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Episode 9
Planning JTBC
What took you so long to get here?
You were only at the BL3 lab.
You pretend to be...
- ...heroes yet... - There was...
...a suicide in quarantine.
Suicide?
Na-hyun...
Script Park Hye-ryun
What is this?
It's an interview with a patient from Quarantine.
So, you've taken on extra duties?
Multitasking, I see.
We need the opinion of the advisory committee.
So, you want me to take this and brief them?
Yes, please hurry.
That's the job of the staff at the Quarantine Ward.
Besides, we just held a press conference
stating that the virus was contained.
Why are you trying to rain on that parade?
- Then, I'll do it. - What?
Hello, this is Kang Ju-hun. I need to report something.
Where are you? OK. I understand.
They're all in the situation room.
She said that slitting her wrists wasn’t working
so she gave me the rope made from bed sheets.
She asked me to hang it.
While you were at it, Kim Hye-mi came down from the table
and you went up instead. Why?
The loop was too small to fit her head
so I had to make it bigger.
- It fit... - Stop the video!
You think this is proof of neurological disturbance?
- That's what Mr. Kang says. - He's hardly an expert on viruses.
The guy's plainly lost his mind
- due to shock. - Mr. Kim.
Mr. Kang isn't a fool. Let's watch on.
- What for? - Let's watch.
We're wasting our time!
Do you remember what happened in the afternoon?
Only the very beginning.
Can you tell me a little in detail?
I felt a burning sensation as if I had swallowed something hot.
So, what did you do?
I wanted to throw up, but I couldn't.
And I had this blinding headache.
- There were 3 doctors there. - This looks
like neurological disturbance.
The M virus has mutated.
Are you saying there's a mutation?
Yes.
A mutation? That doesn't make any sense.
We compared the DNA sequence of the virus
from the patients who didn't respond to the medication,
and some of the codons had mutated.
Are you sure about this?
Yes.
Why didn't you tell us?
I wanted to make sure. Well, this video proves it.
If it's only a few codons, we can use the medicine we developed
to find a new cure.
We tried that, but it doesn't work.
Is it possible to develop a cure?
The kids miss you a lot.
You shouldn't tell them I'm sick.
I didn't. I told them you were at a seminar.
Good.
Mr. Choi and Mr. Jang went home.
I'm sure you'll get better too.
- Yeah. - Hang in there, dear.
Ma'am? Your time's up.
We just need 5 more minutes.
I'm sorry. It's protocol.
I'd better be off.
Hello?
How are you doing?
I'm doing all right.
Are you still in the same room?
Yes. Why?
It's nothing.
How are you feeling?
I'm fine. I miss you so much.
You wouldn't even let me near you.
When are you going to visit?
But you told me to stay away until you were completely cured.
I'd rather you visit me.
OK.
Uh Ki-young has the mutated virus? What do you mean?
But how? He has antibodies.
The mutation spread during the time that Uh Ki-young,
the host, was weak.
I can't believe it!
Is there any way to develop a cure?
Not at the moment.
There's no telling how long it'll take to find the mutated part.
It's not entirely hopeless.
We have the data that we've collected.
Oh no! The New Year's Holiday!
We have to block the roads and keep people from moving around.
On what basis?
Announcing the mutation will only further the chaos.
It won't help us resolve the situation.
I absolutely agree.
Scaring people without a solution...
- ...would be irresponsible. - That would be problematic.
- We can't mention the mutation. - I disagree.
We can't know what effects the neurological disturbances will have,
so we have to look at the cold hard facts
in order to prevent catastrophe.
But to announce it right now
would be like detonating a nuclear bomb in the middle of Seoul.
If that's true...
...it's all the more reason to reveal the truth.
You know we can't just tell people everything!
Fortunately, all the patients with the mutant virus are in Quarantine.
Is that true, Dr. Yoon?
Yes.
That means that this thing could die out, right?
Yes, but...
If we announce the mutation,
that would throw the entire nation into chaos.
But neglecting the matter could cause utter catastrophe.
I'm not saying we should neglect it.
You need to hurry with the cure.
But if people aren't infected outside of Quarantine,
we shouldn't make an announcement.
With the New Year's Holiday...
- ...around the corner... - The M virus has been contained.
That's what you said in front of the nation.
Director!
This could end with the death of the patients in Quarantine.
We can't ruin the holiday of the entire nation over this.
That's my final decision.
I'm sorry. My meeting ran late.
How did things go?
We've discussed the situation after your phone call.
But we can't restrict movement throughout the nation.
That would be like declaring martial law.
That's not an option.
We've reviewed the situation in our bureau
and restricting movement is out of the question.
The New Year's Holiday is a sensitive time for voters.
The political ramifications are unacceptable.
We could have partial restrictions in the affected areas
where people were infected.
That would serve to raise awareness
and if something did happen, people couldn't say that we
were just sitting on our hands.
Partial restriction...
That's not a bad idea.
But viruses can resurface at any time
and we can't be sure that it's under control.
If we restrict the affected areas and put health centers on alert...
- ...things could just blow over. - In any case,
we have to wait out the holiday.
We succeeded in copying the world's first artificial antibody.
We can do this, too.
We're counting on you, director.
It's the first day of the holiday and the nation is on the move.
But congestion isn't as bad as we expected.
People are using smart phones to avoid congested areas and times.
We'll keep you updated on the congestion
so if you're on your way to your hometown, keep tuned to this station.
That's the list of patients infected with the mutant virus.
We need to isolate them.
Why is Mr. Uh Ki-young on this list?
- He's been infected. - But how?
We don't know the specifics.
The patients on the list can experience mental disturbances,
so please be careful of them.
Are there reports of anymore infected patients?
Not as of yet.
You see? Things will just blow over.
Why are you so worried?
There isn't a single reported infection.
Go on home, Ms. Park.
Go see your children and make up with your husband.
I was worried when Dr. Yoon talked about the mutation.
I thought about taking it to the Health Minister.
But if we restricted movement throughout the nation
and there were no new infections,
that would have been a catastrophe.
Partial restriction was a wise decision.
You wanted to see me? Is there a problem?
- Doctor. - Yes?
Please tell me the truth.
Can I take a seat?
Am I going to die?
Why do you think that?
Something's happening inside my body, isn't it?
Tell me what's happening to me.
Viruses sometimes mutate inside our bodies
in order to survive.
If antibodies try to stop them from infecting us, they change themselves.
The M virus has also mutated and we think you might have it.
But how?
I thought I couldn't get infected?
You said that my body was able to fight off the virus.
So how could I...
You said that I could only give the virus to others.
So how could I get sick?
But mutations are a different matter.
Like the flu, just because you've had it once doesn't mean you're immune.
You could get a different strain of flu.
But this isn't the flu. This is death itself.
How could I be so unlucky?
How can I get the same disease twice?
It's probably because you were so weak.
It's because of the bone marrow extraction?
No, that's not it.
You became weak living on the fishing ship for a long time,
and received stress from living on the run.
Plus, you were injured when you fell from the bridge.
There's absolutely no possibility that it's because of the marrow extraction.
OK.
Is it successfully contained, or is it just dormant?
It's a little too quiet in my opinion.
Maybe I should have stayed in the office?
Everybody else is working all night.
You're too tired.
The best thing to do is to get some rest.
You know the way to my place?
I ran the GPS simulation 5 times.
I can imagine what kind of student you were.
What kind of student do you think I was?
You'd write the wrong answer no matter how many hints the teacher gave.
I've hinted that you should go slowly
through the congested areas.
But you've zipped all the way here...
- ...in 30 minutes flat. - You have to rest.
Go home and go right to sleep.
If you hadn't slept in 4 days,
would you like to sleep or stay with someone you liked for 30 minutes?
What would you do?
I won't get out unless you answer me.
The answer is obvious.
What is it?
- I'd stay with the person I like. - Wrong.
I'd like to sleep for 30 minutes next to the person I like.
Can't we just doze here together for 30 minutes?
For crying out loud.
I couldn't sleep next to you.
Hello?
What?
I understand. I'll be right down.
Happy New Year, ma'am.
Happy New Year to you, too.
Good morning, Mom.
You should go home, Mr. Kang.
Go on inside. I have something to take care of.
- But why? - It's all right.
I won't embarrass you.
Go on inside, Na-hyun.
Please make sure that she stays home, ma'am.
She needs a good night's rest.
You'll return to the office, won't you?
I'd invite you inside for some breakfast
but that's awkward.
So instead, I packed some food for you.
You can share it with your colleagues or eat it all yourself.
Thank you.
How could you sleep in the parking lot?
The neighbors are watching!
Thanks for the food, ma'am.
- Did you call for me? - Yes.
- The IV is too fast. - OK. Hold on.
Do you need anything else?
- Could you raise my bed? - Sure.
- Is this enough? - Yes.
- Wait. - Yes?
Could you call Mr. Kang Ju-hun, please?
- I have something to say to him. - I'll do that.
We're in a state of alert.
I can't go home for New Years.
What if people found out about it?
I can't go home.
How are you feeling?
You shouldn't do the dishes.
You're pregnant. You should have Mom do them.
Put her on the phone.
If she wants you to have a healthy... I gotta go, honey.
Didn't anyone else sleep?
You should get some shuteye.
Here.
What is this?
It's some food.
You went home in this situation?
This looks delicious!
Let's go over there and eat.
Hello? Park Do-gyeong speaking.
Quarantine?
If you're looking for head of Epidemiology...
Hold on.
It's for you, Mr. Kang.
This is Kang Ju-hun.
- You wanted to see me? - Yes.
What is it?
You once told me
that you'd have punched me if I said that I wanted to help save people.
What did you mean by that?
Why are you asking me?
I don't know.
Just lying here looking at the ceiling
made me think a lot about myself.
- It seems you've misunderstood. - There aren't any misunderstandings.
Of course. You don't know anything about me.
Have you heard the news?
I have the mutant virus.
Yes.
There was a time when I thought that you had saved my life.
You were trying to save everybody in the world,
but I was saved thanks to that.
But now I have the mutated virus.
It would've been better if I died then.
At least I wouldn't have dreamed of living life anew.
I wasn't as scared to die at the time.
I'm sorry to cut you off, but what do you want from me?
Did you hear why I got infected by the mutant virus?
It's because of my body's weakened state.
If you're talking about the marrow extraction...
You'll take legal responsibility?
But the law's already given you a free pass.
Can I have some water?
Did you install these gates?
Yes, ma'am.
How about security?
There are police guards in the east and west wings,
and police in front of every room.
Tell our staff to refrain making personal visits to the patients.
Yes, ma'am. We'll have them come into the examination room for treatment.
Have you separated the patients?
We've moved the recovering patients to the 7th floor
and left the patients with the mutation on the 8th floor.
What are you doing here, Na-hyun?
- You must be cold. - Where's Mr. Kang?
He's in Quarantine.
Why is he there?
We quarantined him because he had a tussle with a patient.
He's all right, isn't he?
- He's fine. - I'm so touched.
If you're so worried, why don't you go pay him a visit?
Or would you rather put on some clothes first?
They don't even hide their office romance anymore.
She's just worried about him.
You think she'd have rushed over here if it happened to you or me?
She hid her romantic feelings by pretending that her interest
in him was purely professional.
But now, she doesn't even bother doing that anymore.
Na-hyun?
- Na-hyun? - Are you all right?
I'm not the type to let anyone overpower me.
Will you please be careful?
I was worried sick when I heard the news.
You're the one who should be careful.
You haven't recovered completely.
It'd be a travesty if you caught a cold.
Your health should be your biggest priority.
Acting irrationally because of your worry for me
is unnecessary.
You should put on some socks.
Did you hear about what happened?
Do I scare you now?
- Why did you do it? - It was out of anger.
What did I do to deserve catching this twice?
I needed to take my anger out on someone.
I understand.
But you're not that kind of person.
That's what's strange.
What?
I feel anger fill me up inside.
It seems that if I let it out,
the virus will be flushed out along with it
and I'll be all cured.
- Are you worried? - Yeah.
Are you scared?
Do you wish you never met me?
How can you say that?
- You regret not dumping me, right? - Ki-young!
I'm joking. Just trying to lighten the mood.
We didn't... I'm sorry, sir.
We'll release the materials as soon as they're ready.
How could this happen?
How could it become an epidemic all of a sudden?
It's our fault for not realizing that the virus was dormant.
Now, people have spread it all over the nation visiting their families.
There's a long line of ambulances in front of the hospital.
Do we have enough space in Quarantine?
We're going to rent a hospital in Incheon.
Move all our patients there
along with our medical staff and researchers.
Yes, ma'am.
You must all blame me for not blocking the roads
like Dr. Yoon and Ms. Park recommended.
I concede that that may have reduced the number of patients.
But given the situation,
I doubt such a measure would have stopped the spread of the virus.
I agree.
Such an extreme measure would have only added to the confusion.
The partial restriction was the right judgment call.
Tell that to the people who died.
We don't have the time to play the blame game.
Dr. Yoon, have you made any progress on the cure?
We're trying to find the mutated element, but...
But you don't know how long it'll take,
so we should all wait?
- There's no other way. - How can you be so irresponsible?
Everyone's looking to you for hope.
But instead, you claim that there's no other way.
Where's the confidence you had when you pushed for
using the artificial antibodies without clinical trials?
Aside from finding the element that has mutated, there's no...
Dr. Yoon is correct.
Dr. Choi!
He knows what's at the heart of the problem.
But that's all useless
if you don't have the solution.
What are you doing?
We have an overflow of patients.
It's what happens when a national pandemic occurs.
Have you heard of the Spanish flu?
The same thing is going on now.
The Spanish flu only occurred in limited areas before it seemed to die down.
But then, it suddenly spread, causing a worldwide catastrophe.
8 million people were killed during the 4 years of WWI.
Do you know how many people died over 6 months due to the Spanish flu?
3 times that. 25 million people.
Some people claim that the death toll is closer to 100 million.
In our camp, we called the virus, the "Escaper,"
because it seemed like a genius at escaping.
But when in Rome, do as the Romans do.
So I'll call it the M virus like you do.
I'll call the first virus which caused respiratory hemorrhaging M1.
And the mutated virus which causes mental disturbance M2.
At the center is a rod which causes electric shock.
The normal mice avoid the rod.
But the ones infected with M2...
You've succeeded in giving mice receptors?
I heard that Dr. Yoon had some trouble with that.
But it's something that anybody can do given enough time.
So please don't think any less
of Dr. Yoon's scientific abilities.
In any case, we placed the mice
infected with the mutation near the electric shock rod.
Their behavior was completely different.
They hurt themselves on purpose like most patients of the M2.
The next video will show something even more shocking.
The mice infected with M2 also attacked
the other, uninfected mice.
As I said, the M2 has an excellent instinct for escaping.
Where does it escape to? To healthy, uninfected hosts.
The infected mice attack uninfected mice,
draw them near by calling them,
and infect them on purpose by coughing on them.
The virus instinctively moves to healthy, uninfected hosts.
We appreciate the test footage,
but those are characteristics of the M2
that Dr. Yoon has informed us of.
The question is the cure.
Have you tried developing a vaccine?
- Yes. - Can you tell us in detail?
We began with the premise that inside the polar ice
would be the virus in its original form before it mutated.
We compared the original to the mutant to find the elements that were mutated...
- ...in order to develop an antibody. - Have you succeeded?
We're at the final stages.
The final stages?
We were able to cure the mouse infected with M2.
- 일 끝내고 소주 한잔 할래 - 괜찮으시겠어요?
We've found a cure for M2.
I don't know why I don't feel happier.
Maybe I feel a little suspicious of Dr. Choi?
This is a historical event in science.
I know that.
But I was a little surprised when I heard Dr. Choi describe the vaccine.
It sounded similar to the contents of the paper you were preparing.
I found that surprising too.
I know it's not appropriate to level plagiarism charges
during such an emergency.
But I couldn't help but suspect that during Dr. Choi's presentation.
Did you ever show him your paper?
No. Plus, it was only a rough draft.
From what I can remember,
the experiment protocols were clearly outlined in it.
Are me and my husband the only ones to see it?
Yes.
You look tired.
I heard you never left the lab.
I like to catch a snooze in the lab once in a while.
It's a trick I learned during my 10 years as a researcher.
People are apt to adapt to any environment.
That's incredible.
We'll catch up later on.
Please let me know what you need in order to complete the vaccine
and I'll have them prepare it.
The equipment here is superb.
- But I can't continue my experiments here. - You can't?
We need support in our arctic camp.
You can't continue the experiments in our facilities?
We have 200 cloned lab mice and 30 cultures of antibodies at our camp.
It would take at least 2 months to ship all that here.
It's the origin point for the virus so we could find a virus with the antibody there.
We have to stay in the field.
I need to ask you for one more favor.
- Have some tea. - Yes, sir.
I don't understand why he insists on support for his camp
when the hospital has such excellent facilities.
Dr. Choi claims that he needs to carry out the experiments at
the virus's point of origin.
Do you agree with him, Ms. Jung?
- Is that why you're here? - Yes, sir.
Even so, this is a bit extravagant.
A 7,000 ton icebreaker would mean that he wants
the Araun Ho.
He needs 40 researchers first, and another 120 later.
- That's 160 in all. - Mr. Minister...
There's one more request.
He wants to keep the rights for the vaccine.
But it isn't even developed yet.
He's already applied for a patent in Korea,
and received ones from Japan and the US.
He's embroidered in some complicated legal issues,
and he's asked us to take care of them.
I know that his demands seem unreasonable.
But acquiescing and helping him develop the vaccine
is the only way out of impending catastrophe.
Where is Dr. Choi's camp exactly?
It's north of the Dasan Station, at Cape Presley.
We'll ask for the help of Dasan Station
as soon as you make the decision.
You may do as you please.
Thank you, sir.
There's no answer.
This is the Dasan Station, and this is Cape Presley.
We're a thousand kilometers from the North Pole.
That means that we're almost there.
This is awful.
We need to hurry if we're going to establish a route
and ready the camp in time for the support crew's arrival.
Huh?
- What is it? - I see it.
I know you must be busy. I'm sorry for adding to your duties.
It's all right.
It'll be tough to ride a military transport.
It's all right. I took one to the South Pole.
Is everyone here?
Dr. Choi isn't here yet.
Who's there?
Dr. Choi?
Dr. Yoon. I think I've been infected.
What am I going to do?
Shut this lab down! It's been contaminated!
In Dr. Choi's camp...
If there's a survivor...
Isn't she your daughter's chief physician?
Who's inside the lab?
No one may leave until they've been tested.
Bring the diagnostics kits.
Please stay at your locations until further notice is given.
Get out of there, now!
- How should I handle Dr. Yoon? - Do it by the book.
Positive.
Negative.
Kim Hee-sang. Director Jung Sang-sook.
When you make a deal with the devil...
I heard you tried to infect Kang Ju-hun.
You do away with all your moral qualms.