The book Simulation – 1988 presents a unique and terrifying reality governed by a fractured technological event, introducing its own set of rules, cosmic mysteries, and emergent mythologies.
The core premise of the universe is that the characters are not living in the real world, but inside a simulation. The current reality is artificial, programmed, or manufactured, leading to two main theories among the inhabitants:
Programmed Afterlife/Fantasy: The simulation is a kind of virtual existence or fantasy world for their unconscious bodies in the real world.
Meaningless Entertainment: The more feared possibility is that they are merely computer characters created for entertainment, lacking any true existence outside of the code.
The current state of the Simulation is defined by an event called The Glitch. This technological failure occurred an estimated 20 to 23 years ago within the simulation’s timeline. The glitch caused the entire programmed reality to become stuck, freezing time and drastically altering the population.
Fixed Time: The day perpetually restarts as September 1, 1988.
Refresh: The glitch allows for a daily refresh of resources, specifically food and fuel, enabling survival in the otherwise broken world.
The simulation follows two inescapable mechanics that define the daily lives of the characters: The reset and body shuffling.
The reset (or Switch) is the daily, definitive end of one day’s experience.
It occurs at dusk in the Pacific time zone.
When the reset hits, the day immediately restarts as September 1, 1988.
The reset is accompanied by the process of body shuffling, where the individual consciousness of every inhabitant is shuffled into a new body.
This means a character wakes up in a different physical form, which varies widely in age, gender, and location.
The broken simulation has given rise to distinct classes of beings and cultish beliefs about the true nature of their existence.
Non-Player Characters (NPCs)
These are individuals believed to have never truly existed as human beings in the real world.
They are programmed entities designed to integrate with the human experience within the simulation.
Suspected NPCs include individuals who were lost in the glitch and those occupying established, recognizable roles (like celebrities and genuine medical doctors).
A belief system or group mentioned by a “cultish man.”
They claim to have achieved a special level of knowledge or control within the glitch.
Their purported abilities include the power to “Control where you end up each day” and “See what others can’t.”
A character who has taken on a mythological, existential role: the “angel of death.”
Keith is defined by his bitter, murderous objective: to reduce the population of the simulation.
He does this by deliberately killing the body he currently occupies or killing others before the daily reset. His goal is to dwindle the population until he is the last one remaining.
