The setting for Simulation – 1988 is characterized by a paradox: a world stuck in a single date, September 1, 1988, yet featuring a vast, global, and constantly shifting geographic backdrop due to the daily “shuffling” of consciousnesses.
The Glitch Reset: The entire world resets to this date each day at dusk (for the Pacific time zone).
Technological Context: The setting is firmly 1988, meaning characters operate without modern internet, cell phones, or GPS. This forces them to rely on older methods of communication and navigation, such as pre-arranged physical meeting locations, and paper maps, to find one another.
Abandoned Infrastructure: Since the population is reduced and the world is in a loop, much of the infrastructure is likely preserved but often abandoned. Characters must engage in “common practice for survival” like acquiring food, cars, or shelter from unoccupied locations.
Due to the daily body shuffle, the characters’ locations can span the globe, making the entire world a potential setting for their daily struggles and reunions. The following locations are mentioned as either meeting points, destinations, or bodies inhabited:
Rockport: A location where Ben and Ella try to meet.
Boston: Another planned meeting location.
Alcatraz (Prison Cell): Ella once occupied the body of a Chilean man locked in a prison cell here, highlighting the extreme and dangerous nature of the shuffle.
South Dakota (Corn Palace): A specific, unique landmark used as one of Ben and Ella’s planned reunion spots.
Little Tokyo (Los Angeles): A location where Ben and Ella try to meet.
Australia: Ella once inhabited the body of a Korean woman in her early thirties here, demonstrating the massive distances their consciousnesses can travel.
The Box Van: A mobile setting where Ben, John, and Tamara were traveling when they were viciously chased and rammed by Keith in a semi truck.
Various Roadways and Guardrails: The location of violent confrontations, such as the crash with Keith’s semi truck.
The necessity of pre-arranging locations (a benefit of Ella’s pre-glitch job as a traveling nurse) is vital for the characters’ survival, turning the vast, repeating world map into a crucial tool for love and strategy.
