2041 — The Baseline
2041 is the simulation’s starting year and the baseline against which all subsequent decline is measured. Rockvil is a functioning mid-sized American city with a middle class, public parks, a diverse commercial district, and a government that still works. The Simm family is intact and hopeful.
The City
Rockvil in 2041 is prosperous but not opulent. The Rockvil Centre plaza is described as “well-maintained.” Dunbar’s department store is “upscale,” “crowded despite its rather steep prices” — a middle-class shopping destination. The skybus operates normally. The Tube runs. The spaceport is open. Elevators work.
The government official in City Hall “cheerily comments on how well things in the city are running, and how rewarding his job has been lately” (GOVERNMENT-OFFICIAL-F in rockvil.zil). This is the last time anyone will speak this way.
Kennedy Park is an open public park. Halley Park’s statue and duck pond are intact. The river is clean. The sky is “light.” Forests and conservation lands surround the western suburbs.
The jail, while not described in detail for 2041, presumably functions normally. No curfew arrests, no police brutality, no BSF raids are reported for this year — though the BSF must already exist.
The Simm Family
Perry Simm is a writer, working on his Africa book and hoping his agent Clave will sell it. Jill Simm is an artist, painting bright watercolors of their Bermuda honeymoon from her easel in the apartment’s well-lit spot near the window. Mitchell is their infant son.
The apartment at Parkview is modest but comfortable. The living room’s huge window provides a “panoramic view” of the wealthy western suburbs “surrounded by the woods and conservation lands of the State Park System” (APARTMENT-WINDOW-F). The word processor is “an old model, but it was the best WP you could afford.”
Jill’s daily routine (interrupts.zil, I-JILL) is domestic contentment: she wakes, dresses, makes salad, paints, reads, does her hair, goes to bed. She asks Perry about his agent and dreams of buying a house: “If the economy keeps going the way it’s going, and someone buys your Africa book, we might be able to afford a house next year!”
The refrigerator contains salad and soda. The apartment door opens to Jill’s kiss when Perry forgets his key.
Key Locations
- Parkview Apartments: Elevator functioning; lobby intact; buzzer works
- Dunbar’s: “Upscale,” crowded, accessible to all
- City Hall: “Well-maintained,” government functioning
- Main & Kennedy: Skybus terminal on northwest corner; Kennedy Park open
- Rockvil Centre: Plaza with well-maintained City Hall portico
- The Coachman: Operating as a normal restaurant
- Heiman World/Heiman Village: Operating malls
- All parks: Open and public
Score Events
No SCORE calls fire in 2041. This is by design — 2041 is the control year, the “before” picture. The game’s scoring system begins in 2051. There is no 2041-SCORE global.
Notable observations that could be made (though they don’t score):
- The well-maintained City Hall
- The clean river
- The thriving forests visible from the apartment window
- The normal, functioning urban infrastructure
- The government official’s cheerful demeanor
Key Characters Active
- Perry Simm: Young writer, protagonist
- Jill Simm: Young artist, Perry’s wife, mother of Mitchell
- Mitchell Simm: Infant son
- Government Official: Cheerful, reports city is running well
Broader Context
The simulation opens into a world that mirrors 1985 America projected forward with cautious optimism. Technology has advanced — skycabs, skybuses, logic games, word processors, myalon sweaters — but the social fabric is recognizable. The Plan for Renewed National Purpose has not yet produced visible effects. The Church of God’s Word does not appear.
This is the world the simulation was built to study: a healthy baseline against which to measure the consequences of policy. The tragedy is that the simulation will show those consequences, and no one in power will want to see them.
See Also
- 2051 — The first cracks
- rockvil-across-decades — Full side-by-side comparison
- the-apartment-across-decades — The Simm family’s domestic arc
- jill-simm — Jill at her most content
- mitchell-simm — Mitchell as an infant