Jill Simm

Jill Simm is the wife of Perry Simm and mother of Mitchell Simm. She is one of the most richly scripted characters in A Mind Forever Voyaging, with an elaborate daily routine tracked by the JILL-COUNTER variable (0 through 14), each value corresponding to a specific activity and location. Her character arc across the decades — from hopeful young mother to broken, withdrawn old woman — mirrors the game’s central theme of societal collapse.

Daily Routine

Jill’s day in 2041 and 2051 is meticulously choreographed (interrupts.zil, I-JILL and PUT-JILL-IN-THE-RIGHT-PLACE):

Time	Counter	Activity	Location
Before 7:58 AM	0	Sleeping peacefully	Bedroom
7:58 AM	1	Waking up, dressing	Bedroom
8:42 AM	2	Neatening the bedroom	Bedroom
9:51 AM	3	Making a salad	Kitchen
10:44 AM	4	Reading on the couch	Living Room
11:37 AM	5	Painting at her easel	Living Room
1:33 PM	6	Eating her salad	Kitchen
2:19 PM	7	Washing dishes	Kitchen
3:12 PM	8	Painting again	Living Room
6:04 PM	9	Cleaning up	Living Room
6:57 PM	10	Reading on the couch	Living Room
8:42 PM	11	Washing/coloring her hair	Bathroom
9:39 PM	12	Reading in bed	Bedroom
11:22 PM	0 (reset)	Goes to sleep	Bedroom

When Jill wakes, she says: “Morning, honey! I sure slept like a stone!” and gives Perry a quick kiss (interrupts.zil, I-JILL, lines 532-533). She calls Perry “hon” throughout the game.

Her Art

Jill is a painter. Her easel occupies “a beautiful, well-lit spot near the window” in the living room (apartment.zil, EASEL-DESC). Her paintings evolve with the times:

• 2041: “A bright watercolor of the cliff-top Bermuda cottage colony where you and Jill spent your honeymoon” (apartment.zil, PAINTING-F, lines 551-552)
• 2051: “A vibrant acrylide painting depicting workers in a space factory hovering above machinery, sipping coffee tubes. A crescent earth dominates the view through a domed canopy. It is Jill’s most mature work to date” (lines 554-557)
• 2061: “In subdued shades of brown and gray, a painting of a beggar woman, her face a mask of suffering” (lines 560-561)
• 2071: “A dark and brooding pencil sketch depicting a demonic figure towering over a frightened group of children. It’s been months since you last saw Jill working on it” (lines 563-566)

She is possessive of her materials: “Jill doesn’t like you fooling with her painting and drawing stuff” (apartment.zil, EASEL-F, line 513).

Personality and Relationships

Jill is warm, loving, and occasionally sharp-tongued. When Perry tries to talk to her during her busier moments: “Jill wrinkles her nose in a display of mock annoyance. ‘Honey, I’m busy…’” followed by whatever activity she’s engaged in (apartment.zil, JILL-F, lines 1251-1271).

She worries about Perry: when he’s been out all night (JILL-COUNTER 1 or 2), she says “Perry, have you been out all night? You know how I worry” (interrupts.zil, I-JILL, lines 298-299). When he stays out late (JILL-COUNTER 11 or 12): “Perry, I wish you wouldn’t stay out so late” (lines 327-329).

She reads “indistinguishable gothic romance novels” (apartment.zil, JILL-BOOK-F, lines 1560-1562). When Perry teases her about them: “Oh, Perry, I know they’re all trashy. You’re not going to start making fun of me again, are you?” (apartment.zil, JILL-F, lines 1214-1215).

When kissed: “Jill kisses you back. ‘Ooo-la-la,’ she says, afterwards” (line 1321).

Responses from the Other Room

When Perry calls to Jill from another room in the apartment, the game provides contextual responses (globals.zil, NOT-HERE-OBJECT-F):

• In 2041/2051: “‘I can’t hear you, Perry!’ Jill shouts back. ‘Come in here!’” (lines 89-91)
• In later years: “There’s no reply; perhaps Jill didn’t hear you from the other room” (lines 93-94)

The Mitchell Crisis (2061)

The pivotal traumatic moment occurs in 2061 when Jill comes running into the apartment “terribly upset” and “begins sobbing uncontrollably” (interrupts.zil, I-JILL, lines 248-286):

“It’s Mitchell,” she begins, and a lifelong fear of injury to your only child clutches at your heart. “He’s gone off and joined the Church of God’s Word. He came and collected all his stuff about an hour ago. He said he’s going to an orientation camp in Arizona. He says he’ll never be able to speak to you or me again unless we join the Church. I followed him all the way to the airport but he wouldn’t listen to me! He wouldn’t even say goodbye to me!”

She then runs into the bedroom and throws herself onto the bed. Comforting her, she says: “I’ll be okay. I just need to be alone for a while.” A moment later: “I love you, Perry” (apartment.zil, JILL-F, lines 1300-1303). After this, her JILL-COUNTER shifts to 13 (crying in the corner) then 14 (slowly cleaning up).

The Arrest (2071)

In 2071, Mitchell Simm returns — not as a son, but as a Church enforcer. He leads heavily armed Church police into the apartment and points at Jill: “She spake against the Church; she tried to poison the mind of a child too young to know the Truth.” Jill is dragged away “screaming and crying” while Perry is beaten down — “the wife you will never see again” (apartment.zil, I-MITCHELL-RAID, lines 1712-1720).

Before this, in 2071, Jill has already declined: “Jill has aged dramatically during the last decade, an effect heightened by the fact that Jill has become more and more withdrawn; she has lost interest in many things, including her appearance” (apartment.zil, JILL-F, lines 1336-1338). She sits “on the couch, staring morosely out the window” (JILL-DESCFCN, line 1427).

Appearance Through the Years

Perry’s examination of Jill reveals how the years mark her:

• 2041: “Jill looks as beautiful as the day you married her seven years ago” (line 1325)
• 2051: “Jill’s thirty-nine years have done nothing to dim her natural beauty” (line 1328)
• 2061: “Jill’s face is a bit lined by age, and there are gray streaks in her hair, but to you she appears with a loveliness undiminished by twenty-seven years of marriage” (lines 1331-1333)
• 2091 (epilogue): “Jill’s healthy demeanor and graceful pose are more befitting a woman twenty years her junior” (lines 1341-1342)

As Mother to Baby Mitchell

In 2041, baby Mitchell Simm is present. Jill is protective: when Perry tries to take the baby outside, she yells “Perry! Don’t take Mitchell outside! He’ll get a chill!” (apartment.zil, APARTMENT-EXIT-F, lines 477-478). When Perry shows her the baby: “Jill’s face melts, and her eyes grow moist. ‘Isn’t he a bundle of joy, Perry?’” (apartment.zil, JILL-F, lines 1353-1354).