Brussels, July 2027
The queue outside the Deutsche Bank Cooling Pavilion stretched three blocks. Inside, it was 21°C and there were leather chairs. Outside, it was 47°C and there was a water cannon.
I've covered protests before. I've seen riot police deploy tear gas in Moscow, watched separatists fire on crowds in Donetsk. But I'd never seen a corporation deploy private security against people trying not to die.
The Fusion Point
What we're seeing is a collision of three previously separate trends:
1. Climate infrastructure as premium service- The air-conditioned mall as heat refugee camp2. Corporate citizenship replacing state functions- When governments can't keep people alive, brands step in3. Access as the new class marker- Not what you own, but where you're allowed to cool down
The Memo
I obtained an internal document from a major European retailer. The subject line: "Thermal Hospitality Strategy." Key excerpt:
> "We recommend tiered cooling access aligned with loyalty program status. Platinum members receive priority queuing and complimentary hydration. Non-members may access overflow cooling in the loading dock area, subject to capacity."
What This Tells Us
The heat wave will pass. The infrastructure it reveals won't. We're building a world where survival correlates with purchasing power—not in the abstract way it always has, but in the immediate, physical, hour-by-hour way.
When I filmed "After the Apocalypse" in Kazakhstan's nuclear test zone, I watched a doctor try to prevent "unfit" people from reproducing. I thought that was a Soviet horror, safely in the past.
Turns out it was a preview.
This is a design fiction. The scenario is invented. The patterns are real.