OOlga
Cursed machines will not lick defeat unless we slay head robot.
I think you mean "taste" defeat, but props on the English.
All S1
S1 E15Unfinished Business
[To an attacking robot] Hey! Surrender now, and I promise not to make a Speak & Spell out of your spare parts. 'Cause that would probably be embarrassing for a robot.
[Deke is about to introduce Mack to Mack's younger self]
Last semester, you got straight A's, you racked up the high score on Ms. Pac-Man and you cried buckets when you read Where the Red Fern Grows.
That stays between us.
Not making any promises.
Uncle Marcus's car looks nicer than I remember.
You don't say.
How are Reuben and I... doing with, uh... You know.
Still hard. I mean, they were your parents. I don't think that pain ever goes away completely. But every day's a little easier, and your Uncle Marcus has been great. I think that you and Reuben are even closer in this timeline. Now, remember, you're just a friend from my band, okay?
Yeah, okay, but what instrument do I play?
I don't know. I was thinking maybe... harmonica?
Oh, what? Harmonica? Oh, hell no. No. No, no, no, no. I'm a sax man all the way.
Of course the big man plays the sax. Alright, I'm into that, but we're gonna have to get you a couple lessons. It's got to be authentic.
[After his body was destroyed in the previous episode, Coulson is now a Max Headroom-like figure]
Good to see you, Deke. [Casually] You, too, Coulson.
MHMax-Headroom Coulson
That's really not the reaction I was expecting.
Simmons gave specific orders to find your hard drive. Said it was our most important asset. I might even agree with her.
MHMax-Headroom Coulson
Did she mention anything about...
Building you a new body?
MHMax-Headroom Coulson
Yeah.
You'll just have to wait and see.
MHMax-Headroom Coulson
That's cold, May, even for you.
This plan's pretty thin, May.
I'd rather have a thin plan than live through the '80s again.
We never came up with a cover story.
Well, just try to keep it simple, tell part of the truth.
An alien bird flew into my mouth in the future.
Maybe not that part.
Stand back. There's gonna be a big surge of electricity. Electricity's dangerous.
Do I look like a Neanderthal to you?
I spent time with a tribe of Neanderthals. Agent Sousa does not resemble one. He lacks the characteristic brow ridges.
Yes. We did a thorough search for any contaminants, foreign particles, pathogens. Nothing came up. I'm sorry, Elena, but your problem isn't physical. It's in your mind.
So, that's it? That's your theory? I'm not making this up. This is real.
The fact that it's psychological doesn't make it any less real.
[Recording a message] Fitz, I don't know if you'll ever get this, but the mission hasn't exactly gone as planned. I'm not sure why we lost contact when I rescued the team from Izel's temple, but the drive is malfunctioning, and we may have to abandon the Zephyr in 1983. Yo-Yo might be able to fix it, but if not... It won't be easy, but I know we'll find some way to be together again. Time, space... it's never stopped us before. And I won't stop trying. I love you.
You won't believe this, but I keep...
Repeating the same events over and over again? Yeah. How long did it take you to figure it out this time? I was really hoping not to have this conversation again, but if you forgot everything we went through, I guess that means you died again.
I died?! "Again"?
And always say it just like that. We're the only two who remember, so each time you die in one of these loops, you don't remember anything in the next reset, so then you have to learn everything all over again.
That's awful.
It's annoying. 'Cause who has to teach you every time? This guy. I've done it 14 times so far.
We've done this 14 times?
Oh, no. No, no, no. You've died 14 times. We've been through this loop 87 times, or I should say 87 that I know about.
That you know about?
'Cause you don't come power me up every time! It's okay. Not your fault. P.S., not a big fan of starting each loop powered down. Disconcerting.
Someone keeps trying to kill our people. Why doesn't that piss you off? It should. I'm sorry. I don't like watching you die. I don't like watching any of you die... over and over.
We will figure this out. You know we will.
Sure. But in the meantime, it is soul-crushing. If I even have a soul.
Don't talk like that again. Of course you have a soul.
Don't say that. Don't say "of course". I'm not who I was. I'm this thing. I was Max Headroom for a year. And you know what? Being trapped in a time loop, watching my friends die, helpless to stop it, it's not some time-space anomaly. It's a damn metaphor. This is my life now.
Does it not occur to you that I might know something about watching my friend die over and over again?
This is different.
Is it?
I will watch all of you die, one by one. Everyone I love. Because someone decided I should. I'm a machine now. I have programming.
[In one time loop, the team was thoroughly beaten]
Deke's dead?
Very.
Do we need to be sad about that?
We do not.
Every time I ask you for help, you say yes. Even if I don't ask, you're waiting here to make sure I rest or... whatever. Why? Be honest.
Honest? I know your type.
My what, now?
I know people like you. Some of my favorite people are people like you. Focused on the greater good, even at your own expense. You want people to think you like being alone, even though you always end up back with friends. You hate losing.
Everyone hates losing.
Yeah, but you'll keep running at the problem full-tilt until you either solve it or slam headlong into a brick wall.
Some of those walls are literal.
I know.
But how does that...
Because when people like you run into those walls, you should have someone there to pick you back up.
And you... you like to... be that someone?
Not for everyone. It helps if they're fun to be around and if they say what they mean and if they have that superpower where they can rock things around, which is very impressive.
That's, um... that is awfully specific.
[To save the team, Enoch has sacrificed a key component keeping him alive]
Does it hurt?
It does, a bit. But it's not the physical pain that troubles me. I am acutely aware that in my thousands of years observing humans, I never used to feel lonely. I have been alone many times. To be candid, I preferred it. But it wasn't until I met this particular team of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents that being alone meant... feeling lonely. And I don't care for it. So, I am feeling, as you might expect, some anxiety now.
You don't have to. You're not alone. Daisy and I will stay with you right up to the end.
That is very kind of you. But... it's that last part, isn't it? You can stay with me up to the end, but you can't come with me at the end. I will have to leave you. And I will have to do that alone. And I can't help wondering... when that happens... will I feel lonely?
I can say with some authority that you're not wrong. Dying is lonely. But the feeling is temporary... at least for the person dying. The ones who are left behind... less so. I guess that's the one advantage to going first.
Yes. It's different, watching your friends go before you, isn't it? I have been through that, as well. It can be harder to stay than to leave. I'm sorry, Philip J. Coulson.
Enoch, the team will carry on the mission. We will survive because of you. Thank you.
You are most welcome. But, Agent Johnson, while your friends will indeed survive, the team will not.
What do you mean?
I have seen the future. Carry on this mission and cherish it, for it will be your last mission together.
It... That's... That's not possible. I-I... Enoch, this is my family.
Of course. Yet this is the nature of family, isn't it? I have seen it countless times on countless worlds. People arrive, so we celebrate, and people leave us, so we grieve. We do what we can with the time in between, but the cycle is always there. No one escapes it. Not even me.
Which means you're not alone. You're a part of that cycle.
Like every other living thing.
Fitz... He was my best friend.
And you were a good friend to Fitz. You were a good friend to all of us.
As I have always...
[Enoch dies, leaving Coulson and Daisy staring tearfully]
Timeline's coming apart. We have to put it back. Nathaniel Malick's out there with quake powers and a new base. You made a promise to Daisy's mom that she wouldn't have to fight him alone. I think it's time to keep that promise.
These quotes come from Wikiquote's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. pages and are available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.