Ring Read online

  He couldn't help but wonder. What effect is this going to have? With my wife's copy and my daughter's copy, this virus is going to be set free in two directions-how's it going to spread from there? He could imagine people making copies and passing them on to people who'd already seen it before, trying to keep the thing contained within a limited circle so it wouldn't spread. But that would be going against the virus's will to reproduce. There was no way of knowing yet how that function was incorporated into the video. That would take some experimenting. And it would probably be impossible to find anybody willing to risk their life to find the truth of it until it had spread pretty far and things had become quite serious. It really wasn't very difficult to make a copy and show it to someone-so that's what people would do. As the secret travelled by word of mouth, it would be added to: "You have to show it to someone who hasn't seen it before." And as the tape propagated, the week's lag time would probably be shortened. People who were shown the tape wouldn't wait a week to make a copy and show it to someone else. How far would this ring expand? People would be driven by an instinctual fear of disease, and this pestilential videotape would no doubt spread throughout society in the blink of an eye. And, driven by fear, people would start to spread crazy rumours. Such as: Once you've seen it you have to make at least two copies, and show them to at least two different people. It'd turn into a pyramid scheme, spreading incomparably faster than it would just one tape at a time. In the space of half a year, everybody in Japan would have become a carrier, and the infection would spread overseas. In the process, of course, several people would die, and people would realize that the tape's warning wasn't a lie, and they'd start making copies even more desperately. There would be panic. Where would it all end? How many victims would this claim? Two years ago, during the boom in interest in the occult, the newsroom had received ten million submissions. Something had gone haywire. And it would happen again, allowing the new virus to run rampant.

  A woman's resentment toward the masses who had hounded her father and mother to their deaths and the smallpox virus's resentment toward the human ingenuity that had driven it to the brink of extinction had fused together in the body of a singular person named Sadako Yamamura, and had reappeared in the world in an unexpected, unimagined form.

  Asakawa, his family, everybody who had seen the video, had been subconsciously infected with this virus. They were carriers. And viruses burrowed directly into the genes, the core of life. There was no telling yet what would result from this, how it would change human history- human evolution.

  In order to protect my family, I am about to let loose on the world a plague which could destroy all mankind.

  Asakawa was frightened by the essence of what he was trying to do. A voice was whispering to him.

  If I let my wife and daughter die, it'll end right here. If a virus loses its host, it'll die. I can save mankind.

  But the voice was too quiet.

  He entered the Tohoku Highway. No congestion. If he kept going, he'd be there in plenty of time. Asakawa drove with his arms taut and both hands clutching the wheel. "I won't regret it. My family has no obligation to sacrifice themselves. There are some things you just have to protect when they're threatened."

  He spoke loud enough to be heard over the engine, to renew his determination. If he were Ryuji, what would he do? He felt sure he knew. Ryuji's spirit had taught him the secret of the video. It was practically telling him to save his family. This gave him courage. He knew what Ryuji would probably say. Be true to what you're feeling this instant! All we have in front of us is an uncertain future! The future'll take care of itself. When humanity gets around to applying its ingenuity, who knows if it won 't find a solution? It's just another trial for the human species. In every age, the Devil reappears in a different guise. You can stamp it out, and stamp it out, and he'll keep coming back, over and over.

  Asakawa kept his foot steady on the accelerator and the car pointed toward Ashikaga. In his rear-view mirror he could see the skies over

  Tokyo, receding into the distance. Black clouds moved eerily across the skies. They slithered like serpents, hinting at the unleashing of some apocalyptic evil.

  THE END