The Office Of Mercy by Ariel Djanikian

America-Five is perfection.  Those living within have no wants unsupplied.  Their bodies are repaired if necessary and their lives are infinite.  Everyone has a job that supports the compound and lives are communal and structured.  No child is born until there is three times the resources that are needed to sustain it, and children are born in large cohorts that are raised by groups. As one ages, their job responsibilities and knowledge increases as well.

Surely it is the best of all worlds.  In fact, it is so perfect that the inhabitants have created an Office Of Mercy.  The purpose of the office is to constantly scan the environment outside the compound, where danger abounds.  Those humans who survived the great apocalypse which sent the America-Five citizens inside are pitied.  Their lives are barren and short.  Surely it is a mercy to end their suffering when they are detected.  Bands of humans are swept away by weapons that rain down fire on them and destroy them.

Natasha works in the Office of Mercy.  She is proud of her ability to successfully scan the Outside and proud to be on the teams that sweep away those who are out there suffering.  She is still young and rooms with someone.  Her best friends are her roommate, a man from her cohort who also works in the Office of Mercy and her boss, Jeffrey.

When a situation arises that will require Outside in person surveillance, Natasha is excited to be chosen as part of the team.  Most inhabitants of America-Five never go outside in their entire lives so it is quite an honor.  But things are very different than Natasha expects to find.  She gets lost and finds herself in close contact with a group of outsiders.  She is shocked to realize she can emphasize with them and that they are more like her than not.  Is the Mercy the blessing she has always be taught or is it genocide that cannot be defended?

Ariel Djanikian has written a debut novel that explores the interaction of humanity with technology and what changes might occur as we become more and more dependent on technology in our daily lives.  Her vision of the future is one that readers will have a hard time believing could ever be better than the freedom we expect in our daily lives.  Is freedom to fail more important than a leveled out society where all decisions are made for you?  This book is recommended for readers of science fiction.