Forensic Science Team

Lore & Background

Their reports eventually contribute to the police theory that a serial killer is targeting specific individuals, though they lack the context to understand the extraterrestrial origin. While Detective Gotoh and Inspector Kuroiwa chase leads based on behavioral patterns, the forensic staff provide the physical evidence that suggests something unnatural is occurring. Their inability to diagnose the cause of death underscores the isolation humans feel against this new threat.

In Their Own Story

The fluorescent lights hummed overhead, casting a sterile glow over the stainless steel table. The pathologist paused, tweezers hovering near the incision site where the skull had been opened. There was no brain tissue to examine, only a smooth, empty cavity that should have held the mind of the deceased. He looked at his colleague, exchanging a glance of professional dread that transcended language. This wasn't surgery; it was erasure.

Reader's Guide

This group represents the scientific community's initial response to the parasite invasions operating within human society. They are not combatants but observers whose confusion drives the narrative tension regarding the unknown enemy. Their goal is purely medical: determine cause of death and assist in identification. However, they inadvertently aid the parasites by failing to recognize them as aliens, allowing the creatures to blend into the population undetected for longer periods. They operate under the jurisdiction of the police investigation unit but maintain professional distance from the field work. Their reports are vital clues that eventually help Detective Gotoh piece together the connection between seemingly unrelated deaths.

Did You Know?

• The first written account of using medicine and entomology to solve criminal cases is attributed to the book of Xi Yuan Lu (translated as Washing Away of Wrongs), written in China in 1248 by Song Ci.
• Song Ci devised methods for making antiseptic and for promoting the reappearance of hidden injuries to dead bodies and bones using sunlight and vinegar under a red-oil umbrella.
• In one of Song Ci's accounts, a case of a person murdered with a sickle was solved when flies, attracted by the smell of blood, gathered on a single sickle among many brought by suspects.
• The term forensic stems from the Latin word forēnsis, meaning 'of a forum, place of assembly', originating in Roman times when trials were held in the forum.
• In 1784, John Toms was convicted of murder when a pistol wad found in the victim's head wound matched perfectly with a torn newspaper found in Toms's pocket.