2061 — The Tipping Point
2061 is the pivotal decade in Rockvil’s decline. The middle class has effectively vanished. The Church of God’s Word has become a dominant social force. The environment has transitioned from “sick” to “catastrophic.” And the Simm family suffers its most intimate wound: Mitchell joins the Church and severs all family ties.
The City
The visible signs of decay have accelerated. The Rockvil Centre plaza is “aging” — not yet crumbling, but no longer maintained. The sky is “gray and smoggy” (score item 118, 2 points). The water tower is “corroding” (score item 130, 1 point). The elevator at Parkview is “out as usual” (score item 3, 1 point), forcing Perry to walk up the stairs.
Dunbar’s is “very swank” now, “catering exclusively to the wealthy elite.” The racks in the area accessible to Perry are “mostly in the drab browns and olives worn by the lower classes,” while the restricted areas hold “stylish clothes in the violets and golds favored by Churchmen and other landowners” (RACKS-F). This is the first year the class hierarchy is visually codified by clothing.
Kennedy Park has become “a construction site” (score item 13, 2 points). The duck pond at Halley Park is “dried-up” (score item 66, 1 point); the statue of Halley is “missing and pedestal defaced” (score item 67, 1 point).
The fast food place “no longer serves beef products” (score item 73, 2 points) — a quiet signal of agricultural collapse. Foodvilles are “sparsely stocked” (score item 18, 1 point). The skycar factory operates at “less than half capacity” (score item 110, 2 points). The skybus terminal is “run-down and needs repairs” (score item 123, 1 point). The Post Office has “a long line at window” (score item 124, 2 points).
The river is “very polluted” (score item 133, 2 points). Coal-burners “provide half the power” (score item 106, 2 points).
The Church of God’s Word has consolidated significant power:
- Catholic church is “closed and defaced” (score item 49, 2 points)
- Church youths harass an old Jew (score item 74, 2 points)
- Churchmen frequent The Coachman (score item 43, 1 point)
- Only two banks forced to merge (score item 84, 2 points) — prelude to Church monopoly
- Life sentence for Morality Violation (score item 15, 5 points)
The justice system escalates: capital punishment for “most crimes” (score item 76, 3 points), and public execution of criminals begins (score item 78, 4 points).
The Indoor Cities are “run down” (score item 28, 1 point). The hospital “caters to the wealthy” (score item 24, 1 point). International travelers are “strip searched” (score item 101, 2 points). The spaceport is “closed” (score item 99, 3 points).
The Simm Family: The Breaking Point
This is the year the Simm family is permanently broken. The I-JILL interrupt (interrupts.zil lines 248-286) triggers soon after entering the apartment. Jill comes running in, “terribly upset,” sobbing uncontrollably:
“It’s Mitchell. 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!”
Score item 119 awards 4 points for witnessing this. Jill throws herself onto the bed in the bedroom, the partition where Mitchell once slept now partially empty: “Some of Mitchell’s stuff seems to be missing” (PARTITION-DESCFCN).
Jill’s painting reflects the emotional devastation: “a painting in subdued shades of brown and gray, of a beggar woman, her face a mask of suffering” (PAINTING-F). The artist who painted a space factory in vibrant colors now paints only pain.
The BSF raids again. Score item 9 (4 points): officers storm in, sweep, then the leader says gruffly: “The place is clean. Keep it that way.” He slams the door. No apology this time. The room is “very messy after the BSF raid.”
The window view is now dominated by strip mining: “The forest of dying trees has been replaced by a forest of thriving mining towers, which trundle across the landscape leaving ugly brown scars. The western suburbs, once the most desirable in greater Rockvil, now look nearly deserted, a sign of the vanishing middle class” (score item 6, 5 points). The window glass is “etched from pollution” (score item 4, 2 points).
Perry and Jill are now alone. The apartment, once a family home, is now a house of grief.
Key Locations
- Parkview Apartments: Elevator out “as usual”; cracked glass not yet boarded
- Dunbar’s: “Very swank,” elite-only; drab clothes for lower classes vs. violet/gold for Churchmen
- City Hall: Still operating but “aging”
- Kennedy Park: Construction site
- Halley Park: Statue missing, duck pond dried-up
- The Coachman: Frequented by wealthy Churchmen
- Catholic church: Closed and defaced
- Skybus terminal: Run-down
- Spaceport: Closed
Available Score Events (2061)
| # | Points | Observation |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Vandalized apartment lobbies |
| 2 | 1 | Water tastes rusty |
| 4 | 2 | Window glass etched with pollution |
| 5 | 3 | (Transition: 2051 view — still available?) |
| 6 | 5 | Window view: strip mining |
| 9 | 4 | Apartment BSF raid (gruff, no apology) |
| 13 | 2 | Kennedy Park is a construction site |
| 15 | 5 | Life sentence for Morality Violation |
| 18 | 1 | Foodvilles sparsely stocked |
| 24 | 1 | Hospital caters to wealthy |
| 26 | 3 | Heiman World fire |
| 28 | 1 | Indoor Cities are run down |
| 34 | 1 | New Indoor City cheaply built |
| 43 | 1 | Coachman frequented by wealthy Churchmen |
| 49 | 2 | Catholic church closed and defaced |
| 54 | 2 | Church of God’s Word pamphlet |
| 58 | 2 | BSF Graduation festivities at Huang |
| 62 | 2 | Halley Museum closed |
| 66 | 1 | Duck pond dried-up |
| 67 | 1 | Halley statue missing, pedestal defaced |
| 70 | 2 | Children torturing animals |
| 71 | 1 | Aquarium murky |
| 73 | 2 | Fast food no longer serves beef |
| 74 | 2 | Church youths harassing old Jew |
| 76 | 3 | Capital punishment for most crimes |
| 78 | 4 | Public execution begins |
| 80 | 2 | Schoolchildren make fun of you |
| 82 | 5 | Public school system shut down |
| 84 | 2 | Only two banks forced to merge |
| 88 | 3 | Wealthy car almost crushes old lady |
| 90 | 1 | Railroad Museum closed |
| 91 | 5 | Police casually beating black youth |
| 94 | 2 | Films: sex, violence, hate |
| 97 | 1 | Guards are rude and rough |
| 99 | 3 | Spaceport closed |
| 101 | 2 | International travelers strip searched |
| 104 | 3 | Wastes dumped into river |
| 106 | 2 | Coal-burners provide half power |
| 110 | 2 | Skycar factory less than half capacity |
| 115 | 2 | Tubecar filthy, covered in graffiti |
| 116 | 2 | Curfew in effect |
| 118 | 2 | Smoggy skies |
| 119 | 4 | Jill tells you Mitchell joined the Church |
| 123 | 1 | Skybus terminal run-down |
| 124 | 2 | Long line at Post Office |
| 125 | 2 | Mugging |
| 130 | 1 | Water tower corroding |
| 133 | 2 | River very polluted |
Key Characters Active
- Perry Simm: Writer, now middle-aged, witnessing his family dissolve
- Jill Simm: Devastated by Mitchell’s departure; art shifts to suffering
- Mitchell Simm: Has joined the Church; gone to orientation camp in Arizona; will not speak to non-Church family
- Wealthy Churchmen: Visible at The Coachman
- Church Youths: Harassing old Jew on the streets
- Police: Casually beating black youth
Broader Context
2061 is the year the game’s thesis becomes unavoidable. The middle class is gone. The Church controls the narrative. The environment is in freefall. Public executions have begun. Children torture animals. The police beat people for sport. And the most personal loss — Mitchell’s recruitment — demonstrates the Church’s ultimate weapon: it doesn’t need to conquer by force when it can convert your children.
The decade ends with Perry and Jill alone in a decaying apartment, looking out at strip-mined land, their son in a Church camp in Arizona, their world collapsing around them. And it will get much worse.
See Also
- 2051 — The first cracks
- 2071 — Full theocracy
- church-of-gods-word — The rising theocratic power
- mitchell-simm — Mitchell’s recruitment
- jill-simm — Jill’s grief in 2061
- rockvil-across-decades — Full comparison