No.6 Discussion Board

(Hm, maybe we should look into the profanity filter here on the forum, it took me a while to realize you were calling roaches by their full name and not just cursing them XD)

@Ahiku: ah, thanks for making this topic here! I remember having some thoughts about this back then, but tumblr is such an inconvenient medium for these things.


Stress does sound very likely, especially with the speeded up hatching later on in the story. Partly Elyurias calling her children I guess, but stress sounds a very likely factor, especially in Shion's case. He didn't stop to rest that day anymore until making it to the underground room and taking a shower, and almost straight after that, he got those spots, didn't he?

I didn't stop to wonder about it earlier, but you have a point: once the egg hatches, the host  starts experiencing difficulties, so he must have adjusted his lifestyle well before the egg has hatched, so presumably starting from the moment the egg gets injected. (The process is frighteningly fast, like a minute and a half?)
In that case - how well do we know Shion at all? We know him as his 12-year old self, but as 16? Shion never mentions getting that injection, so it was probably sometime before the story picks up after the 4 year time gap. That ties in to what @Meopat was saying. And what always worried me... those bees eat their way through the brain. And not just a little, either - the guide shows their pathway, and it's almost entirely through the full brain, and at least the frontal lobe. I didn't exactly ace biology, but even I know that can't be good.

Actually, with the sound waves - the guide speculates it was to mimic the job of the Singer, so eh, it's probably good Nezumi didn't try singing when Shion was going through pain XD;


@Meopat: hm, maybe Rou just didn't have anyone to cut out the bee and that was why he got the more painful end of the stick? His bee wasn't fully developed and that was why he didn't die iirc, but in Shion's case, Nezumi cut it out before it could hatch. Then again, according to the guide the hair turning white is the final step of the progress. I guess Shion's bee was also stunted.

Oh, the teeth falling out 'depends on the case', apparently. Good for you being a case, Shion XD;


The guide does actually explain a bit: "As the bees grow, they allow for an extra high concentration of active oxygen to produce. The excess high levels of active oxygen result in abrupt aging, producing severe cellular injuries." Does anyone who didn't flunk biology in high school (like me) know how truthful that is and if that could lead to the scarring and hair changing colour? I have been wondering... I mean, the red eyes are an art choice and Shion keeps his eye colour in the novels, so he didn't magically become albino or whatever the implication is there I guess. But I looked into hair turning white overnight, but I haven't really found cases that are this abrupt. It can happen, but it usually takes some weeks.


... I think I went off-topic there for a bit, sorry. Clearly I have some thoughts about brain eating insects XD;