<Dl> <Dt> The Narrator </Dt> <Dd> A Calcutec in his mid-thirties (35) who, aside from his unusual profession, lives the life of a typical Tokyo yuppie . Although very observant, he gives little thought to the strangeness of the world around him . </Dd> <Dt> The Old Man / the scientist </Dt> <Dd> A great, yet absent - minded, scientist who hires the narrator to process information . He is researching "sound removal". He has developed a way of reading the subconscious and actually recording it as comprehensible, if unrelated images . He had the inspiration of then editing these images to embed a fictional story into the subconscious of his subjects, one of whom is of course the narrator . He did this by working with the System due to the attractiveness of its facilities, though he disliked working for anyone . He later goes to Finland, as said by his granddaughter, to escape . </Dd> <Dt> The Chubby Girl </Dt> <Dd> The Granddaughter of the Old Man . She is half the narrator's age, and described as overweight, yet attractive . She helps the Narrator in his journey through the sewers and decides to move in his apartment after the 2 worlds of his will converge . </Dd> <Dt> The Librarian </Dt> <Dd> The always - hungry girl who helps the narrator research unicorns and becomes his 48 - hour girlfriend . </Dd> <Dt> Junior and Big Boy </Dt> <Dd> Two thugs who, on unknown orders, confront the narrator, leaving his apartment destroyed and inflicting a deliberately non-lethal but serious slash across his lower abdomen . </Dd> <Dt> INKlings </Dt> <Dd> Short for Infra - Nocturnal Kappa . Sewer - dwelling people described as "Kappa" who have developed their own culture . They are so dangerous that the scientist lives in their realm, protected by a repelling device, to keep away from those who want to steal his data . It is said that they worship a Tilapia fish with violent tendencies (and leeches). They also do not eat fresh flesh; rather, once they catch a human, they submerge him in water for a few days to let him rot before eating him . </Dd> </Dl> <Dd> A Calcutec in his mid-thirties (35) who, aside from his unusual profession, lives the life of a typical Tokyo yuppie . Although very observant, he gives little thought to the strangeness of the world around him . </Dd> <Dt> The Old Man / the scientist </Dt> <Dd> A great, yet absent - minded, scientist who hires the narrator to process information . He is researching "sound removal". He has developed a way of reading the subconscious and actually recording it as comprehensible, if unrelated images . He had the inspiration of then editing these images to embed a fictional story into the subconscious of his subjects, one of whom is of course the narrator . He did this by working with the System due to the attractiveness of its facilities, though he disliked working for anyone . He later goes to Finland, as said by his granddaughter, to escape . </Dd>

Hard boiled detective and the end of the world