[Mack is watching a hologram of Coulson]
Take it one step at a time. It's not your job to solve every problem. Your job is to put together a team you trust and then to tell them to take it one step at a time. That's all you can do. If you think about everything you're up against all at once, you'll crack. Fury always said, a man can accomplish anything once he realizes he's a part of something bigger.
MackI'm hesitant to stop.
He'd be proud. The job suits you. The agents out there know it.
Mack
Yeah, well, I'll never be the Director Coulson was.
No, you're a different Director. That's not a bad thing.
Where are you on this doppelganger?
MBMarcus Benson
Oh, I have several viable hypotheses. That's what scientists say when they don't know squat. Odds are, it's related to one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s previous mistakes, which I'm working my way through a very long list um, fear manifestations, nano-masks, Inhumans. Though I'm thinking I should revisit the file on those Life Model Decoys, which really shouldn't be a thing, by the way.
Mack
No argument here.
Could this guy be an LMD?
Well, if there's already been one of Phil Coulson, it seems like a possible explanation. But I would need to talk to the idiot who designed them.
You forgot to mention the fact that your former boss had died and come back to life before.
Mack
That's not what this is.
Are you sure? This LMD theory's not panning out. LMDs don't have DNA.
We didn't bring him back to life trust me. That was a hot topic.
Well, maybe he never died in the first place. You love secrets, Melinda. Anything you want to share?
Mack
Hey, take it easy.
I was there until the very end. He's gone. You have no right to question that. Find me a way to kill that thing out there pretending to be him. And if that's too hard, you know your way back to the bar.
That sounds nice right about now. And good luck sorting out this evidence alone.
Mack
Okay, that's enough. Now, is this the DNA you're talking about?
Yeah. This is a sample from the convenience store. At first, I thought it was alien radiation markers I've never seen, foreign methyl groups. Strip that all away, and what you have left is a 100-percent match for Phillip J. Coulson.
Mack
You're talking about this Shrike creator that's coming. You told May it's a monster.
Mack
S.H.I.E.L.D.'s dealt with a lot of folks who thought they were gods. Just had egos. There's only one God.
Oh, I see. This is that kind of planet. One God controlling everything. Benevolent, right? To make you feel all warm inside when times get tough?
Mack
It's not that simple.
Whatever your fairy tale, I've seen gods up close, and I think you're gonna get that opportunity, too. Believe me. You're not prepared for this.
Mack
I'm prepared to protect my people from whatever's coming.
Your people? Hmm. They keep looking at me. You might want to get used to that.
Mack
And why's that?
Because by the end of the day, I'll be the one in charge.
Prisoners give you any trouble?
Mack
Well, the big man [Jaco] seemed content on breathing his home planet's air, but the, uh the twitchy dude [Pax] wasn't too thrilled to find out, uh, we were tracking Sarge.
That's the first time I've ever heard you say that.
Mack
What? Twitchy?
Call somebody a "big man".
Mack
I'm not used to going up against giants.
Well, now you know how the rest of us feel when we're talking to you. It involves a lot of looking up.
Mack
You know, I don't feel like a lot of people have been looking up to me lately.
You can't let Sarge get to you, Mack. Everybody at S.H.I.E.L.D. believes in you.
Mack
Wish I could say the same.
Mack
You ever hear the name, uh, "Izel"? Keeps popping up in his research. Something from Incan mythology.
Oh, right. So, because I'm from South America, I must know something about Incan mythology? I'm Catholic, Mack.
What's her [Izel's] motive?
Hatred. For all living things.
Love. [Pause] No, it's hate. That's my thing, too. Hate and revenge. She took my family from me. I won't stop until she pays for that.
Well, if she's that powerful, how can you kill her?
There's only one way to kill the beast. [Holds a sword]
A galaxy hopping hate-beast that eats planets, and you want to defeat her with a, um, sword?
[Later]
Mack
Well, Benson gave us some information that might help us understand her. Has Sarge shared how he plans to take her out?
It's unclear but it may or may not involve a magical sword.
[In Yo-Yo's quarters]
Mack
Uh, yeah, it's, uh, I don't mean to keep you up. It's just, uh, I have a few things that, uh, I want to say, that I've wanted to say. But, you know, I-I can, um, I can be slow sometimes, so...
How many beers have you had?
Mack
N-No, it's, it's not that. It's, uh, t-there are, um, situations that, uh, will, um, will get complicated, no matter how hard you try to...
Mack. Today, we survived. It's been a good night. Let's not...
Mack
I screwed up. With you. I screwed up. We've been through hell and back, both of us. And I figured if, if I could get you off my mind, then that would help me be a better Director. You know, clear-headed, even-handed.
Mack
I don't know, 'cause you're always on my mind. And today, when they took over Z1 and you weren't there, I never for a moment worried you weren't safe. In fact, I knew you would be.
I always told you not to worry about me.
Mack
I know. And you were right. I'm not asking for forgiveness now. Just, uh, just a chance to earn it. Eventually. All right, um, Good night. [Goes to leave]
[Uses her power to shut the door before Mack leaves] We can take it slow.
[The team realizes that Izel can possess people but cannot access their memories.]
So everybody just needs to share a secret that she wouldn't know. The more private, the better.
Right, but it has to be something that one other person can confirm.
Mack
Yeah. We'll clear everyone here first, then everyone else in the base. It's the best plan so far.
Okay. I'll go first. Um, I, uh, tell people that the only time I miss Pitosí is during Christmas, but that's not exactly true.
Mack
It's not?
No, it's not. She told me.
There's one day every year where I miss him more.
Mack
Okay, um Daisy anonymously sends part of her S.H.I.E.L.D. salary to someone every month.
Amanda Campbell, Lincoln's sister. Mack's clear.
Mack
So are you.
[Izel has conjured an image of Benson's late husband, Thomas]
I was driving. Then seeing something in the road. Then darkness.
An accident. I sat with you for days, hoping you would wake up.
I heard every word that you said.
EElena
It's a lie, Benson!
Mack
Don't listen to it! It's not real!
When the doctor came in and said I was beyond helping, I heard that.
When my dad and sister begged you to hold on longer, I heard that, too.
I heard you say goodbye. I felt your hand on mine. You were so close, I could smell the liquor on your breath.
No, Thomas. I I-I didn't.
How much were you drinking that night?
Mack
So far, your doomsday ritual is a bit underwhelming.
This temple was built from the same stone as the Di'Allas. When they all resonate in harmony, they'll open a gateway to my home.
So you can go back there and never bother us again?
My family will come through and take over the Shrike hosts spread across the galaxy.
Mack
If it were that easy, you would've done it already.
True. With the Di'Allas destroyed, there isn't a way to complete the ritual. We must rebuild them.
That sounds like a you problem. And maybe you shouldn't tell us your bad-guy plans. That always happens right before the bad guy dies.
I'm telling you the problem because you're going to solve it for me. The three monoliths, as you call them you've seen them intact. You know what I can do with them. So your minds are going to create them for me.
Mack
But you can't do it yourself. That's why you need us.
I've already shown you that humans are incapable of controlling their fears.
But we're not afraid of you.
Mack
Our worst fears have nothing to do with you or the damn monoliths. It has to do with losing the people we love.
And we've already faced that fear. We're still here.
I know for a fact that he's the only one that can kill Izel.
Mack
Oh, let me guess, he tell you that?
Look, Sarge started to remember who he really is. And you would've seen it for yourself if you didn't volunteer to be kidnapped.
Do we really have to do this right now?
Mack
You really think this man is Coulson?
Maybe not all of him, but he remembered my name. He called me "Skye." How would he have known that?
Mack
Because that's what they do! I went to enough Sunday School to learn that when the devil shows up, he'll be wearing the face of someone you trust! He'll make you question everything you see and everything you know!
Mack
We don't know what he is.
Mack
Agent Shaw, you got your orders.
Stay here and take out any zombies while you go Quake Sarge back to whatever planet he was barfed out on.
You sure you can handle the gunplay?
Mack
Oh, he's been practicing his shooting. You should see his video game.
[Simmons has brought Mack, Daisy, Yo-Yo, Deke, and a comatose May onto Zephyr One. They realize that they had jumped to 1931]
I would say I need a drink but those are illegal now, aren't they?
Mack
Are there any other bombshells you want to drop, Agent Simmons?
Yes. There is one. We have a problem that Fitz and I could not solve, but Enoch provided a possible solution. The Chronicom Hunters have Fury's Black Box as well as centuries of anthropological research to pull from. Our team needs an expert in S.H.I.E.L.D. history to have a chance of stopping them, to even know what the Hunters might target. I would ask May her opinion, but she's out of commission for the time being. The rest of us could vote, but truthfully, this decision should be left up to him. And he has already voiced his opposition to anything like this. He has all of his own memories and has been upgraded with complete knowledge of everything he's missed. He has Chronicom hardware, which makes him our most advanced LMD. And there is no better person to be your right hand, sir.
Mack
Simmons...
I was deeply against it at first but the more I thought about it, the more I think he'd understand. I believe it's the right thing to do. And frankly, I miss him. So what do you think?
Mack
He would want us to consider the ramifications.
[Daisy presses a button. A door opens revealing an LMD of Coulson]
That's what I'm worried about. The butterfly effect. Just us being here, walking down the street, we could've already changed the course of events.
Yeah, the butterfly effect is just one aspect of the multiverse branch theory. Personally, I subscribe to the Time-Stream idea.
Mack
Let me guess. That's the one that lets you do whatever you want.
Okay. Imagine time as a stream, right? And we were sticks that were thrown into it. The water, it... it moves us... it moves around us.
But it ends up in the same place.
Right. Now, too many sticks thrown in and that will create what's called a dam, and... and that'll change the direction of the water forever, and that's bad. So as long as we can avoid that, we should be able to splash around a little bit and we're all good.
Mack
Okay, I know where this is going. Agent Shaw, you will not be filing any patents. Is that understood?
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. · 679 quotes
