HardSkill — Gore Days (revised)

Gore Days is a little fan service, set between the first and the upcoming second part of the HardSkill trilogy. Like the uncompromising, ultra-violent main narrations, this story can be descriped as gore porn and is affiliated to the Japanese “guro” genre (the phoenetic resemblence between the two terms is incidential). I also took some places and elements from #Fear the Future, an older story not yet published (nor finished, for that matter).

Enjoy, but keep in mind that the HardSkill series is not for the faint of heart.

In December 2015

 

This is version 1.2 of HardSkill – Gore Days. I never felt quite content with the story’s original ending. There was something odd about it, partly because Lilith’s behaviour struck me as out-of-character. So I set forth to edit it – and became somewhat carried away. Where the original version had about 5,500 words, this one sports as near as makes no difference 7,200. To provide some orientation, I jotted down a mini FAQ:

Is this an extended version? – No, from the assembly hall scene on it is pretty much a complete rewrite.

I haven’t read the original version. Which one shall I read first/solely? – This one.

I have read the original version. Is it worth to read this one, too? – Definitely.

In February 2016

HardSkill – Gore Days

ATROTEC INDUSTRIAL ESTATE

A mess had to be cleaned up. Sometimes the organised crime became a bit too organised, and its actions appeared on the radar screens of those in the High Towers. Mega-incorporations were commonly not interested in drug trafficking, forced prostitution or protection racket, but didn’t take too well to acts of cyber-crime against their data cores.

The hacker with the irritating hair colour called herself Edgeplay, and – quite frankly – wasn’t as much fun as her name suggested.

“I didn’t get in! I didn’t get any data!” she babbled hysterically.