So I’ve been reading Faith Conquers and Sheva’s War after buying them from Amazon (mad props to the author, and everyone else, I see what you’ve been raving about), and I’m suddenly thinking about hulling methods after reading how the Naiven plugs the hole in a standard field hull with its own resin. There’s something that’s never directly stated in the comics or the game, but I sort of put it together: (a) the field hull is the only hulling method that breaches the skull and (b) the Naiven is incapable of chewing through bone.
So the foramen magnum and optic nerve techniques are not only more sophsiticated, but they also have the disadvantage of trapping the Naiven in its host’s brain - no quick exit a’la Rhiannon or Danni. The Vaylen are decreasing the odds that the spy will be detected, but decreasing that spy’s flexibility - and increasing the risk that it won’t escape once discovered.
Vaylen can always chew through the soft tissue of the optic nerve and emerge out of the host’s eye, and do so quickly. Leaving that way leads to maiming the host, but at that point the host is likely compromised.
I don’t think that the skull hole is a valid exit strategy, as plugging the hole prevents detection on anything but sophisticated scanners, so it’s gotta be an airtight, solid solution, not a hinged escape hatch.
The plug in a field hull IS the escape route for the Naiven. I haven’t thought through the details… perhaps the naiven can rapidly break down its own resin, or enough for it to burst the “scab”.
The problem of escape for the more sophisticated hulls had honestly never crossed my mind. The eyeball method that Jon outlines is awesome, and will certainly be featured in some future comic (it’s such a nasty visual). Consider it canon.
Chris
(PS, thanks for the kind words re: the comics, Rob.)