Chapter 1:

Get Ready With Me, Shion Tanaka!

The Nietzsche Protocol


 237 AM, May 8th 2145, Shion Tanaka awoke to the throbbing headache which had haunted her every morning for the past four years. She laid and starred at the blank, white ceiling of her apartment and pressed her fingers into her eyes. Shion knew that it wouldn't help to relieve the aching but she remembered her father doing this and it became a part of her morning routine.

"3, 2, and 1," the blaring beep of her alarm clock began to fill the room.

"0240, I guess its time to get my ass out of bed," Shion muttered to herself as she sprang up to her feet and immediately began squatting.

"50 squats, 50 push up, 50 sit up, 50 lunges,  will keep away the major pain" said in a sing song voice as she worked through her morning warm-up routine. The alarm clock still blaring,  provided some cover for her as she slid over her bed and rolled up the rug covering a built-in safe. The first door of the safe was a standard dna based triple confirmation interface lock. Occular scan, blood, and finger prints all needed to match to open the safe. This was one of the easiest locks to crack with the current SS DNA replication software. This was of course intentional and specifically requested by the clever Shion. 

In this first space lay some contraband which would only lead to minor if any punishment if discovered. Some american made cigarettes, a first print of mein kamf, and a worn and well read copy of the kama sutra. The plan was to act embarassed when questioned about this book and explain that as an officer dalliance such as these would be damaging to Shion's cold reputation.

The real safe was hidden under the plastic bottom of the main safe. This one was guarded by a simple combination lock. So simple that picking this kind of a lock was lost to almost any of the elite upperclass.

 Shion opened the safe with the "1, 17, 23", the year that her parents met. This would be impossible for nearly anyone to guess because the concept of parents was no longer understood. In the small refrigerated safe were several injections with metallic, mercury type liquid inside and a box of small green, blue, and red pills.

Shion hurredly close both safes and moved the furniture back to its place before slamming the off button of the alarm. 253AM, Shion pulled her freshly dry cleaned formal uniform and place it on her bed before taking the red pill and swallowing it dry. 

A quiver ran shown Shion's back "God, I will never get over that damned taste. It literally tastes like poison..." she put her hand over her mouth as she began to gag, and ran, hunched over to the toilet.  Black sticky sludge began to pour out of her nose and mouth. Panting between spells of dry heaving, Shion's breath finally slowed.

"Get ahold of yourself Shion, you knew what you were signing up for, stop being a big baby" she thought to herself while clearing the tears from her watery eyes. This was an essential part of maintaining her cover. The vomiting and the unrelenting headaches were just part of the package.

Up next was the least unpleasant part of her daily routine. Shion grabbed the injection filled with the metallic liquid, and with a big inhale and exhale jabbed the needle deep into her thigh and slammed down the plunger. A flash of heat ran across her body but it dissapated within a few seconds. 

In Shion's mind, she traveled back to her time spent in the lower city rebel hideout. Matthew Grant, a tall and well built man with thick, wavy brown hair , piercing green eyes, and dark brown skin opened up a metal case containing the same items that Shion had in her safe. At earlier times in history Matt would have been considered quite handsome, but in the 22nd century he was a couple steps below average looking.

"Ms. Shion, please pay close attention to the information I am about to share with you. Proper use of this equipment will likely determine the success of your mission".

With a snarky eye roll, 15 year old Shion gave a quick retort " Ok Mr. Tech Sama, teach me the ways of survival oh wise and merciful master".

"Do you always have to be such a smartass?"

"Hmm. Is that even really a question at this point?"

With a quick shake of his head and a small grin, Matt begain to explain the contents of the box.

"Inside this box is your lifeline. These little devices will help to enhance your strength, speed, and even help your body to repair injuries faster. Inside the injectable are houndreds of thousands of microscopic machines".

"You mean nanomachines? Those century old devices that made people lose their shit before we had gene mod? No way in hell you expect me to shoot myself up with those right?"

"Shion those were the nanos of the past. Since then the rebellion has been researching and cultivating safer tech."

"Where did you even find those relics?"

"Shion just let me finish explaining what's all in the case, ok? After injecting yourself with the nanonites, nothing will happen. They will remain in their dormant state until you take the activation capsule, the green one. At this point you may feel a little warm and unfortable but that is one way you can tell they are active. After a few minutes that feeling will fade and you will be capable of things you never even dreamed about."

"Ok, what's the kicker? No way something like that can just give you all the benefits of gene mod without some pretty serious side effects right?"

"I'm getting there girlie. Since these are basically foreign invaders in your body, your immune system will start to fight back which leads to things like encephalopathy or cytokine storms and eventually death."

"So basically I'll go bat shit crazy or my body will kill itself. Sounds like a real sweet deal boss."

"Shion be serious, do you think I would ask you to do something that would kill you? That is where the red pill comes in. Red means stop right, while it contains a substance that causes the nanites to aggregate so you can safely expell them from your body within the 42 hour window of safe activation"

"So basically Ill puke them out?"

"Essentially, yes. Do you have any questions?"

"No, think I get the gist of it. I stab myself with the needle, take the green then after 3 days take the red and repeat. Simple enough."

"Now on to the blue pill which is the funnest one. Take a look in the mirror," Matt gesture to dusty room tiled with shabby rusty tiles.

Shion took at good look at herself. Her pale skin and slender cheekbones stood out in stark contrast to her chocolate brown hair. Her now ocean blue eyes still looked foreign to her even after all this time. "Ok big man what now? I know im pretty but I really dont feel like staring longingly into my own eyes".

"Take the blue capsule."

Shion popped it into her mouth and swallowed then looked up at the mirror again. Starting from the roots a wave of blonde ran across her entire head. She gasped this was her first time seeing herself looking like an upperclass citizen.

Back to current day Shion wiped the rest of the blackness away from the corners of her mouth and stared at her reflection. The roots were starting to show through so she popped her blue capsule restoring herself to her new normal. 

Without skipping a beat Shion flushed the syringe down the toilet, brushed her teeth, and pulled her hair back into a low, tight bun. She popped an instant breakfast into the rehydrator in the kitchen and ate enough food to feed two grown men. Another sideffect of the nanites was insatiable hunger. After eating, it was time to put on her dress uniform and await the arrival of her subordinate to accompany her to the Victory Day Extravaganza. With her cap in hand, Shion leaned against her small couch and watched the cctv.