Arctic Heart (Le secret des banquises)

Arctic Heart

I can't find a signal.

Did they keep it cold at all times?

Professor Frederic Quignard in preparation.

Glucose and decreasing dose of five milligrams of cortisone

for 5 p.m. Thank you.

P.m. Five milligrams. Preparation.

Glucose and decreasing dose

of five milligrams of cortisone for 5 p.m. Thank you.

-- Cortisone for 5 p.m. Thank you.

Philippe. It's empty.

Call the lab tech.

He's out longer than expected.

We need to call the PhD student that's assisting him.

You know. Soline.

-Corrine. -Pauline.

No.

Hi, it's Philippe.

I'm in the examining room with Nadine.

We need Pentothal for a six-pound subject.

- For 5 p.m. Thank you.

Joséphine.

Bizantine, are you there?

-Amandine? -I'm here.

Good. We're waiting for you in the exam room.

I'll be right there.

How long do we have?

Ten minutes.

Slight dehydration from the trip.

Rectal temperature is 100.4. It's good.

No anomalies on the feathers.

No pain.

Go ahead, you can pick its name.

Really?

But...

Doesn't Professor Quignard usually pick the names?

Josephine.

Christophine.

What's its name?

I like Gaston.

Gaston.

Go ahead. Bring it up. I'll finish the paperwork.

Excuse me?

Well, I could go and freeze my balls off...

but I'll pass.

That's the spirit, Philippe.

That's the spirit.

Okay. So, you come with me.

Hello.

Syllogism of bitterness.

Okay. So, it's simple.

You just need to follow the instructions.

Place him with the others.

But don't touch them. Don't scare them.

P. QUIGNARD PRIVATE

Corrine?

You need to place Gaston with the others. That's it.

Don't worry.

I'll guide you from Professor Quignard's office.

Any questions?

Yes. Is Professor Quignard there?

I repeat.

Any questions? Real questions? Technical ones?

No.

Let's go, then.

Monique? Go to your right.

Hello?

I can't hear you!

Where are you?

Go to--

I can't hear.

I can't hear you.

Shit.

Tell me what's going on.

Can you hear me? Corrine? Can you hear me?

Are you okay?

Put it on the ground and wait.

Go ahead.

Josephine. It's Frederic Quignard talking. Calm down.

You suffer from hypothermia.

Nadine forgot to adjust the icefield's temperature.

I'll put myself behind you.

I'll hold you tight.

And I'll violently shake you to warm you up.

That's the warm-up technique.

Okay?

I'll count to three.

One...

two...

three!

Feel any better?

Not really.

You did well making the new one feel included.

You'll assist me for the injections and the analysis.

Nadine, I want a meeting this afternoon with all the section chiefs.

Try not to move.

You suffer from transitional upper motor neuron syndrome with paralysis.

It'll only last a few minutes.

Don't worry.

You'll be back on your feet for my visit.

I know. I know.

Eglantine, what do you know about the PPM?

It's a stress protein produced by penguins.

And?

Penguins produce it while brooding

and it immunizes them against all known infections.

So?

So, penguins are never sick when they produce it.

And?

We study it.

How long have you been studying?

Eight years.

But it took a while before I found myself. I studied literature,

but I didn't like it.

-So, I went into video-- -I struck gold again.

Here. It's a limited edition.

-I already read it. -Not this one.

I added stuff in the footnotes.

Eglantine.

I called it the eternal punishment.

Yeah?

He was fighting with Emilie.

I punished them both.

I need more mice with low antibodies

so the PPM can work.

Good job.

Hey. Hold on.

I was wondering if you wanted to watch Donkey Skin with me.

I also have Wuthering Heights .

No, thank you.

The Americans,

well, Sophie Lapron, not to name her...

they are way ahead of us.

Their laws allow them to test on humans

as soon as next month.

Please.

If we want to stay in the game, if we want the lab to stay open,

we need...

We need to obtain the authorization for human testing

tomorrow at the Board of Ethics.

If we can't see results, I want theories.

We need to show them we are close, that we're on it.

That we have a lead.

I'm listening.

We have extracted, studied and purified the PPM

to understand the way it works.

But the PPM can only be read in an organism

with penguin genes.

We injected the penguin genome and the PPM into lab mice.

The results are astounding.

We found the stimulus that activates the PPM.

We are this close to universal immunity.

Professor, you can therefore reveal the nature of the stimulus.

I'd love to, but it's impossible.

Last night, my lab was broken into.

It was ransacked.

And all of our data was stolen.

There's no doubt that this was scientific espionage.

Therefore, I will not expose my team and our work today.

I'm asking you to come back in a month...

for a closed hearing.

We give you three weeks.

I'm coming with the fish.

You were up there?

She was there?

You shouldn't have. He needs his space after all this.

Three weeks.

The lab might as well shut down now. What can we even find in three weeks?

Did he say anything?

He might have said goodbye.

He's gonna kill himself.

They killed him.

Nadine, calm down.

We could knock you over.

You need to rest.

Professor Quignard, are you there?

I hope you're there.

I just locked myself up on the icefield.

If you don't come quickly, I'll freeze to death.

I decided to accept.

I accept the sacrifice.

I accept this adventure for two.

I accept science.

The testing is initiated.

I have the genome, the PPM... Everything.

There.

I know the drill.

I'll work from here.

I swear I won't say anything if you don't want me to.

And...

I'm so cold.

Stay calm. Easy.

We'll start the trials tomorrow morning.

As you wished...

or because of your putsch...

you are now my guinea pig.

Everything must remain confidential.

Josephine, look at me.

Thank you for this insane move.

You're absolutely crazy.