk will be asked to return to the bar area. Although The House is a handy thing to have, the need for such privacy is itself incriminating to a degree.  Some corporations have listed being there as a fireable offence. After all, if you were completely loyal, what would you have to hide?  The PSA, (rightly) suspicious that criminals sometimes use The House for meetings and plans, may try to stake the bar area out, but there's not really a way to be sure who is meeting whom. The owners of The House of Blue Lights have successfully sued the PSA and ISS for harassment, and as a result they tend to tread lightly here. Unknown to the majority of patrons, there is a secure puppet parlour and conventional brothel operating on the floors above as a part of The House.

42. The Dispensary (bar) (H6)

You can't see the exterior for the years of fly posters and graffiti artists, so no one knows what this place used to be. This self-service bar is lined with refrigerated vendomats for a variety of beer brands, and legal narcotics dispensers. Soemtimes, there are less-than-legal drugs in the 'mats too. The interior is all reinforced coloured glass and steel frames, the armoured and branded vendomats giving the place a retro-orbital feel. The staff consists of the shift manager and the security heavies, who observe the bar through cameras from an armoured back room. Being this close to the Devil's Peak Projects can cause problems; there are far too many violent incidents here, and the PSA are getting pissed off. Whichever gang claims the bar at any given time is very protective of it. Security only have a remit to protect he stock and the kit. A lot of well-known Projects dealers can be found frequenting the bar.

70. The Looking Glass (nightclub) (G4)

Sizeable macabre-chic strip-club where the dancers perform segments of their routines behind a curved sheet of dark, smoked glass that functions like an x-ray screen. You will literally see everything. Pole dancers perform inside cylinders of the same material. Flatscreens flash up x-ray images, many sexual. The decor consists of deep reds and opulent fabrics. The crowd is a healthy all-genders mix, dressed to impress.

71. Neoshima (nightclub) (C6)

Despite the sensationalist name, the Neoshima is a relatively calm nightclub, catering to multi-national wage slaves in a contemporary Japanese fashion. Chic, Tokyo corporate styling with low tables, burgundy upholstery, chrome edges, curved couches, communal areas, panelled paper screens, idol singers, kanji neon, elegant hostesses and the ubiquitous videoke.

78. Marimba’s (bar) (X11)

Positioned where the M61 cuts through the Bakoven geodesic, Marimba's is a NoGo bar of some repute. As dangerous as it is to get here, the information regarding events in the Suicide District can prove invaluable. Marimba is the man in the know, although now he is in his late 50s, he's thinking of quitting and moving on. He is well in with many local gang lords as well as a number of veteran solos. The bar has a very relaxed atmosphere, despite it's location, and feels more like an informal gathering. Marimba serves his guests from his back-room kitchen. The improvised furniture is littered with bongs, hookah pipes, pills, derms and plastic cups of Marimba's notorious homebrew, which he stores out back in reclaimed 25 litre containers. The furniture is made from painted bottle crates, large cable spindles serving as tables, and beanbags made from packing material stuffed into heat-sealed plastic sacks. Marimba sells some extraordinarily potent skunk too.

*with apologies to the VtfE crowd for bastardising their ideas. :)

Cape Point | Retail & Leisure

Continuing our look at Cape Point in the late 2020s. The numbers on the left correspond with the Cape Point map listing, the letter and number in brackets [eg: (G3)] are the map grid references.

24. The Thirty Mile Mall (D3)

Vast sub-surface mall complex beneath Signal Hill, built and managed by the Zi Corporation. The largest international brands compete to bring Cape residents the very best in retail experiences. 

Note to PCs: you can't buy guns here because that's just silly. Pay a fixer or go to The Hoop for that. I hear Militech and Arasaka's RRPs are pretty good too.

25. The Hoop (mall/market) (L5)

The Hoop was the ultramodern shopping experience in 2013, but is now a chaotic, donut-shaped shanty-market amongst the shells of old GAP stores and DELL franchises. It was abandoned due to the rise of gangs in the area and the construction of the superior Thirty Mile Mall. 

They actually keep livestock in here. 

Imagine an old KFC franchise, full of chickens and pigs, guarded by tsotsi gunmen with AK-47s rail-mounting Nikon SOPMODs… 

The market stalls sell street food, RAM, bootleg entertainment chips, porn, cigarettes, booze, toiletries, used electronics, second hand clothing, knock-off handbags, crappy ethnic jewellery, goats, assault rifles, and much, much more.

The Hoop is also home to recent start-up, Interzone Private Investigations*. Ex-Infocomp employee, Hendrik Van Zyl, chose The Hoop as it was the only space he could get after Infocomp had shut down all his other avenues. His Infocomp contract terminated and with very little money, he decided to offer what he knew to paying customers. IPI's office is located on the second floor, in a cramped, dilapidated Tie Rack.

The Hoop's abandoned parking lot is the place to find Honest Andris' Motorama* - finest vehicle from Eastern Europe! Andris Ozols was an entrepenuer in Latvia until that nation was torn apart during a religious war a few years ago. He emigrated to the SACR, and is now dealing in inexpensive used cars from Eastern Europe. Deregulated environmental protection laws and vehicle safety codes make it easy to scrape them up to emissions and safety standard levels. Andris buys older ones for next to nothing, has relatives assemble working examples from the best parts, and has them shipped here to sell for a profit.

Andris himself is a cheerful, friendly man, but is a schemer. He has so far sold every vehicle he brings in, and his repair shop for these vehicles does pretty well too. In other words, he doesn't haggle over the price of his vehicles. He might take a trade, but only if he is certain he can sell the trade item for at least the price he would normally get on a car.  

Honest Andris' is a place for low-level PCs and NPCs to get some cheap wheels that won't leave them heartbroken when they get destroyed. He may also have tentacles in other businesses, like smuggling immigrants, drugs, or guns from Latvia. He may have contacts within the Kombinat too. These activities may make him somehow more useful to the characters than just as a used car dealer.

26. The Photonics Market (F6)

A bustling semi-permanent, shambolic street market with all

the very latest counterfeit big-brand electronics from around the globe. Also a good place to find illegal software and discounted ICE beneath the the colourful plastic sheeting. Repairs, fixes and repurposing services are all available here for a fee, as are CAD-lathe manufactured smart-guns and jury rigged UAVs. Numerous Chinese, Malay and Vietnamese chipstores. Prone to PSA raids. Also home to Bad Sector, a computer shop selling reconditioned hardware at knocked down prices.

27. The Medicine Market (J3)

An abandoned department store houses this biotech and pharmaceutical 'street market' over five packed floors. Counterfeit medicines, designer drugs created from research chemicals in back alley bars, bioware, dubious or reclaimed implants, cloned cybernetics and human body-parts, Sahel neurochem, unlicensed medics, black clinics, insane ripper docs, Thai DNIs, witch-doctors, sakawa medicine men, drug kitchens, prostitutes forced into servitude by ubicomp tracking as pervasive as any government SIN, and illicit tattoo shops. There are also stalls selling traditional remedies - herbs, roots, totems etc. Biocontrol would dearly like to nuke this place out of existence. Gang activity is commonplace here. The Warrens can be accessed through the building's basement.

60. Simsense & Sensibility (F5)

This converted low rise apartment building now houses The Hub's premier adult fantasy braindance experience. Although the squat, four storey exterior is clad in dirty pink and grey plastic, the laminated pale grey interior is extremely clean and fresh. Timed air freshening units spray exotic scents into each of the six suites. Black plastic pods line the walls like sarcophagi, each housing an oxidised coated-aluminium braindance couch with temperfoam inlays, pink plastic Takara-Tomy ‘trode sets and a sanitising wipe/contact gel dispenser. Tasteful, erotic images are projected at intervals onto the walls, while soft, romantic music plays quietly from hidden speakers. 

The six suites are large and spread throughout the building, over the first three floors. A small, discrete reception desk is set in a small lobby with no windows, and all visitors must be buzzed in by the receptionist who monitors the exterior with cameras housed in the building’s cladding. Access to the sim-stim pods requires 100eb per hourly session or 1000eb for a monthly subscription. Members can enjoy clean facilities, soft to very hardcore programmable fantasies, the post-’stim bar area (Afterglow) on the upper floor and a Hyperlife™ across the street. Long term members tend to be conservative-looking, corporate couples looking to spice things up in safety, or hygiene obsessives with a fear of human contact.

68. VR-X (H4)*

Virtual Reality Xtreme (The Vrex) - normally open 24 hours and targets teens to young adults as clientele. 

The front of the shop is a small open court with tiled floor and a few tables and loungers on which to chill out on while a game is in progress, or watch the tournaments on big hanging screens with a Coke and a hotdog; this part has the best lighting so you don't spill your sauce.

Past the food court's low railing is the darker games section - black and blue ceilings and carpets, lit aqua from all the screens, air full of the constant thunder of engines, gunfire and spell effects. 'Partial enclosure' type machines are laid out in rows, using polymer flatscreens that get the player into the action of the simpler, cheaper games to the front, followed by a central pillar about which are a series of 'dentists chairs.' Players with I/F ports or 'trodes can jack in here to join in worldwide VR-X game tournaments - the chairs are upright until game start, then straighten, feet towards the pillar.

There are some extra loungers around this section for observers - dedicated game screens for the current action are mounted on the pillar, skipping from view to view and scoreboards. Some of the 'larger' worldwide games even support commentator hook-up, with instant replays and media controlled camera views to get the most dramatic shots of the action for the viewers.

Past this section, in a quieter thinly screened off room is the netcafé aspect of VR-X. Dataterm like PC's with cheap connection rates for VR-X clients are available for those who want to jack their personal deck in and be guaranteed a good linespeed for the night- or just a safe place to get local information.

VR-X arcades are always under constant video surveillance, and offer free net views of the shop - ostensibly so worried parents can see what their children are up to. This surveillance heavy aspect to the place avoids a lot of trouble - anyone with a 'past' who doesn't want to be on camera goes nowhere near the place… unless they know the guy at the kiosk. If your face is no liability, the noise and complete focus on screens will keep anyone from noticing you're muttering darkly through your hotdog wrapper. They still have trouble with bullying issues and the odd desperate 'dorpher wanting to roll kids for their pocket money, which is generally handled by a security guard or two from whatever company is available locally.

Their most major problems are with net security - the constant effort put into maintaining line speed and the VPN lines to other continents make them an excellent conduit for fast, long range hacking. (There are the conspiracy theorists who think this is the whole point of the place, but as a franchise it's viable on its own, without criminal activity.)

*with apologies to VftE members for bastardising their ideas. :)

Cape Point | Governance & Infrastructure

Continuing our look at Cape Point in the late 2020s. The numbers on the left correspond with the Cape Point map listing, the letter and number in brackets [eg: (G3)] are the map grid references.

09. SACR Government House (E4)

Government House is the seat of the Republic's parliament and the heart of non-corporate power in The Hub. It is a network of adjacent buildings housing civil servants, MPs, security staff, PR teams, media-spinners, journalists, conference rooms, 'war rooms', medical facilities, AI consultancy suites, the Prime Minister's offices and residency etc. The area is sumptuously styled with the latest artificial landscaping and designed for maximum security. Impact barriers can be triggered to seal the area in a matter of seconds. A CRDF rapid-reaction Fire Force team with AV support are stationed here at all times.

10. Public Security Agency Central (E4)

The imposing main HQ of the paramilitary national police organisation known as the PSA. PSA departments are prefixed with a letter D. These are: 

D-1 (Patrol)

D-2 (Public Order)

D-3 (Organic Damage)

D-4 (Controlled Substances)

D-5 (Transmission Felonies)

D-6 (Health & Hygiene)

D-7 (Tacticals)

D-8 (Commerce),

D-9 (Traffic Regulation)

D-10 (Coastals). 

PSA Central also houses the recently arrested in holding cells prior to court appearance. PSA Central operates an administrative AI known as Hecate.

11. The Intelligence Directorate (E4)

The ID is the SACR's intelligence agency, with interests both national and foreign. The HQ building is a tall, but unassuming, Georgian-styled structure that belies the fact that the entire edifice is state-of-the-art. Many civil servants work here. Beneath the building lie miles of secret corridors, cells, labs, server rooms, interview rooms and much more. The external structure boasts it's own nano-immune systems and transmission screens. The whole smart-complex is monitored by an AI that calls itself Warden.

12. The Internal Security Services (E4)

This large, dark monolith is home to The Internal Security Service, the city’s equivalent to Special Branch or the FBI, charged with combating terrorist organisations and reducing the power of the criminal gangs. It is corrupt at virtually every level, and does not actively pursue the major criminal cartel. Even when it hasn’t been bribed into inaction, it is usually hamstrung by politics and infighting. The ISS controls the city’s main counter terrorist unit, OSEC (Operations/Security), and has superior net operatives to the PSA. It theoretically weeds out corruption in government and the PSA, but in reality it ignores it until it becomes a problem. The ISS spends a lot of time stamping down on pirate media, mainly because they themselves are a major target. The ISS is more willing to stamp down on the urban poor and general citizenry than on those that covertly fund it's activities. 

The hacker collectives are beginning to suspect that the ISS possesses an illegal undeclared AI of considerable power (Daedalus). Given the ISS’ reputation for flaunting SACR law, the idea that it could withhold the existence of an AI is not hard to imagine. 

13. UN Biocontrol (E4)

The local headquarters of Biocontrol, the descendent of the old World Health Organisation. The structure is a large, stark white, cylindrical tower with the UN blue flag logo and the organisation's name in grey running vertically down the building. Biocontrol work closely with the SACR Government to tackle epidemics, research, perform contingency planning, health education, suppression operations, disease control and offer cutting edge laboratory facilities. There is a lot of work to do in the region following the horror of the Third World Emergency.

14. UN Protocol (E5)

The regional headquarters of the globe's largest legislative organisation. The site consists of three matt black connected towers with UN blue flags flying near the entrance, the organisation's name displayed in silver Times Roman on a black marble menhir, with the UN globe and laurel, also etched in silver. The grand entrance hall and reception of the structure is clad in black marble. Protocol monitor transnat activity, as well as each of the regional governments. They are particularly keen on monitoring the IOS, as they have no official facilities within that particular polity. Protocol sometimes use the Pan African Defence Force as peace keepers across the south and west of Africa, which causes a great deal of tension in the region when they are deployed.

15. Consulate Square (E4)

SAFS Embassy - The South African Free State maintains an embassy in the SACR at great expense. This failing state is struggling to stay afloat and it is only a matter of time before the transnats take over, the IOS or PAU invade or Protocol declare the State invalid and divide the territories up. The staff here are fully aware of the state of their nation, and are only concerned about maintaining their position and not being sent home. The SAFS flaunts it's covert operations within the SACR like a nation with nothing left to lose. Perhaps they are attempting to goad the SACR into a full scale invasion of the State…

PAU Embassy - The SACR and other SA states are riddled with agents of the Pan African Union, a pseudo-super-state, headed by the recently industrialised Tanzania and their allies. The PAU are an expansionist, elitist club, backed by a shadowy group of corporate moneymen who are only interested in developing and growing the marketplace for their companies' products. 

The PAU have been a problem for the SACR since the secession of hostilities at the end of the Third World Emergency in 2025. The embassy for the Pan African Union is monitored continually by both the ISS and the Directorate. The ISS are suspected of taking financial incentives from the PAU Diplomatic Corps to turn a blind eye to their political activities, and the influence they exert in The Hub. The Directorate finds the very presence of the PAU within the capital to be distasteful. The wider area around this building, and The Hub in general, is steeped in old Cold War style spy activity.

Chinese High Commission - A nest of spies, corporate developers and moneymen. The Chinese are commonplace throughout the continent, snapping up resources and tapping burgeoning markets. Weapons deals are still the most lucrative form of trade for the Chinese. The mighty Zi Corporation seems to be gaining greater control of the Commission staff as time goes on. There has been a huge amount of Chinese influence (and money) in the SACR in recent years, something the Europeans and other Pacific investors are keen to change.

IOS Embassy - A small, converted ministry building houses the embassy of the Incorporated Orange States, the Afrikaans-Transnational fusion that has the Western Cape so on edge. The States are governed like a series of subsidiaries, with the IOS Central Government as the parent company. Corporate entities flock to the region tempted by weighted incentives, lax legislation and a free market place. The IOS regularly antagonises the PAU member states, especially infosocialist Angola. This creates tensions for the SACR, who are trying to pacify the border regions and suppress the smuggling rings operating there.

US Embassy - A half-empty shadow of it's former status. The building is in disrepair and what little of it that is still in use is covered in advertising of all kinds, including AR. The US Embassy exists simply to make money. The minimal staff are little more than wily fixers these days. Rumours abound that a brothel operates in the former hospitality annex on-site. It is also a safe haven for US nationals operating as mercenaries across the south of the continent.

16. Cape Point Central MagLev Terminus (G3)

The first thing commuters see are the bright orange lights of this large Victorian Gothic station. The ticket booths are entirely automated but don't take cash. The entrance routes are lined with convenience stores like Lucky Dragon, along with dataterms and pay phones. A series of full-body turnstiles control access into the station. 

The trains, while not exactly sterile, are fairly clean, depending on the time of day. They hiss quietly along the elevated tracks, rocking slightly. If you can ignore all the animated advertisement boards, the large windows offer an impressive view of suburban blightscapes, colossal freeway interchanges, and, as it rockets further westward, larger and healthier looking buildings that seem to beckon your attention toward the colossal skyscraper clusters. The cars get more crowded as you head into town. As you approach the Terminus, you pass through long stretches of rail yards and old loading bays. Some of these facilities are alive and studded with lights, and some are just darkened, brooding hulks. From here there are routes to Cape Point Aerospace International, access to the subway network and lines to some of the more affluent districts.

20. SACR Defence Force Ministry (E4)

The sprawling complex and imposing fortified towers of the Cape Republic Defence Force. This is the Pentagon of the SACR. It is suspected amongst the upper echelons of The Directorate that a military coup may be on the cards in the very near future. The Ministry is a hotbed of back room deals, whispers and lies. The Angola border disputes are used to distract the media viewing public and as a display of the CRDF's ruthless capability.

21. Sense/Net (F3)

This imposing flat-topped pyramid is the regional HQ for the local netwatch, clashing regularly with the PSA's Transmission Felonies department. Sense/Net operatives and agents are ruthlessly efficient and rightly feared.

22. De Waal Park Stadium (E7)

Relocated sports complex, originally situated in Green Point for the 2010 World Cup. Soccer games, title fights, cricket matches and sell-out musical events are all held here. Security is provided by an open-ended contract with private security contractor Sentry, a wholly owned subsidiary of Militech.

69. Storage Modules (G3)

A very secure compound containing thousands of stacked storage modules and a variety of warehouses. Remote lifters and loaders drone through garish plastic alleyways under the 24 hour arc-lights. Modules and warehouses can be hired. Regular biometrics scans ensure that no-one takes up residence in the compound. Patrolled by PLECs with PSA back-up.

80. Cape Technikon (F4)

The Cape Peninsula University of Technology formed in January 2005 from the merger of the Cape Technikon and Peninsula Technikon. This sprawling gated and secure campus is the heart of all non-corporate high education in The Hub.

Cape Point | Hospitality

Continuing our look at Cape Point in the late 2020s. The numbers on the left correspond with the Cape Point map listing, the letter and number in brackets [eg: (G3)] are the map grid references.

43. Metropole Luxury Coffin (hotel) (I3)

The capsule hotel Metropole Luxury Coffin is an oasis of last-chance affordability. 

While the building and the racks look ramshackle and unsafe, the inside of the capsules are pretty secure, fairly sound resistant and fully opaque. Some may not be too clean, however… A sheet of worn temperfoam carpets the 'floor', a 14" LCD screen is mounted in the ceiling (but may be damaged) along with a coin/card slot - the TV here is pay per view and can be used as a videophone too. 

Every floor has a communal washroom, with rubberised tiles and plastic mirrors siliconed to the walls, copied wholesale from prison specs. The whole place reeks of cheap disinfectant. Each floor also has a selection of vendomats that dispense toiletries, pre-packed food, beverages, cigarettes and porn. The hotel is accessed via a turnstile once you have paid for a capsule and the key token has been dispensed.

A cleaner with an industrial pressure-washer comes once a week, along with the manager who is there to simply collect the money and glance over the place.

44. Hyatt Transmetropolitan (hotel) (E3)

From the lobby voice-over:

"… a global hospitality company with a widely recognised, industry leading brand and a tradition of innovation developed over their sixty-five-year history. Hyatt hotels are places to enjoy, socialise and entertain. 

Signature elements of the Hyatt group include dramatic and energetic lobby environments, innovative dining options, state of the art technology, spa and fitness centres and comprehensive business and meeting facilities. Hyatt customers are experienced individual business and leisure travellers. The hotels also cater to conferences, corporate meetings and social gatherings of all sizes. 

311 hotel rooms and suites, 50 luxury residential apartments, 3 restaurants, the Grand Ballroom plus the Hyatt Transmetropolitan Business and Exhibition Centre with 7 meeting rooms and 3 boardrooms. Limousine and car hire, airport transfers, private aerodyne pads and leading-brand stores are available to guests. Security is provided by Hyatt and their operatives are trained in Europe."

The Hyatt has 3 popular bars:

The Lounge

Located adjacent to the lobby, the imposingly fashionable Lounge is the place to see and be seen. From the designer furniture and lighting fixtures to two large open fireplaces, floor-to-ceiling windows in the conservatory and a spectacular view, The Lounge is a truly exclusive and unique experience. The finest selection of exclusively imported teas, speciality coffees, cocktails and beverages, together with a carefully selected range of snacks and viennoiseries are available throughout the day. Dress code: Casual, Non-smoking tables available, Location: Lobby level, Hours: Daily 7:00 am to 1:00 am.

JJs

JJ's bar is located on the 2nd level of the Hyatt Transmetropolitan. JJ's guests can sip their drinks while watching the big-screen television at the bar. The intimate atmosphere invites people to catch up on gossip with friends and makes for a perfect setting to enjoy pre- and post-dinner drinks. Stay and dance until the early hours of the morning on JJ's dance floor.

JJ's bar is open to hotel guests and non-residents. Dress code: Casual, Hours: Monday to Saturday - 10:00 pm until the early hours of the morning.

The Terrace

Cool, breezy and flirty, The Terrace is the ideal place to unwind after a long day. Escape to an exclusive and divine new environment and be seduced by the sensations that await you… cool sofa seating, sleek cocktail bar, soothing water features and majestic landscaping. Chill out whilst listening to the latest music. The largest variety of freshly squeezed tropical juices, iced teas, speciality cocktails and novel snacks provide an optimum choice for every mood. Dress code: Casual, Location: Lobby level, Hours: Daily from 4:00 pm to 1:00 am (weather permitting).

45. The Red Door Motel (K5)

On the border of the Salt River Filter Zone and the Pinelands NoGo, set back from a four lane highway lined with abandoned stores and overcrowded tenements. The central reservation is marked with chipped and fading red and white hazard striped concrete barriers riddled with bullet holes, darkened by exhaust fumes and a layer of crude graffiti. 

The area around the motel is cracked concrete, patched with dried and worn tarmac. Hardy scrub grasses push through the crumbling layers. Sometimes, there can be a dozen or so vendors selling various trivial things such as chips, toiletries, medicines and the like, watched over by AKM-toting gang members cruising the periphery. An animated neon-sign of an opening and closing red door flickers above the off ramp, suspended from an old streetlight arm. Thick wires are taped in place and run to a filthy green junction box clearly opened with a cutting torch. Fat moths batter themselves to death against the neon.

The motel itself is a long, low, corrugated-acrylic building, the materials acquired from a variety of industrial sources and painted many different shades of red. This patchwork paint-job on scrap material makes the place look very fragile. There are 15 doors running down the length of the building on each side and a main door that leads to a central corridor and the office. The doors are a variety of colours, with white plastic numerals. Several generations of satellite dishes are clustered on the roof. Small UPVC windows are set into the shell.

Inside, the structure is reinforced with steel beams with a thick coat of red paint. The walls of the rooms are made of fire-board with foam layers between, hastily painted white. Each humid room has a double bed, night stand, ceiling fan, bare lamp and a small brushed chrome bathroom - watch out for the spiders and the roaches. Pay TVs and pay phones have also been fitted securely. The small windows can be opened but have a reinforced steel grill on the inside with enough space to get your hand through. The decor is mismatched and the sheets are disposable. The bedding is sealed inside polythene wrapping and laid out in the centre of the stained and worn mattresses. More can be bought from vendomats at the end of the corridor. Birth control vending machines can be seen in the corridor and in each of the bathrooms, although many have been wrecked. The office is inside the building. The owner lives in a concrete building to the rear of the property. Two staff man the office most of the time. Prostitution is common here. The Observatory district's ragged Fuller dome can be seen in the distance.

46. Easy-Pod (hotel) (F4)

Franchise sleep-cube hotel in grey and orange liveried plastic. A plethora of vendomats on every level. Clean, cheap, secure!

Little grey and orange cleaning drones dart from little cubby holes when the LAN sensors are picking up minimal motion, vibration and acoustics. Compared to the Metropole this place is professional and luxurious. Staff are on hand wearing their grey and orange short-sleeved shirts (usually ethnic Africans, Indians or Malays). Security is provided by a low grade AI with access to hidden weapon ports and a direct line to the PSA.

47. The Radisson (hotel) (EX)

Luxury voice-responsive hotel rooms by the Atlantic Ocean coast. 177 bright and elegantly designed hotel rooms, with 11 two-bedroom Suites and 58 Business Class Rooms furnished with private balconies and breathtaking views of Table Mountain and the private marina. All rooms come complete with free high-speed, wireless net access, minibar and coffee and tea provisions. Offering one of the best restaurants in The Hub, this luxury hotel features Tobago's Restaurant, presenting local and international cuisine and a vast selection of fine South African wines. Tobago's Bar and Terrace boasts the perfect location to catch the 'gorgeous' sunset over the Atlantic Ocean. The spacious Harbour View Room overlooks the private marina and is the ideal location for private events with an unmatched setting - this room boasts a unique seaside boardwalk and overlooks the private marina. The Radisson can provide dedicated Meetings & Events co-ordinators as well as onsite security.

48. Hilton Cape Point (hotel) (B6)

All of the modern guest rooms in the hotel boast large windows, impressive polymer flatscreen TVs and complimentary net access. Upgrade to an Executive Room for stunning views of Table Mountain or the city and access to the Executive Lounge, with complimentary breakfast, canapés and drinks. 

Hold a conference for up to 140 guests in one of 8 meeting rooms which offer the very latest in audio/visual technology and ensure your event is a success with the Hilton business centre. Start the day with breakfast in Bistro 126, savour authentic North Indian cuisine in the elegant Mezbaan Restaurant and sip cocktails and relax with a fragrant shisha pipe in the exotic Signal Hill Terrace Lounge & Restaurant. Work out in our Fitness Centre or soak up the glorious South African sunshine with stunning views of the Bo-Kaap and Table Mountain in the outdoor swimming pool (radiation and UV levels permitting).

49. The Cape Royale (hotel) (C2)

The Cape Royale Hotel and Residence is a luxury all-suite property with a wonderful backdrop of Table Mountain and the Ocean, within easy reach of the V&A Waterfront. The hotel is situated along a picturesque avenue in Green Point - a cultured and secure part of Cape Point. It offers 92 spacious, luxuriously furnished guest suites, all with views of the waterfront and Table Mountain. Onsite facilities include a health spa, fitness room, rooftop swimming pool and pool-side bar. 

50. Victoria & Alfred (hotel) (E1)

You can feel the ambience of old colonial Cape Town as you step into the foyer, sense the past of shipwrecks and storms that colour every corner, then relax in the elegant contemporary bedrooms… and savour the atmosphere of the world’s most famous working harbour. 

Built in 1904 as the North Quay Warehouse and converted in 1990 to a luxury hotel, it is named in honour of the Queen of England and her son. Prince Alfred visited the Cape in 1870 and officially opened the Breakwater basin, today’s Victoria & Alfred Waterfront. It’s the precise details that gives the Victoria & Alfred Hotel its elegance, intimacy, romance and reputation… the wooden staircase, the telescope, flowers and the service… friendly and efficient yet never intrusive.

Then there are the bedrooms – 94 spacious, air-conditioned, en-suite rooms spread over three floors. Our superior luxury double rooms boast separate bath, shower and toilet, king-sized beds and are creatively styled and well-appointed. All have coffee and tea on tap, with private bar, electronic safe, pay-per-view television, wireless high speed net access… every room has a view over the ever-awake Alfred Basin or Piazza.

On both the first and second floor, there are Mountain and Piazza facing Junior Suites. All Piazza Junior Suites will offer a dining area, perfect for in-room dining and small meetings of up to six (6) persons, while The Mountain Junior Suites have a dedicated 4-seater lounge area which can seamlessly be converted into a romantic dining space. Polymer flatscreens are also data compatible and are able to connect to a laptop or modem for data projection and can swivel to face the seating areas. The third floor is home to 26 sophisticated superior loft bedrooms – the ideal space for visitors seeking a cosmopolitan experience with all the refined luxury that the Victoria & Alfred Hotel shamelessly boasts.

51. Southern Sun (hotel) (F2)

While being less than fancy, this spartan and least ritzy of hotels gets the job done. The hotel's quality is rated at three stars, yet room prices are equal to most two-star establishments. The basement, playfully referred to as 'the drawers' by hotel patrons and employees, is filled with over one hundred cramped sleep cubicles at bargain basement rates.

52. Westin Grand Quays (hotel) (F3)

The five star Westin Grand Quays hotel is centrally located in Convention Square at the entrance to the famous Victoria & Alfred Waterfront. This convenient location allows guests to reach, within easy walking distance, old Cape Town’s many attractions, including a wide selection of restaurants, bars, nightlife, monuments, museums, shopping centres, the Cape Point central business district, as well as direct links to all the tourist highlights in and around this bustling city. The guest rooms and suites at The Westin are decorated in warm tones with modern, yet comfortable furniture. Guests are invited to experience the unique all-white Westin Heavenly Bed® as well as the refreshing Westin Heavenly Shower® which are unique to Westin hotels worldwide.

  

The 483 spacious and modern guest rooms, with their fully glazed impact resistant façades, provide magnificent floor-to-ceiling views over Cape Town, the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, the Table Bay Harbour, and the scenic outlying mountain ranges including Lions Head, Signal Hill and the magnificent Zi Arcology.

Rooms are equipped with all the modern conveniences, including complimentary wireless net access and state-of-the-art communication technology. The all-white Westin Heavenly Bed®, with its custom designed pillow-top mattress set, cosy down blanket, crisp sheets, comforter, duvet, and plush pillows promises a wonderful night’s sleep. The elegant bathrooms feature under-floor heating as well as the Westin Heavenly Shower®. With double shower heads, extra wide jet radius, and various spray settings, they guarantee an exceptional shower experience.

A full range of massages including hot stone, shiatsu, deep tissue, and Swedish are available as well as full-body treatments for revitalising and rejuvenating in addition to health and wellness assessments and consultations. In the WestinWORKOUT® Gym, which is fitted with the latest equipment, guests have access to the best prerequisites for maintaining their fitness program. The gym is open 24 hours daily.

A complimentary shuttle from The Westin Cape Town hotel is available to the Clock Tower at the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront. It leaves the hotel every half hour, with the first shuttle departing the hotel at 9am and the last shuttle leaving the Waterfront at 11:30pm. The fully equipped business centre assists with all data processing and communication needs during guests’ stay. Located in the lobby, a dedicated travel, tours and activity desk offers transport and touring services as well as a full range activities and excursions to all of the attractions in and around Cape Point and the SACR.

The Westin Grand Quays offers a delicious variety of food and beverage venues to its guests.

53. City Lodge (hotel) (C4)

Besides the hotel's comfortable accommodation facilities set in the shadow of the Zi Arcology, there are two restaurants within the hotel complex, as well as a bar which is perfect for both pre-dinner cocktails and late night liqueurs. City Lodge also has an extensive choice of banqueting venues and state-of-the-art conference facilities, making it an ideal choice of hotel accommodation for corporate travel to Cape Point. Onsite security is provided by Sentry™ - 'the choice of the professional'.

54. Best Western Cape (motel) (K2)

Off Marine Drive in the Paarden Eiland Filter Zone, this motel is a fully secured, walled village-style cluster-complex with a 3 star self catering facility in each suite. The motel has a total of 123 suites, comprising of studios and one, two or three bedroom accommodation. Serviced by 2 bars, 2 restaurants and 2 swimming-pools with spacious, air-conditioned apartments complete with fully equipped kitchens. Guests can hire an armed escort in an armoured 4x4 to travel north.

The entire site is designed to be defensible. Despite the armed security, gang tags and graffiti are prevalent. 

There are one or two permanent residents here, including an ageing 50-something British surfer called Malky, a functional heroine addict and a self-styled author-philosopher (he has a blog). When he isn't catching waves secured inside his biohazard graded surf-suit, blogging, playing guitar badly, or shooting up, he will be eminently hospitable, whipping up one of his chilli mega-pots and passing around a spliff.

61. The Blue Room (restaurant) (F5)

South American food with an African twist. Brazilian samba, a relaxing atmosphere and plenty of dope. Plastic furniture with bright blue leather seating.

On the top floor, in the loft, is a small courier start-up called King Kouriers. A ramshackle crew of young mountain-bikers, scooter enthusiasts and skate-heads. Any package that can be carried by a person on a bike or board can be delivered. Amongst executives, it is seen as a luxurious novelty to have items hand-delivered by King Kouriers, and preferable if transfer via the net is deemed too risky. Outside, around the back of The Blue Room, are the rails where all the bikes are chained, as well as the external, metal fire escape stairs leading up to the courier firm.

62. Wynyard Estate (restaurant) (E1)

This steel and glass conservatory-like dining room built around a 350-year-old oak, on the edge of the exclusive Mouille Point MPZ, overlooks the beautifully tended gardens of the old Fort Wynyard. 

The whole place exudes an air of exceptional quality. A bistro menu with owner Liz McGrath's own Steak and Kidney Pie and crispy fish-and-chips recipe is competitively priced for lunch. The dinner menu offers more elegant options such as truffled celery root soup with a shallot tarte tatin and celery root rémoulade or tian of soft-shell crab with aubergine and avocado as starters. Panfried sole served with scallop paupiettes, steamed potatoes, tomato fondue, baby fennel, and ginger velouté is a great entrée option. Roasted quail and veal sweetbreads are joined by mushroom mille-feuille, ham and leeks, pumpkin, and a sherry quail jus. The Dark and White Chocolate Plate is taken from the owner's published cookbook, The Collection Cookbook (2019). Ask for beverage manager Miguel Chan's assistance with ordering the wine, as he has succeeded in securing every vintage of nearby Klein Constantia's famous Vin de Constance. Due to the location, there is never a moment where the restaurant is not secure.

63. African Sun (restaurant) (E2)

Tourist oriented it may be, but it would nevertheless be a pity to miss out on this vibrant restaurant in a historic 18th-century former home, with its African decor and city views. Fresh-fruit cocktails accompany a communal feast, with dishes originating from Ethiopia to Zambia, from Kenya to Angola. There are no starters or entrées, but rather a tasty series of patties, puffs, and pastries accompanied by addictive dips, along with dishes like Botswanan seswaa masala, a game-meat curry traditionally served at weddings and funerals, and an East African mchicha wa nazi (spinach cooked in a coconut milk sauce). Vegetarian dishes are plentiful, including the Soweto chakalaka (a fiery cooked-vegetable relish). Poppy seed cake with vanilla ice cream is the prix-fixe dessert. The cost of this colorful prix-fixe abundance is 125eb per person. Wines from Cape estates are available, or you can ask for umqomboti beer, brewed from sorghum or millet.

64. The Leeuwenhof (restaurant) (F4)

Named after the old official residence of the Premier of the Western Cape, this is a thoroughly modern eatery in the heart of the Hub. Real wood is juxtaposed with brushed steel and matt polymers beneath subdued, ambient lighting. Multiple course meals or light snacks are both served here. You'll pay more for a sandwich than you should have to, but the place and people are pretty and the free net access is the great appeal, with many people, especially those with computers, favouring the long communal table. Most overlook the poor service and consider the hipster vibe reason enough to visit. Security systems are very sophisticated and unobtrusive.

65. Saigon (restaurant) (E2)

Vietnamese eatery owned by a large 3rd generation Vietnamese family with ties to the Bhin Xuyen. Incredibly classy decor throughout and expensive menu. The food is excellent, however. Rumours are rife regarding the family's other interests including gun-running from the old country and counterfeit cybernetics smuggling from the Federated States of Micronesia. White noise screens shield diners from the other patrons.

66. Happy Wok (restaurant) (H3)

Large Cantonese restaurant popular with The Hub's mid-level crowd. Rumoured to be Triad owned but actually in the hands of the Kombinat. The AR menus are the height of digital sophistication and are renowned as an entertainment in their own right. Otherwise, it's a pretty tacky place.

67. Bardelli’s (restaurant) (E4)

Expensive Italian restaurant frequented by civil servants and low-level executives. A good place to pick up information on the undercurrent of The Hub from the people who are making it happen. Clients are screened for weaponry before entering. Live jazz most evenings. 

Chef-owner Giorgio Bardelli is so passionate about using only the finest ingredients that he catches his own fish and vat-grows his own beef-slab. Diners will be hard-pressed to find better Milanese cuisine. The paper-thin beef carpaccio '95' is drizzled with homemade mayonnaise and topped with fresh arugula and parmesan shavings. When Georgio manages to catch uncorrupted tuna, he serves it seared with cherry tomatoes, capers, and olives he grows on the roof terraces. The butternut-squash-filled ravioli with brown sage butter is sublime, and the soft-centred chocolate soufflé is the benchmark for every other. With its bentwood chairs, the upstairs interior is Eames-inspired; downstairs, the exposed stone reveals the building's ancient history, which began in 1682.

*with apologies to the denizens of VftE for bastardising any of their ideas. :)