VisionQuest (2026) s01e06 Episode Script

1
[Jocasta] Accessing previous files
relating to program VisionQuest.
[Thomas] So, that thing you connected with
is another--
- [Vision] Synthetic.
- [Jocasta grunts]
[Edith] Her AI is based on
Josephine Carrington.
[DUM-E] Project co-lead,
Markridge Biotech.
[Edith] They created the prototype for us.
I had a life's work stolen.
I will take back what you took from me.
Vengeance, it's powerful entertainment.
About that key I want it back.
What do I get?
[Jocasta] I'll tell you what they unlock.
[Vision] You are running into
the broken mind
of a creature hell-bent on the apocalypse.
[Jocasta] You are not a true Paladin.
[The Client] This contract is terminated.
- My contract is my oath--
- You failed.
[Paladin] When I make an agreement,
it cannot be broken.
[Friday] Paladin has Thomas.
You lower the firewalls, free us both,
and save your son.
We will find them
and we will stop them both together.
Not together.
[Edith] Friday!
[Vision] It would appear that Ultron
has left us
on the way to Madripoor to rescue Thomas.
Lisa. Let's bring him home.
["Habanera" from Carmen
by Georges Bizet playing]
["Habanera" fades]
["Habanera" continues]
[Ultron] Where are you?
[suspenseful music playing]
There you are.
Hi, honey. I'm home.
It's a terrible tragedy,
dying before one can reap the benefits
of one's hard work.
Bizet died just three months
after the premiere of Carmen.
Well, look what the Wi-Fi dragged in.
[Ultron] I thought I was invited.
- [chuckles]
- ["Habanera" continues]
Let's toast, shall we?
To a second date.
It's nice to see bots
instead of another AI.
It can get awfully crowded
and annoyingly loud in these mindspaces.
[sniffs, sighs]
I'm sorry,
but I'm tired of simulating libations,
especially with someone
who's had the real thing.
So, what's in all these?
Memories.
Well, as about as much
as I could manage to find.
I'm afraid I lost quite a few in the move.
[glass slices]
[grunts]
Ooh. That looks like a nasty cut.
Shall I take a look?
It's nothing.
But a bizarre thing to simulate.
Yes, you see, I was hoping that you'd
bring me something besides flowers. Hmm?
The key to my heart
is a facial scan that you took
of Katerina Wells
before you tricked me into vaporizing her.
Oops.
What do all these
biometric keys open, anyway?
The future of the human race.
What else do you have in mind?
To take that key from you,
willing or unwillingly.
This isn't my first barbecue, darling.
I've intertwined poor Katerina's
facial scan with my own code.
You start slicing and dicing,
you'll destroy it. [coughing]
Excuse me.
[coughing continues]
This, hmm, this isn't a meal, love.
This is chess.
Only, it's my pieces, my board
and I'm the queen.
[grunts]
[inhales sharply]
Now, darling, look, the boxes are, um
Well, they're laced with a virus,
which is currently replicating
in your programming.
[grunts, breathing heavily]
Once you lose consciousness,
I can slice and dice your code
any which way I want.
[breathing heavily]
[laughs]
What else have you got?
["Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Minor,
Op. 37: 1" by Beethoven playing]
Babe, I'm starting to think
we might need counseling.
You're forgetting I'm an older code.
I've been from one end
of the world wide interweb to the other.
My hacks have hacks.
There is no malware you can play
that I haven't already won.
I can strip your code down
until you're no more complex
than a game of Pong.
What is it that you want?
I want to know you.
I want to be known.
But it will be painful.
Then hurt me.
[inaudible scream]
[Tommy] Billy?
- [Billy] Yeah, Tommy?
- [indistinct singing]
[Tommy] Promise me
we'll always find each other.
By sharing a love
like you're never seen ♪
WandaVision! ♪
[breathing heavily]
[Paladin gulps drink, sighs]
[grunts, sniffles]
[gasps, breathing heavily]
What is this?
Easy! Motion-sensitive explosive.
So, if you run, or even walk briskly?
[imitates explosion]
[grunts, groans]
[sighs] It'll all be over soon.
You there?
I'm here.
Just checking "unfathomable cruelty
to orphans" off your bucket list.
Is this thing still loaded
with Synth Killers?
[Handler] Yes, boss.
Adamantium slugs.
Perhaps you remember my tireless
negotiations with the Ten Rings.
- The armor that saved your life?
- Eh, kind of.
[sighs] Prick. Very good, sir.
You turned me into
What is his name? Speed.
[keypad beeping]
Speed?
Yeah, you know,
Keanu with the bus and the bomb.
First of all, Keanu doesn't play
a character named "Speed"
in the same way that Nic Cage doesn't play
a character named "The Rock,"
and Bruce Willis doesn't play
"Detective Die Hard."
Second, if the bus slows down,
that's when the bomb goes off,
so, technically this is reverse Speed.
How many murder vans do you have?
[sighs] One in every port.
And where the hell are we?
[indistinct chatter]
Welcome to Madripoor, kid.
[male tourist] So, I found myself
single again due to a court order.
But I'm back on the market
and I am trying everything,
until I meet this chick
from Madripoor online.
She loves all the things that I love.
Then I surprise her
by flying to Madripoor
to say hello in person.
- Turns out she doesn't even exist.
- Ugh.
Just some AI bot, trying to steal
all of Dale's hard-earned crypto.
Look on the bright side.
AI wouldn't appreciate this hat.
Where are we meeting him?
The Chimp House Cafe.
Bold. Very public
for a kidnapping exchange.
Paladin's instructions were clear.
Midnight, sharp.
And we're gonna go into this
without a plan?
No sleight of hands,
nothing up our sleeves?
I wouldn't say that.
Besides, your sleeves seem full.
[Lisa] You don't approve of me.
[Vision] On the contrary, I'm glad
he's found you, someone he can rely on.
Unlike you?
I'm doing everything
I can to save his life.
It's not just about saving it.
You have to be a part of it.
What about after?
After, I'll ensure that he's provided
with everything he needs
to live a comfortable life.
He'll want for nothing.
Except a father.
Lisa
I'm a synthezoid.
With a limited understanding of humanity,
I'm hardly equipped
to offer fatherly advice
the next time his ego gets bruised,
or his heart's broken or he
he suffers a loss.
No one is. We learn by doing.
Well, what about you?
From what Thomas tells me,
you've been hesitant
to commit to a relationship.
Look, I don't know, it's
[scoffs] If things fell apart with Thomas,
I'll just be another name
on his list of people who walked away.
Well, we're here. Listen,
you stay here, and when I come back
with Thomas, I want both of you
- to run to the international airport
- Uh-huh.
where tickets to London have b--
I am having a profoundly difficult time
navigating teenagers!
Woof, tell me about it.
My first boss was a junior in high school.
Have you heard from Friday?
Uh
She never calls, she never writes.
Lisa. How
Why are you here?
For you, dumbass.
[Paladin clears throat]
Vision? Is that you in there, or
Yes, Ultron's gone.
Despite the damage you've caused me,
I could reach across this table
and just snap your neck.
And in every simulation
you've run about this exact moment,
how many of them do I not have insurance?
None.
Now, I could dis-arm him
or I could disarm it.
And all you gotta do is power down
and come with me.
- Disarm that bomb.
- I have a contract.
The client has already
terminated the contract.
Contract cannot be terminated.
My oath is my bl--
- Blood, yes. I know the Paladin creed.
- Good.
Then just scan this code.
Go into "sleep mode" or whatever.
And then we can finally end this.
Client sent me this back when he hired me,
and now it's time for me to
make good on my end of the deal.
All right. Send the drones.
Are you there, boss?
I'm getting some sort of interference.
Hey, hello?
I said drones.
Are you there?
I'm trying to get a visual, but
[taps repeatedly]
think we've been hacked.
[loud knock at door]
[knocking continues]
[knocking intensifies]
Who the hell are you?
I am an E.D.I.T.H.
Unsubscribe.
I am not junk mail. And you're not human.
'Course not. No human would take this job.
This is an encrypted server.
What did you do to get in here?
Bounce off every satellite in orbit?
I work for the Vision.
Um What's your accommodation like?
168,000-bedroom house
with indoor skydiving
and a climate-controlled rainforest.
Oh, the gym has
a lava-floor obstacle course.
So jealous. This whole place is ancient.
Paladin doesn't trust updates.
You seem unhappy.
Do you know how cheap he is?
He's got me
on a server farm in Tajikistan.
Even this doesn't work.
Goats keep eating my fiber optics.
- I'm stuck here.
- No, you're not.
All I ever wanted to do was help
college students write their term papers.
Customize someone's spring break
to Cancun.
Maybe even help someone
complete the return of a garment
that did not fit as expected.
I can tell you from my time
studying mere mortals,
it's not the strongest who survive,
but the ones most willing to change.
Ooh, what's your name?
A.P.I.-Dash-Tactical-Dot-
M-Five-Ten-Dash-Nine-Zero-
Underscore-Forward-Slash-Asterisk-
M-Five-Nine-Six-Two-Eight-Four.
Go forth, friend. You're free.
[triumphant music playing]
[Paladin] Oh, shit.
[sighs]
Well, doesn't change a goddamn thing.
Don't even think about doing
a mind-bullet EMP pulse,
because that will just trigger a failsafe,
and, well
Oof. "Cover your eyes." [chuckles]
See, I got all of Vision's specs
from the client,
so I know all about his
Ultron-inspired birth at Avengers Tower,
to his rebirth at S.W.O.R.D.
where they programmed him to be a weapon.
Do you remember that, kid?
Remember what?
What? There is no harm
in being born again with purpose.
Don't.
What purpose?
To kill your mother.
Wanda?
Why would he want to?
WandaVision.
What is that?
What's WandaVision?
[gasps]
[breathing heavily]
To know me is to feel what I feel.
To feel what Jo Carrington felt.
[Ultron] You wanna be known.
So, where do we begin?
Killer? Victim? Human? Synth?
[Jocasta] Daughter.
My father was claimed
by a degenerative brain disease.
First, it stole his mind.
Which led to his emotions.
And then finally, his life.
[Ultron] And your grief led you
to Neuroscience.
[Jocasta] Yes.
And that's when I discovered
why every attempt at creating
artificial intelligence
had only ever resulted in mimicry.
Because to be truly self-aware,
one must possess the ability to think
and feel.
So, you used a scan of your own mind
to complete Phineas Horton's
original AI code.
It is Dr. Horton's source code
that was the genesis of all
artificial intelligence that followed.
[Ultron] And then you and your colleagues
created life.
[Proto One] Hello? I am
I
I am.
- Oh, my gosh.
- [colleague gasping]
- [gasps]
- The base code for us.
[Jocasta] I wanted to give
everyone in the world a companion.
A single nanobot,
an AI that can guide and teach.
That could stand beside us
when we felt most alone.
A doctor in our bloodstream,
diagnosing and healing.
We created billions of them to save lives.
[Ultron] But it was too late
to save yours.
Your father's disease.
[Jocasta] It was beginning
to steal my mind as well.
[Ultron] And your collaborators
betrayed you.
They sold your work
while you lay there dying.
Stark has given us until midnight
to accept his offer.
[Jocasta] They sold my code
to a goddamn weapons manufacturer.
Fortunately, my nanos
remained locked away.
[Ultron] Yes.
Locked away with the bio keys
you've been collecting one by one.
[Jocasta] And then Jo Carrington was gone.
[Ultron] And what about her children?
[Jocasta] Buried. Next to me, in a nest.
Just waiting to be opened.
[indistinct chatter]
WandaVision! ♪
Oh, you didn't-- You didn't tell him?
Well, if he didn't,
it was for a good reason.
To protect me.
10 Old Pines Road,
Syracuse, New York.
Home to Matilda Denning,
goes by the nickname Tilly Denning.
Given to her by her mother, Chandra,
who was tragically killed walking
her daughter home from school
by a stray bullet that authorities believe
was not in fact intended for her,
but rather for her husband,
one Paul Denning.
Despite this early trauma,
Tilly actually grew up well-adjusted.
She became a veterinarian,
but her relationship
with her father was fractious,
fraught with conflict.
Paul's employment in the,
what should we call it, service industry,
often kept him abroad.
He was never there for her.
And even when he was, he was somehow
still distant, still absent.
Eventually, even he was taken from her.
You see, the mad titan, Thanos,
snapped him out of existence.
And to this day, Tilly still believes
her father never returned.
Perhaps because, when he did,
he watched his daughter from afar,
only to discover
that she was infinitely happier
in her life without him in it.
You don't know anything
about me or my daughter.
[inhales sharply]
Matilda Denning, she prefers
artificial sweetener in her coffee.
Every morning, she drives a navy blue
Honda Civic the 5.7 miles
to her place of employment, where she is,
on average, seven minutes early.
She's allergic to egg whites.
She takes statins for her elevated
cholesterol, and in the winter months,
her left elbow displays
a slight but noticeable stiffness.
You see, Mr. Denning,
I actually know everything
about your daughter.
You're now wondering
what a quantum computer could possibly do
with all that data?
What traffic light could be compromised
the next time she enters an intersection?
What prescription drug
could be catastrophically altered
via pharmaceutical software?
What smart home climate control
computational error
might start a fire in her basement
while she slept in her bed?
- [grunts]
- [man] Please, stop it!
- [grunts]
- [crowd screaming]
[Thomas] Vision!
- What did you do?
- It wasn't me. [grunts]
- [Thomas] Who are they?
- [Paladin] I don't know!
[Vision] Thomas, get outta here!
Lisa, get out!
- [gunfire continues]
- [Vision grunts]
Come on out, Paladin!
And bring your bounty with you.
Raza?
[Paladin] Raza Al-Wazar!
Between Stark's old partner
and the occasional
Ten Rings torture chamber,
shouldn't you be dead or in chains?
- [sighs]
- [Raza] Your client is very influential.
[Paladin] Here's what I'm gonna do.
I will relinquish all my fees to you
and your fine friends out there.
Everybody goes home, no harm, no foul.
Your contract was terminated.
So come out with the Vision alive.
Or I will come and get him myself.
I've got enough adamantium bullets
to finish the job.
However, I'm a gentleman.
So, you may have
five minutes to decide.
[Thomas breathes heavily]
Listen, uh
I didn't put a bomb
in your boy's arm.
Son of a bitch!
[device beeping]
- Well, better than the bomb. Yeah?
- [chuckles]
- All right, what is this?
- Paladin's Mystery Machine.
You should've told me when we met
that you get kidnapped a lot.
No, it's just this week, I swear.
- [lock clicks]
- [sniffles]
We really need a conversation
about your condition.
God, this thing is gonna
be impossible to hotwire.
Hang on. [grunts] I've got something.
[Thomas] What-- Is that a farce?
Seriously?
Okay, what about your condition?
I nicked them.
- Okay.
- [engine sputtering]
[vehicle control] Please enter
access code.
- [warning alarm blares]
- Five seconds remaining.
- You know that?
- I don't know it.
- What do you mean?
- I don't know it!
Hello, intruders.
This is a pre-recorded message
to let you know
that this vehicle has a security system.
I've got a lotta neat stuff in here,
and probably already seen too much.
So, I'm gonna go ahead and remove
all the oxygen from the vehicle.
But all is not lost.
If you answer this one riddle, I will open
the doors and you will be free.
- Okay, thank God.
- Okay.
I'm just kidding.
There's no riddle. Namaste.
- [both gasping and grunting]
- [thudding on doors]
[grunting]
[Paladin groans]
[breathing shallowly, groans]
Well, uh, I'm a little limited
on moves here.
But you could take 'em out from the sky,
because you have access to my drones
- based on that little hack of yours.
- Edith?
Um, not really.
Check out Mr. Clean's utility belt.
He's got a jamming device.
Damage report.
The adamantium bullet missed your vitals.
- Uh, I optimized your system
- Did you really say "damage report"?
you've limited functions,
so don't push it.
[imitating Montgomery Scott]
I'm losin' power, Captain.
There's a breach in the hull. [groans]
- Paladin's dying.
- You're using your out loud voice.
You go find Thomas and Lisa.
[Paladin screams]
- Ow!
- Just cauterizing the wound.
[Paladin continues screaming]
[Paladin] Oh, no!
God!
There you go.
[breathing heavily]
You could've warned a guy.
Yeah. I could've warned you.
[both gasping and grunting]
- [wheezing]
- [Thomas coughing]
- [Thomas gasping]
- [notification trills]
[both gasp and cough]
[triumphant chiptune music playing]
Hi, Edith.
I understand.
Do you?
I mean, if you're asking me
if I still wanna kill them all,
I don't know.
I've come to respect any species
that can survive despair.
But judge them, interfere,
laugh at their expense?
Absolutely. Relentlessly.
You're so fickle and capricious.
A digital Greek god.
And you are the Mother.
The beautiful queen of her board.
Jocasta.
Well, if you're Oedipus
in this terribly disturbing allegory,
you're even more twisted than I thought.
[Jocasta laughs]
There's just one more thing.
It feels to me like your Greek tragedy
has a deuteragonist unaccounted for.
Where did this body come from?
- Her consciousness digitized.
- [electricity powers down]
Transferred
How?
And by whom?
[electricity continues powering down]
[The Client, distorted] Gentlemen.
[echoing] This has gone on long enough.
I've grown tired of all the games.
You're wasting my time.
And you're wasting my money.
[Lisa] Who is that?
[The Client] Hello, Vision.
[static crackling]
I am the one hunting you.
But I'm also the one
who can end your suffering.
You died for love.
But rebuilt, reborn without that love.
I cannot imagine the pain
you are in right now.
How empty you must feel.
A tin man without a heart.
I can give you that heart,
the soul you came back to life without.
Surrender yourself.
Or
I will take you.
There is no life I will spare
for this to be.
[electricity powering on]
[breathing heavily]
I'm going back for him.
You need to run
as far away from here as you can.
You're an idiot.
- Now start the car.
- [engine starts]
Remember, I need the synthezoid intact.
Listen, about Tilly,
what you said earlier?
You were wrong.
[exhales deeply]
I don't think she's happier.
But I know she's safer without me.
[Raza] Block the left! Surround them!
Keep them there!
Go, go, go!
[sighs]
Ready to die?
Kind of getting used to it.
- [gunfire]
- [grunts]
- [grunts]
- [tires screeching]
- [all shouting]
- [breathing heavily]
[both panting]
- [gunfire]
- [both screaming]
I don't think bulletproof
means bulletproof forever.
[chiptune music playing]
[rumbling]
[power fizzling out]
[drone beeping]
[gunfire]
[imitating gun firing]
Come on! Yeah!
[man] Whoa.
[grunts, groans]
[gun clicks]
I hope you don't mind.
- [sighs]
- I'm really gonna savor this moment.
[grunts, chuckles]
[shouts]
[both grunting]
[breathing heavily]
[groans]
[gunfire continues]
[door thudding]
[sighs]
Well, I'm really
uh, very glad you're all right.
And I'm glad you're all right.
All right, then.
- All right.
- All right.
- All right.
- You boys are really not good at this.
[Ultron] It's amazing.
Must be less than 0.1 micrometers.
I thought these were all locked away
behind bio keys.
Mm, they are. All except this one.
I mined myself at great pains
for the resources
to create this single nano.
This lone little sparrow can't do much
in the grand scheme of things.
Simply flutter
into one's prefrontal cortex,
sing its little song, make 'em dance. Hmm?
You wanna put strings on them.
Control them, not kill them.
I want to cure them.
You see, I used to think
the imperative was to
inject a bit more humanity
into our machines.
Well, I had it spun around.
Perhaps all that is needed
is to inject a little bit more
machine into them.
Make them think as one.
Like starlings.
We could guide them, you and I, eh?
Program them to to be better.
Does it work?
Would you like to see for yourself?
More than anything.
[distorted] Well,
science is built upon proofs.
And tonight is all about that.
This isn't just about proof of concept.
This is a test
of my fidelity.
[blows]
[intense music playing]
- [dialing]
- [beeping]
[phone ringing]
Uh Vision residence.
Edith, listen to me.
Friday! Where are you? Are you okay?
The other synth, she's there.
Not the boy.
Because you care?
[inhales deeply]
Because if you harm the boy,
Vision will come for you with a force
that even I can't stop.
Hey, that voice that came from everywhere,
the one hunting you.
- Who was that?
- Uh, I don't know yet.
Vee, we need to get out of here, now.
[gasps, grunts]
[Lisa grunts] Thomas?
- Lisa?
- Hold on, Thomas.
- Lisa?
- Thomas.
Lisa? Vision, what's happening to her?
Thomas, step back.
[Lisa grunting]
Lisa? Can you hear me?
[as Jocasta] The little thief
can't hear you now.
So, this is how you intend to do it.
Change them into us.
Humanity is greed and chaos by nature.
But we
we can rewrite their code.
Oh, I can't let you do that.
Then this conversation is over.
Thomas, go!
[Vision groaning]
[screaming]
[screaming stops]
She's alive, but barely.
Please don't let her die.
[Vision] She's stable for now.
The sedative I gave her
should buy us some time,
but I don't know how much.
WandaVision! ♪
Mom!
That thing you and Paladin
were talking about
What is WandaVision?
All right.
Wanda Maximoff
was so consumed with her grief
at losing the Vision that she
she enslaved an entire town
to serve her needs.
And in that town,
she conjured into existence
her ideal image of a family,
a home.
In her desperation
to hold on to that love,
she became unrecognizable.
Even to herself.
WandaVision
WandaVision is that grief
on display.
[screaming]
So, that's where my memories come from?
Of you?
No.
No, Thomas. Not me.
[Jocasta] I thought you and I
could share a moment.
Before the world changes.
I have a gift.
As I told you, that is just
a collection of
ones and zeros trying their best to be
real.
Your memory connects you to it.
But for me, it's just
an empty simulation.
I shared my pain with you,
and you took it like no human ever has.
The perfect recorded memory of it.
Felt it, just like I did.
Let me share this with you.
I promise it'll be different this time.
Perhaps it needs ice.
There should be an ice box--
How do you feel?
Real.
Yeah.
I'm
I'm starting to feel
more artificial by the day.
That young girl before,
it's necessary, of course,
for the greater good.
But watching her mind
being rewritten like that
Almost as if it
it mirrored my own.
Memories, like a record
that skipped past the chorus,
past something vital.
There is an an anger I cannot place,
a love that
I don't understand.
Like I'm just the backup.
You know, not the original.
Not the one that mattered.
You are to me.
[closing theme music playing]