The year was 2072, and the world was finally being cured. At least the United States, that is. Little by little, city by city, they were curing their citizens. Inside the strong, towering city walls, citizens of what were once America's poorest cities, had been cured of everything that plagued them. In the cured cities there was no more poverty, hunger, or chaos. This process of purification of America’s metropolises is called the Mercury Project. Each year on New Year's Eve for the past decade the United States government chooses five cities to cure the following year. With the most recent curing of Tucson, Arizona just two days prior, civilians were even more eager and restless to hear the next cities than usual.

Among them, inside their cramped, dimly-lit Flagstaff apartment, sat Emilio Rodriguez, Gina Stevens, and Aletheia Piper. Exhilaration and anxiousness filled the room. The three were sitting on a musty, pale yellow couch, their faces illuminated by the soft blue light of the TV in front of them. Aletheia could recall this morning’s chaos of all six inhabitants of the Flagstaff apartment getting ready to leave for work. Although the situation was not ideal, none of them could afford to live anywhere else. Money was scarcer than ever in this rapidly declining economy. In fact, they kept most of the lights off during the day to save on electric costs. They hardly ever used the TV either, but this was a special occasion. In just seven short hours, when the clock struck midnight on 2072, the next five cities to be cured would be announced.

“It better be us this year,” Gina complained, cynical as always, “God knows we deserve it more than Baltimore. Those slime-of-the-Earth slobs should be last.”

“Relax, it will be our turn soon enough,” Aletheia reassured her.

“That is if the government is even helping!” Emilio chimed in, “For all we know they could be implanting AIs in everyone’s brains, or killing us all!”

“As much as I would like to hear about Emilio’s latest conspiracy on how the only people trying to help us are actually killing us, I have to go.”

“Tucson?” Gina inquired.

“Someone has to find out what’s really happening in those cities, and who better than a reporter? Hopefully, once everyone sees the good the government’s doing, the Mercury Project will be unstoppable” Aletheia replied as if claiming that she herself would be solely responsible for this.

“Allie, you might just be the only person left in the world who actually takes pride in their job.” Emilio laughed.

His comment didn’t seem to phase Aletheia in the slightest, she even took it as a compliment. With a faithful and absent-minded smile, she grabbed her bag, walked out the apartment door, and down the stairs to the parking lot. Just like that, she was off to discover the true nature of the government’s good deeds.

The drive to Tucson was only a few hours from Flagstaff, and she arrived just after eight that evening. It’s funny how a once busy highway can become completely deserted in less than two days. Besides Aletheia’s rusty, old, beat up minivan there were no other cars on the road at all. She slowly brought her car up closer to the edge of the towering city wall, stopping just a few feet in front of it. Once out of the car, Aletheia could really take in the looming structure before her. The city walls were built so that the entire city would be invisible to anyone not in a plane. This meant that the walls needed to be taller than the tallest buildings in the city. As she stood there taking in the gigantic hunk of metal before her, Aletheia searched for a way in. There has to be a door, she thought how else are they supposed to get supplies? She looked around, but all she could see was dark grey metal with the occasional phrase written on it claiming the wall as government property. Even though she knew it was a long shot to actually find a way into the city, she had to try. This could finally be her way to show everyone what good the government was doing. After all, blind faith could only hold up for so long. Eventually, her eyes fell on a small panel just below the words “Mercury Project: Phase Seven”. Aletheia hurried over to it and begun feeling around for a handle of some sort.

“Come on, come on!” She urged. Her hands began to find their way into the cracks on the side of the panel as if she could somehow pry it open. The second she did this, a mechanical whirring erupted from the panel, seemingly activated by Aletheia’s desperate attempts to open it. The whirring grew louder, and eventually gave way to clicking, and groaning of the heavy metal door as it lurched open.

Her head now racing with a million thoughts, Aletheia made her way through the door. The room beyond it was dark, which confused her at first until she realized it wasn’t a room at all. It was a hallway. At the other end, she could just barely make out another door, this time with a handle. With confidence and exhilaration, Aletheia moved forward down the hall to the second door. Firmly grasping the cold metal of the door handle, she yanked it open. This was her chance. Beyond that door lay one of the last pure places on Earth. A city of salvation just waiting to be explored and shared with the world. This was the one thing that had always confused Aletheia about the Mercury Project. Why do they keep everything so secretive? Why not show the people just what their extra tax dollars are doing? Putting these doubts in the back of her mind, Aletheia stepped forward into the bright, gleaming sunlight of Tucson, Arizona.

What greeted her, however, was not a city of salvation, but a massacre. From her spot next to the wall she could see thousands of people, all dead. The ones closest to the wall were the most horrifying. They were piled up on top of each other, hands outstretched in one last desperate attempt to escape. They appeared to have been poisoned or infected by something. Their mouths and noses still dripping shining, crimson blood. Too aghast to move, Aletheia stood there taking in the sight of the thousands upon thousands of people that had died trying to reach the wall. In that moment, she felt everything she thought she knew, every pre-conceived notion of this world and its people slip away into oblivion.

When she finally regained the ability to move, Aletheia went straight for the door. She had to leave this place immediately. She had to warn someone. She pushed and pulled on the door, but to no avail. It was locked from the other side. Shakily, she reached for her phone to call Emilio. If she couldn’t get out, at least she could warn her friends. Aletheia looked down at her phone screen. It was black. There would be no warning call.

Suddenly, a harsh, rigid cough shook her body. Stumbling back onto the wall, she struggled to breathe. Wheezing and gasping for air, she again clawed at the sealed door. When the coughing fit had left her body, Aletheia looked down to see that in her hand was a small pool of her own blood.

“Five! Four! Three! Two! One! Happy New Year!” Emilio, Gina, and their three other roommates who had joined them at various points throughout the night all cheered with joy.

“And now, for the news you’ve all been waiting for!” The over perky announcer bellowed, “The cities cured this year will be, Baltimore, Maryland! Detroit, Michigan! Dayton, Ohio! St. Louis, Missouri! And last but not least, Flagstaff, Arizona!”

A wild cheer erupted in the Flagstaff apartment. To them, this meant only one thing. The time for salvation had come, and their city would be next.