Ring Page #7

RYUJI:

So, what does that mean?

Asakawa lets out a short sigh.

ASAKAWA:

Well, if the person who made this

is a pro, there�d be a way around

that, I guess, but still...

The screen changes, showing the mass of squiggling kanji characters

again.

RYUJI:

(reading)

Volcanic eruption... Eruption where?

He pauses the screen, trying to make sense of what is written.

ASAKAWA:

This is gonna be impossible to figure

out on just a regular TV screen,

don�t you think?

They are both still staring at the screen when from behind them comes

the SOUND of someone opening the front door. Ryuji turns off the TV,

ejects the tape from the deck.

RYUJI:

Come on in.

Asakawa flashes a look at Ryuji and then turns her head back towards

the front door to see who has entered. A cute, nervous-looking young

GIRL with short hair approaches slowly. She is carrying a PLASTIC BAG

filled with groceries.

RYUJI:

Asakawa, meet my student, Takano Mai.

He turns, addresses Mai.

RYUJI(cont�d)

This is Asakawa, my ex-wife.

Ryuji gets up and walks conveniently away.

MAI:

Nice to meet you. I�m Takano.

ASAKAWA:

Asakawa. *

> * As you may already be aware, Japanese name order is the

>opposite of English�s, and even close friends may continue to

>address one another by their last names. Incidentally, Asakawa�s

>first name is �Reiko.� In this scene, Mai deferentially refers

>to Ryuji as sensei, meaning �teacher.�

Mai sets the bag of groceries down and chases after Ryuji. He is

putting on his jacket and getting ready to leave.

MAI:

Sensei, the people from the

publishing company called about

the deadline on your thesis again.

RYUJI:

(brusquely)

What�re they talkin� to you

about it for?

MAI:

Because they can never get a

hold of you.

Ryuji picks up his keys, video firmly in hand.

RYUJI:

Ask them to wait another week.

MAI:

Sensei, ask them yourself,

please.

Ryuji is already headed for the door. His back is to her as he

responds.

RYUJI:

OK, OK.

Asakawa walks after him. They leave.

Mai pouts unhappily a bit, and then breaks into a smile as an idea

crosses her mind. She walks across the room to where Ryuji has set

up a large BLACKBOARD filled with mathematical equations. Grinning,

Mai rubs out part of one equation with her sleeve and writes in a

new value.

INT. NEWS STATION � HALLWAY - NIGHT

Asakawa and Ryuji stride purposefully. They stop before a DOOR to

the right, which Asakawa unlocks. They both walk in.

INT. NEWS STATION - VIEWING BOOTH - NIGHT

Asakawa and Ryuji sit in a completely darkened room, their eyes

glued to the television MONITOR. They are again watching the scene

with the fragmented kanji characters, but despite their efforts have

been able to identify only one additional word, bringing the total

to three:

volcanic eruption local residents

RYUJI:

This is impossible.

Ryuji fast forwards, stopping at the scene with the kanji reflected

inside an alien-looking EYE. He reads the kanji aloud.

RYUJI:

Sada...

Ryuji moves to make a note of this, notices the time.

RYUJI:

Is Yoichi gonna be all right?

ASAKAWA:

(sadly)

He�s used to it...

Short silence. Ryuji breaks it by gesturing towards the screen.

RYUJI:

Whoever made this had to have left

some kind of clue behind. They�re

probably waiting for us to find it.

Asakawa turns a DIAL to bring up the volume, which up until now has

been on mute. The room is filled with an eerie, metallic GRATING,

and Asakawa spins the dial again, shutting it off. Just as she does,

Ryuji�s eyes widen.

RYUJI:

Wait a minute.

He turns the dial again, punches a few buttons as if searching for

something. He listens carefully, and when he hears that strange

something again he stops, looks at the screen.

It is paused at the scene with the figure, pointing, a CLOTH draped

over its head. The figure now looks oddly like a messenger.

Ryuji and Asakawa exchange glances. This could be it. Ryuji flips

some more switches, setting the sound for super-slow mo. What follows

is a strange, labored sort of speech-� a hidden message-- framed in

the skittering distortion of the tape in slow motion.

TAPE:

Shoooomonnn bakkkkkarrri toou...

boooouuuukonn ga kuuru zouuu...

RYUJI:

(repeating)

Shoumon bakkari, boukon ga kuru

zo. Did you hear that, too?

Asakawa nods. Ryuji is already writing it down excitedly.

ASAKAWA:

What does that mean?

Ryuji tears the sheet of paper off the notepad, folds it, and tucks

it into his shirt pocket.

RYUJI:

I�m gonna check it out.

EXT. ASAKAWA�S APARTMENT COMPLEX - MORNING

Yoichi is walking to school. He looks back over his shoulder, just

once,then resumes walking.

INT. ASAKAWA�S APARTMENT - MORNING

All the lights are turned off, and she is sitting on the living room

couch watching the footage of her caf� interview with the junior high

school girls.

Caption-- �September 16th. Thursday.�

Just when the girl in the interview mentions that whomever watches

the video is supposed to afterwards receive a phone call, Asakawa�s

own phone RINGS, startling her. She runs to answer it.

ASAKAWA:

Hello?

RYUJI (O.S.)

I�ve got it. It�s a dialect, just

like I thought. SHOUMON means

�playing in the water� and BOUKON

means �monster.� *

>* Translated from standard Japanese, the phrase from the videotape

>would initially have sounded like, "If only SHOUMON then the

>BOUKON will come." These two capitalized words, later identified to

>be dialectical, were at the time completely incomprehensible to Ryuji

>and Asakawa. Dialect can vary dramatically from region to region in

>Japan, to the point of speakers of different dialect being unable to

>understand one another.

>The phrase on the tape can now be rendered, "If you keep playing in

>the water, the monster will come for you."

ASAKAWA:

But, dialect from where?

RYUJI:

Oshima. And the site of our

�eruption� is Mt. Mihara.

INT. LIBRARY - NIGHT

Ryuji and Asakawa are seated at cubicles, looking through bound

ARCHIVES of old newspaper articles. Asakawa sneaks a look at Ryuji,

stands up and walks off a little ways. She has already pulled out her

cell phone.

ASAKAWA:

(whispering, on phone)

Yoichi? I�m gonna be a little

late tonight, honey.

Ryuji looks over his shoulder at her, scowls.

ASAKAWA:

You can do it yourself, right? OK.

Sorry. Bye.

She hangs up, returns to her seat at the cubicle. She resumes her

scanning of the newspaper articles, and Ryuji shoots her another scowl.

Asakawa turns a page and then stops, frowning. She has spied an article

that looks like...

Nervously, Asakawa puts the thumb and forefinger of each hand together,

forming the shape of a rectangle. Or a screen. She places the rectangle

over the article she has just discovered, its headlines reading:

Mount Mihara Erupts Local Residents Urged to Take Precautions

Ryuji notices her, leans forward excitedly.

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