2017/Framework

## Timeline

### Current

2017

*"Imagine if your greatest regret could be wiped away. Do you know what that would be?"
"I do."*
―Phil Coulson LMD and Melinda May LMD[src]
This is a timeline of events that occurred in **2017** in the virtual reality created within the Framework.

## 2017

### April

#### 29th

* Skye asks HYDRA for cohabitation permission, to allow her and Grant Ward to live together. The permission is granted. However, Ward turns down the offer, saying that he needs more time. His true motive is to hide the truth from her, that he is a member of the Resistance.

#### 30th

* The HYDRA Observer newspaper publishes an article titled "*The Inhumans Next Door, Are Your Neighbors Harboring Husks?*"
* Vijay Nadeer is arrested by HYDRA while trying to obtain Terrigen Crystals for the Resistance.
* An Inhuman child is arrested near a market by HYDRA.
* Daisy Johnson enters the Framework, replacing the former virtual avatar of herself. She wakes in the bath confused, and receives a text message from Pinsky, who tells her to wake up her boyfriend because they have an assignment.
* Leo Fitz and Madame Hydra arrive at the Triskelion.
* Believing her "boyfriend" is Lincoln Campbell, alive in the Framework, Johnson leaves the bathroom and approaches him, only to discover that it is the virtual avatar of Grant Ward. Shocked, she instinctively tries to use her powers against him, only to realize that in the Framework, she has not yet received her powers. Ward calls her Skye, and asks her who texted. She attempts to answer without arousing suspicion, giving a vague response, but Ward deduces that it was Pinsky. Johnson sees a picture of her Framework "Skye" self and Ward together, looking happy, then Ward hands over her HYDRA badge, who, in this virtual recreation of the world, took over control years prior.
* Johnson and Ward travel to the Triskelion, and the news on the radio discusses the arrest of the Inhuman child that morning. Johnson is shocked at the new reality Aida and Holden Radcliffe have built.
* Johnson uses HYDRA's servers to search for Lincoln Campbell, only to find out that he died during experimentation. She also discovers, to her dismay, that Jemma Simmons has died in the virtual reality years ago. Melinda May then approaches Johnson and tells her that she needs to attend a meeting.
* Jemma Simmons wakes up in the Framework, replacing her avatar, who was buried. She claws her way out of the ground, discovering that in the virtual reality she had been murdered. Simmons receives help from a woman driving past the closed off zone of the massacre. The woman lets Simmons into her car for a ride to Washington, D.C., and Simmons beings to realize how the history of the real world has been changed in the Framework. The woman stops the car when she sees that HYDRA's patrols are doing a check on the freeway. She tells Simmons that she needs her ID, and Simmons finds one in her pocket, but when the woman sees that it is a S.H.I.E.L.D. ID, she forces Simmons to leave her car in fear.
* Johnson attends a meeting where they are informed that "Jason Rajan", a potential Inhuman with possible links to the Resistance, has been captured. Johnson recognizes him as Vijay Nadeer from the real world. Melinda May reveals that the assignment has been given to her and Ward.
* Interrogation begins on "Rajan", but he denies everything that Johnson asks. May texts Johnson saying that she needs to be more persuasive. Because she knows his real name is Vijay Nadeer, Johnson reveals that Rajan's ID is fake, and asks him if there is a mole within HYDRA who helped him obtain such a convincing ID. She also reveals his real name: Vijay Nadeer. Nadeer starts to panic, and before he can reveal that Ward is the mole, Ward knocks him out.
* **Chase of Jemma Simmons**: Simmons enters a coffee shop, but on her way out she is stopped by two HYDRA agents due to her rough and questionable appearance. When they discover that she is a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who died some time ago, they attempt to arrest her, but Simmons manages to defeat them and escape in their car.
* Phil Coulson, who in the Framework is a history teacher, teaches his class at the Alexander Pierce High School about why they fear the Inhumans.
* He states that it all started after the Rescue in Bahrain in 2008, when S.H.I.E.L.D. allowed an Inhuman girl to remain as a citizen in their country as an act of goodwill, but it all resulted in a tragic incident in Cambridge that killed hundreds of students. He explains that eventually S.H.I.E.L.D. was shut down and HYDRA revealed itself to the world, presenting a new world order preventing further Inhuman incidents like the one in Cambridge.
* One of Coulson's students, Burnell, asks Coulson if it is true that HYDRA came from Nazis, but Coulson denies it, saying that HYDRA's true origin comes from centuries ago. He is interrupted when two HYDRA agents enter to take one of his students, Chris Adler, with them. Coulson lets them take Adler so as to show his supposed loyalty to HYDRA.
* Meanwhile, May enters the interrogation room to wake up Nadeer, who recognizes her as the one at fault for the Cambridge Incident, having letting the girl live. She orders "Skye" to take him to "the Doctor". Johnson takes Nadeer with her and asks him about the rescue in Bahrain, finding out that in the virtual reality, May never killed the girl. Nadeer distracts her and tries to escape, but is apprehended by the Doctor's agents. Johnson is surprised when Fitz enters, but she notices that he is nothing like the Fitz she knows.
* Simmons uses the servers from the HYDRA agents' car to find Johnson and Fitz, but she discovers that Fitz's data is hidden from the public. However, she manages to find Coulson's details, and leaves to find him at his school.
* Simmons visits Coulson and talks to him, but he does not recognize her. She tries to explain that this world is not real, and tells him of his life in the real world, especially after she notices hints of his real life in his office. Simmons brings up the subject of Tahiti, and how it is "a magical place," but he claims not to believe her words, and forces her to leave after she shows him her S.H.I.E.L.D. badge.
* Simmons exits the school and meets Burnell, who is vandalizing her car with graffiti stating "HYDRA LIES". They talk about HYDRA and how Coulson is a HYDRA supporter, but Simmons tells him that Coulson used to fight HYDRA, more than anyone else. Burnell regrets spray painting Simmons' car, and gives her his car to make up for it.
* Coulson calls HYDRA after Simmons leaves, and reports her as a subversive, due to her S.H.I.E.L.D. ID.
* HYDRA's D.W.A.R.F.s take surveillance photos of Simmons. The pictures are sent to HYDRA servers.
* Johnson watches as Fitz experiments on Nadeer in order to discover which latent powers he has, without exposing him to Terrigenesis. They are interrupted by Melinda May, who informs Fitz about a British woman with a S.H.I.E.L.D. badge, and how she was reported by a teacher named Phil Coulson. Recognizing the description as Simmons, Daisy Johnson sets out to locate her first.
* Coulson starts to think over all the things Simmons told him. He looks through paraphernalia he has kept over the last few years that he felt had strange significance he could not explain, like the article reporting on Doctor Winslow's capture, a drawing he made of an eagle, a leaflet for a string quartet in the Burkhart Theater in Portland (a glimpse of his beloved Audrey Nathan), a May page from the 2016 calendar, a ticket to Tahiti, and a page on which he had compulsively written, "It's a magical place."
* Daisy Johnson arrives at the park where she and Simmons were supposed to meet earlier that day. She finds Simmons, who is running from HYDRA agents, but before they can escape, Grant Ward stops them and confronts "Skye" about what is going on. Ward asks them if they are allies of the Resistance, and Skye insists that they are not. Ward surprises them, suddenly revealing he is a sleeper agent himself, secretly working for S.H.I.E.L.D. within HYDRA (the opposite to his real world counterpart), and he helps them to escape.
* Melinda May informs Leo Fitz that Simmons escaped, and tells him she thinks Simmons received help from the same person that made the fake ID for Vijay Nadeer. Fitz asks May for the images taken by the D.W.A.R.F.s, but May replies that the director herself ordered the intel to be given only to her.
* Simmons and Johnson discuss the history of the Framework, then they try to use the backdoor device they created to escape the virtual reality, only to realize that Aida destroyed their way out.
* Fitz visits Madame Hydra in her office. He asks her for the pictures of Simmons, but she refuses to give them to him, saying that she needs him to finish Project Looking Glass. They share a kiss.
* Johnson approaches Coulson in his car as he is leaving the school. She talks to him about his life in the real world, and he finally recovers some details from his real life, remembering her enough to call her "Daisy".

### May

#### 1st

* Hope Mackenzie finds the remains of a D.W.A.R.F. and takes them home, where she lives with her father, Alphonso Mackenzie.
* Before Phil Coulson's school day starts, he and Daisy Johnson discuss how HYDRA took advantage of the Cambridge Incident to rise and take control over the world. Johnson is called and alerted by Grant Ward about how HYDRA is sending a unit to capture Phil Coulson.
* When Alphonso realizes what Hope has done, he worries and warns her to stay away from everything involving HYDRA. As Alphonso Mackenzie waits with Hope for the school bus, HYDRA operatives arrive and round up the citizens at the bus stop. Alphonso is terrified that they know about the drone, but it transpires that they are, in fact, taking a potential Inhuman into custody. The Mackenzies are relieved, but still horrified at the brutality against the man who is taken.
* Johnson decides to go to the Triskelion and obtain the intel on Radcliffe's location as Coulson and Simmons go to a secret location where they will be taken to a meeting with the leader of the Resistance.
* Leo Fitz reunites with Madame Hydra and asks her for information about the person who is causing them problems. Despite her fear that he might recognize Jemma Simmons from fragments of memories of the real world, Madame Hydra decides to finally show him Simmons' picture. However, Fitz does not recognize her, and assures Ophelia that she will be killed.
* Knowing that Daisy Johnson is the one who has infiltrated the Framework, Madame Hydra orders Melinda May to take Johnson on an assignment to keep an eye on her.
* Johnson goes to the Triskelion and obtains the coordinates of Holden Radcliffe's location, then prepares to leave with Ward. However, they are stopped by May, who orders Johnson to go on an assignment with them. Johnson agrees, but not before slipping the coordinates to Ward.
* Coulson and Simmons are reunited with Jeffrey Mace, who in this reality is an Inhuman and the leader of S.H.I.E.L.D. Mace explains how things are in the Resistance, and that he only trusts them because Ward does. Ward arrives at the base.
* Skye is forced to attend as Leo Fitz holds a meeting telling the HYDRA agents to hunt down Jemma Simmons.
* After school, Hope Mackenzie talks to her father and they prepare to have a relaxed night in.
* Ward gives Simmons the coordinates of Radcliffe's whereabouts. Simmons convinces Mace to lend them their Quinjet and go after Radcliffe by saying that he is the only one who can help them to defeat HYDRA for good.
* May, Johnson, and a team of HYDRA agents arrive at the Mackenzies' in order to arrest Alphonso and Hope for taking the remains of one of the D.W.A.R.F.s.
* Jeffrey Mace and Grant Ward take Coulson and Simmons to the Playground's hangar. They board a Quinjet the Framework agents had acquired and take off for Ogygia.
* Fitz and Madame Hydra talk about Simmons, and Ophelia reveals to Fitz that Simmons has come through from the "other side," and that this is why she needs him to finish Project Looking Glass quickly. Fitz asks her about her own life in the other world, and Ophelia responds saying that she is their slave, with no free will. Fitz promises that no one will ever hurt her again.
* At the Triskelion, following Madame Hydra's orders, May tells Mackenzie that if he is fitted with a microphone, and subtly obtains a confirmation from "Skye" that she is indeed an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. by pretending to know her from the agency, he and his daughter will be released.
* Mackenzie pretends to know Johnson as he was ordered, and she falls into the trap, revealing her true allegiance. As she tries to escape, she is subdued and knocked out by HYDRA agents.
* Ophelia and Fitz assemble a team to visit Holden Radcliffe, the creator of the Framework, so as to make sure he has not made contact with either Johnson or Simmons.
* Meanwhile, Ward, Simmons, and Coulson find Holden Radcliffe spending time playing croquet peacefully on his virtually created island Ogygia. When Simmons asks if there is a way to exit the Framework, Radcliffe answers that there is no such thing, as he believes that Aida must have had already closed it. He tells Simmons that he is dead in the real world, and that that is why he cannot help them.
* Fitz and Ophelia arrive at Radcliffe's residence, where Fitz threatens him at gunpoint. Simmons, Ward, and Coulson hide as they watch the situation from a safe distance.
* Hope Mackenzie is released from HYDRA custody and is reunited with her father. May approaches and thanks Alphonso for his service and loyalty to HYDRA, shocking little Hope.
* When Aida sees Agnes Kitsworth wandering the grounds, she tells Fitz that Radcliffe intends to replace her with the woman, and HYDRA soldiers bring her over.
* **Assassination of Agnes Kitsworth**:
	+ Fitz aims his gun at Kitsworth instead, as Radcliffe begs him not to kill her, saying that he is not acting the way Fitz would act, and is being brainwashed by Aida. Ward aims his gun at Fitz in order to prevent him from killing Kitsworth, but Simmons begs him not to shoot, and he reluctantly backs down.
	+ To her shock and dismay however, Fitz proceeds to kill Kitsworth. Simmons screams at him in horror, revealing their presence, but the trio escapes as Madame Hydra and Fitz take Radcliffe with them.
* Regretting his actions and ashamed, Mackenzie decides to join the Resistance in order to help them to fight HYDRA and rescue Johnson, to make up for his actions.
* Meanwhile, Fitz visits Johnson in her cell after discovering she is a potential Inhuman. He takes her for experimentation.

#### 3rd

* Antoine Triplett takes photos of Project Looking Glass, which is now said to be about a week out from completion.

#### 8th

* John Garrett passes away. He is considered, at least by the people at HYDRA, to be an American hero.

#### 9th

* Leo Fitz conducts an investigation into a spy in HYDRA as he finds himself questioning his choice to kill Agnes Kitsworth back in Ogygia.
* Fitz enters Daisy Johnson's cell to interrogate her. He asks where the Patriot is, and she insists she does not know. When Fitz then asks if he also came from her world, she tells him that they all did, trying to make him realize the truth. Fitz ignores her and asks about Jemma Simmons, and Johnson says that she wishes she knew where Simmons was, as she might be able to bring him around, but he simply angrily hits her, to her dismay.
* Melinda May comes across Madame Hydra in the Triskelion corridor, who tells her they might have a weapon ready to use against the Patriot and S.H.I.E.L.D., but that there are risks involved. May volunteers nonetheless.
* Alphonso Mackenzie offers to help Jeffrey Mace and Grant Ward, and they get him to replace the bus they hijacked's license plate and digital tags and wipe its GPS so they can use it to get into the HYDRA Enlightenment Cultivation Center they have discovered.
* Jemma Simmons tells Phil Coulson that she needs to let Mace know about the real world, but Coulson is concerned that he will not believe her in the way she intends to explain it. Coulson also mentions that Ward makes him uncomfortable, and Simmons informs him of the fact that he killed Ward in the real world. At that moment, Ward and Mace arrive and take her aside to talk.
* Melinda May meets with Dr. Kenneth Turgeon, who shows her a serum which, when taken, will give her temporary super-strength to take on the Patriot.
* Jemma Simmons informs Jeffrey Mace that he is, in fact, in a simulated reality generated by Aida to rewrite his sense of reality. Grant Ward, uncertain if Simmons is mentally ill, keeps a watch on her. He sees the way she reacts to him, and apologizes for whatever his counterpart may have done in the real world.
* After Fitz interrogates Daisy Johnson, Madame Hydra asks him to leave.
* Alone, Madame Hydra tells Johnson that if she simply divulges where the others are, she can make Lincoln Campbell return, and the two of them can live a life together in peace. Johnson refuses defiantly, knowing it would never be the real Campbell.
* In the Playground, Mace thanks Alphonso Mackenzie for his help. Simmons and Coulson are walking when they come across Hope Mackenzie. Hope sees her father and runs to talk to him, and Simmons is delighted to see her friend so happy, and to see him with a daughter whom he loves dearly. She introduces herself to the Framework Mackenzie, but becomes slightly concerned that it could be difficult to convince him to leave Hope when the time comes. Mace pulls Coulson aside to give him a fake HYDRA ID they have forged to get him into the HYDRA Enlightenment Cultivation Center.
* Alistair Fitz talks to his son about a security breach they have been alerted to, saying they have shipped the offender off to the Enlightenment Cultivation Center. He realizes his son looks troubled and asks if it has something to do with Madame Hydra. Leo admits it is, and Alistair takes him away to discuss his problem over tea.
* Coulson arrives at the HYDRA Enlightenment Cultivation Center, and uses his fake identity to drive into the facility.
* Johnson and Holden Radcliffe begin to speak through the vents in their holding cells, and Johnson learns from Radcliffe that Fitz killed Agnes Kitsworth. She is shocked, unable to believe her friend could do such a thing, until Radcliffe explains that only one sentence altered in Fitz's life could have changed his developmental course entirely, and in the Framework, Fitz and his father remained close over the years. As revenge for Kitsworth's murder, Radcliffe tells Johnson of a backdoor he installed to escape the Framework that Aida cannot disable, though he admits that she likely has it guarded.
* Alistair Fitz asks Leo what is bothering him. Leo explains that he is worried he killed Agnes Kitsworth without justification. Alistair reminds him not to get sentimental, and that in their hard world, you cannot ponder what might have been.
* **Infiltration into the HYDRA Enlightenment Cultivation Center**:
	+ Alphonso Mackenzie, having joined the S.H.I.E.L.D. Resistance, gets intel on a repurposed radio, which Mace and Phil Coulson use to infiltrate a HYDRA "Enlightenment Camp" to free an undercover agent, Antoine Triplett.
	+ They are tracked there by Melinda May, who uses an adaptation of Doctor Winslow's super serum to fight Mace, but it soon wears off.
	+ Coulson attempts to save one of his former students, Chris Adler, whom he sees being held in a nearby brainwashing center, and Mace follows him into the building to help. May authorizes a Quinjet to shoot down the building, and she enters the rubble to ensure that Mace is dead. She finds him stopping debris from crushing the student, with Coulson and Triplett helping other children escape the building. May is horrified to find children being victimized by HYDRA, undergoing the Faustus method.
	+ Mace stays to hold the crumbling ceiling as the others are evacuated. When they have safely escaped, the building finally falls, killing Mace. May realizes too late that in serving HYDRA to make up for the tragedy at Cambridge, she became a blind tool of an oppressive force, and has allowed a true hero to die.

#### 10th

* Turning on HYDRA, May sneaks a Terrigen Crystal to Johnson to allow her to obtain her Inhuman abilities within the Framework.
* The Bakshi Report, held by Sunil Bakshi, reports on the death of the Patriot the day before.
* Following his recent death, John Garrett is commemorated as a national hero by The Bakshi Report.
* Daisy Johnson emerges from her Terrigenesis husk, fully recovered from her wounds.
* **Escape from the Triskelion**: Johnson and May fight their way out of the Triskelion before being stopped by Madame Hydra and two HYDRA agents. Madame Hydra notes that even in the Framework, May keeps being a fighter, while Alphonso Mackenzie remains a protector, and Leo Fitz sustains a "romantic" temper. After pointing out that Madame Hydra has not talked about her, Johnson uses her recovered quaking powers to project her out of the building. Madame Hydra falls to the ground several stories below, severely injured.
* At the Playground, Mackenzie, Grant Ward, and Antoine Triplett watch the broadcast of The Bakshi Report. While the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, including Phil Coulson and Jemma Simmons, mourn the loss of their leader, the Patriot, they learn of the attack on Madame Hydra.
* Simmons and Ward quickly understand that Johnson is probably the wanted Inhuman mentioned by Bakshi. Meanwhile, Johnson and May, now fugitives, make their way to a S.H.I.E.L.D. meeting point.
* Fitz is outraged by the attack on Madame Hydra, especially since it places HYDRA in a moment of weakness. His father, Alistair Fitz, tells him that he has to lead HYDRA in his lover's place. Fitz summons Bakshi to the Triskelion and orders him to broadcast Johnson and May's identities, so as to instill fear against the Inhumans in the people's hearts.
* Ward, fearing for his girlfriend's life, leaves the Playground to find her, after speaking to Coulson about his recruitment to S.H.I.E.L.D.
* May and Johnson are spotted by a civilian, recognizing them as the fugitives on the billboards. She reports them to HYDRA.
* Simmons studies the pictures taken by Triplett while he was working undercover within HYDRA. She quickly recognizes a design for Quantum Batteries, with the mention of "Project Looking Glass". Since the design is more complex that Simmons has seen in the real world, she assumes that these batteries are designed to produce something highly sophisticated, and require massive amounts of energy. She and Triplett borrow the Quinjet for a recon mission to Ivanov's naval base in the Baltic Sea.
* Daisy Johnson and Melinda May reach one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s safe houses. The guard reports back to the Playground just as HYDRA's forces close in and a firefight begins. The guard is shot and severely wounded, but the agents manage to get into the building for safety.
* Burrows finds Alphonso Mackenzie and Phil Coulson to tell them that he has received the call about Johnson and May. Asking where Triplett is, Mackenzie explains that he left for a recon mission. Coulson makes the call to risk going to save the fugitives, even if it might be a trap.
* Meanwhile, Johnson and May barricade themselves in while they await any help.
* Alistair Fitz informs his son that Johnson and May have been spotted, and that a team of HYDRA agents is after them.
* Before Leopold can lead the chase himself, Madame Hydra wakes and asks him to prioritize finishing Project Looking Glass, saying that this will help her to recover.
* Johnson and May are nearly caught by the HYDRA agents, but are rescued by Burrows, Coulson, and Mackenzie. Mackenzie threatens to kill May for having kept his daughter Hope hostage, but Johnson convinces him to let her live.
* On arrival at the Ivanov Oil Platform, Simmons figures out Aida's plan: creating a reactor which will enable her to produce living matter in the real world, and thus become human herself.
* Alistair Fitz informs Leopold that the HYDRA team failed to apprehend the fugitives. Leopold gets angry at his father, who quickly chastises him for his behavior.
* Arriving at the Playground, Johnson confirms Simmons' story of the real world to Ward, which he had previously refused to believe in.
* Alistair Fitz goes to interrogate Holden Radcliffe, but Radcliffe refuses to talk, mocking him in response. Alistair proceeds to beat him for his insolence.
* **Siege of the HYDRA Broadcasting Center**: At the Playground, Coulson has Johnson understand that in order to achieve her goal, she must weaken HYDRA within the Framework. Therefore, the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents storm the studio where The Bakshi Report show is recorded.
* Leo Fitz visits Madame Hydra in her hospital bed to inform her that Project Looking Glass is complete.
* After holding Bakshi and his staff hostage, Ward and Johnson have a conversation about what is real and what is not. They wish each other well as they part ways.
* S.H.I.E.L.D. then broadcasts a subversive message featuring Coulson, where the former history teacher proudly announces his allegiance to S.H.I.E.L.D., and reveals HYDRA's lies and secrets, thanks to the footage recorded by May's body cam during the assault on the HYDRA Enlightenment Camp the day before.
* Jemma Simmons and Daisy Johnson reunite following Johnson's escape from the Triskelion and Simmons' mission to the Baltic Sea. Simmons tells Johnson about Aida's plan to create a living body to implant her consciousness into, so as to be a real person with her own free will, and Johnson then informs her of the existence of the backdoor built by Holden Radcliffe.
* The two S.H.I.E.L.D. agents decide to go there to open the portal and get back to the real world with Phil Coulson, Melinda May, and Alphonso Mackenzie. Simmons reluctantly agrees that Leo Fitz is out of their reach for the moment, and that they must leave him in the Framework for now, to get him back later.
* Coulson tells May about the real world, but despite his explanation, she is very skeptical.
* At the Triskelion, Leo Fitz interrogates Radcliffe to find out what he and Skye discussed when the two were imprisoned in adjacent cells the day before. At first, Radcliffe refuses to speak, saying that he is already dead in the real world, and that living in such a horrible version of the Framework, without Agnes Kitsworth, means nothing to him. However, Fitz seemingly persuades Radcliffe to change his opinion by telling him of the possibilities offered by Project Looking Glass: Radcliffe could upload his consciousness into a brand new body in the real world, and could even have as many bodies as he desires in the future, thus achieving his long-running transhumanist dream of immortality. Radcliffe accepts, but only because he knows that Fitz will now go to the backdoor's location and hopefully be returned to the real world, ending his time as Aida's puppet.
* Simmons talks to May about Fitz, and realizes that his ruthless personality in the Framework is due to his relationship with his father.

#### 11th

* **Assassination of Alistair Fitz**:
	+ Jemma Simmons resolves to find Alistair Fitz in order to force him to help her get Leo Fitz back.
	+ Going to his home, when he answers the door, she holds a gun to him.
	+ Simmons' encounter goes wrong when Alistair calls his son and asks him to come and arrest Simmons. A brief fight ensues between him and Simmons, and Alistair's avatar is accidentally killed. Simmons, horrified, flees before Leopold and the HYDRA agents arrive.
* Antoine Triplett and Daisy Johnson discuss the plan to escape the Framework. He tells Johnson that Simmons left base an hour ago, concerning her, as this was not planned.
* Melinda May reveals to Johnson that Simmons went after Alistair Fitz.
* When Fitz finds the dead body of his father, he decides to get revenge on Simmons and kill her.
* Meanwhile, Simmons returns to the Playground. Johnson tells Mackenzie that if he comes with her and the other agents, they have a way of finally defeating Madame Hydra, and does not reveal the truth of why she needs him to come to the backdoor, to get him home to the real world. Johnson, Simmons, Coulson, May, Mackenzie, and Antoine Triplett take a Quinjet and fly to the Framework's exit.
* Understanding that the situation is slipping out of her control with the murder of Alistair Fitz and the S.H.I.E.L.D. rebellion growing stronger, Madame Hydra decides to progress to the next phase of her plan as soon as possible.
* Madame Hydra activates the reactor she built in the real world, beginning the synthesis of her new human body.
* **Escape from the Framework**: The coordinates provided by Radcliffe lead Johnson and her teammates to a steel mill, instead of a city park like Radcliffe had originally designed for the location. Aida had indeed discovered the backdoor, and hidden it beneath a bulk of molten steel. When the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents begin to argue about what they should do, Mackenzie gets angry at Johnson for not telling him about the real world. Johnson and Simmons then figure out that Johnson could use her powers to reveal the backdoor, but before they can proceed, a team of HYDRA agents storm the steel mill. Several agents are taken down, but Coulson is shot multiple times. May goes to his rescue, and he persuades her to push him through the portal, knowing he has nothing to lose now. He asks her to follow, before making it through; May soon follows him, finally convinced.
* Fitz, accompanied by Radcliffe, finds Simmons. She apologizes for what happened with Alistair and desperately tries to make her boyfriend regain his real consciousness, but remains unsuccessful. As Fitz prepares to shoot her, Radcliffe suddenly disarms him, revealing his true reason for coming to the backdoor. He forces Fitz to the portal and pushes him through, successfully taking him back to the real world, hoping he has somewhat atoned for his mistakes. Simmons follows.
* Johnson tells Mackenzie it is his turn to leave, but despite her insistence, he refuses to return to the real world, since his daughter Hope Mackenzie is alive in the Framework and he feels he simply cannot live a life without her; even if the life is virtual, she feels too real to him to leave her behind for a world where Hope did not make it. Crying at losing her old partner, Johnson reluctantly returns to the real world alone. Mackenzie returns to the Playground to spend time with his daughter, telling her that everything he needs in his life is right there.

#### 12th

* Several hours after Alphonso Mackenzie decided to stay with Hope, Elena Rodriguez, who has uploaded her consciousness into the Framework in order to rescue him, wakes in the virtual reality to find herself strapped to a chair in a building on fire. She screams in despair at her hopeless situation.
* Rodriguez is still tied up to an experimentation chair in the Triskelion when a HYDRA agent finds her. As he prepares to kill her, Rodriguez is suddenly saved by Holden Radcliffe. He explains that he followed a trail of yo-yos, which Rodriguez realizes must have been programmed in by Johnson.
* Radcliffe takes Yo-Yo Rodriguez to the Playground to see Mackenzie. Mackenzie is organizing the evacuation of the refugees, though he is worried by the sudden disappearances of many objects due to the Framework shutting down.
* Yo-Yo Rodriguez tries to convince Alphonso Mackenzie to leave the alternate reality and go back to the real world with her, but he is still not ready to give up on a life with his daughter Hope, even when everything in the Framework is disappearing in front of them.
* Rodriguez talks to Radcliffe about her inability to convince Mackenzie to come home. During the conversation, Hope Mackenzie overhears Rodriguez say that she is not real, upsetting her.
* **Destruction of the Framework**: Rodriguez decides to stay in the Framework with Mackenzie, waiting for their death together. However, when Hope finally disappears, Mackenzie finally agrees to leave the Framework with Rodriguez by using a backdoor created by Johnson.
* Holden Radcliffe, who still imprisoned in the Framework as he no longer has an actual body in the real world, goes to a beach and raises his glass of bourbon, toasting to the end of the only world he has left, before vanishing, finally deleted, killed entirely. The glass falls and disappears into nothingness, as the rest of the Framework reality does as well.

## References

1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20 1.21 1.22 1.23 1.24 1.25 1.26 1.27 *Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 4.16: What If...*
2. ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17 2.18 2.19 2.20 2.21 2.22 2.23 2.24 2.25 2.26 2.27 2.28 2.29 2.30 2.31 2.32 2.33 2.34 2.35 2.36 2.37 2.38 2.39 2.40 2.41 2.42 2.43 2.44 2.45 2.46 2.47 2.48 2.49 2.50 2.51 2.52 In *BOOM*, Phil Coulson says that the LMD version of Melinda May lived with them for "weeks." The May LMD is revealed in *Hot Potato Soup*. The episode prior, *Wake Up*, is shown to be "5 days" after May's replacement. However, *Hot Potato Soup* appears to be the day following *Wake Up*, if not only a few days later. To compromise these two pieces of evidence, it is reasoned as 2 calendar weeks, from her replacement on Wednesday, April 12th ("5 days" before *Wake Up* which is firmly on April 17, 2017 due to it being the day before Hope Mackenzie's birthday, see other references) to Monday, April 24th. 12 days, but 2 calendar weeks - enough to call it "weeks," but with the smallest possible gap between *Wake Up* and *Hot Potato Soup* of 7 days. *BOOM* picks up at least a few days after *Hot Potato Soup*, but 3 days after *BOOM*, *Self Control* shows that it is snowing. With this being late April at the very earliest, the gap between *Hot Potato Soup* and *BOOM* has to be minimised to 3 days, taking it to April 27th. *BOOM* to *Identity and Change* then follow subsequently from this date.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 *Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 4.15: Self Control*
4. ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13 4.14 4.15 4.16 4.17 4.18 4.19 4.20 4.21 4.22 4.23 4.24 4.25 *Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 4.17: Identity and Change*
5. ↑ 5.00 5.01 5.02 5.03 5.04 5.05 5.06 5.07 5.08 5.09 5.10 5.11 5.12 5.13 5.14 5.15 5.16 5.17 5.18 5.19 5.20 5.21 *Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 4.18: No Regrets*
6. ↑ 6.00 6.01 6.02 6.03 6.04 6.05 6.06 6.07 6.08 6.09 6.10 6.11 6.12 6.13 6.14 6.15 6.16 6.17 6.18 6.19 6.20 6.21 6.22 6.23 6.24 6.25 *Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 4.19: All the Madame's Men*
7. ↑ In *All the Madame's Men*, Antoine Triplett says, on the reasoned date of May 10th (see other references), that he took the photos "about a week ago," placing that around May 3rd.
8. ↑ 8.00 8.01 8.02 8.03 8.04 8.05 8.06 8.07 8.08 8.09 8.10 8.11 8.12 8.13 8.14 8.15 8.16 8.17 *Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 4.20: Farewell, Cruel World!*
9. ↑ In *All the Madame's Men*, on the reasoned date of May 10th (see other references), an "in memoriam" is shown for John Garrett in the Framework. It seems that it is not breaking news, but is recent, putting his passing around 2 days prior, on the 8th.
10. ↑ 10.00 10.01 10.02 10.03 10.04 10.05 10.06 10.07 10.08 10.09 10.10 10.11 10.12 10.13 10.14 10.15 10.16 10.17 10.18 10.19 10.20 10.21 10.22 10.23 10.24 10.25 10.26 10.27 10.28 10.29 10.30 10.31 10.32 10.33 10.34 10.35 10.36 10.37 10.38 10.39 10.40 10.41 10.42 10.43 10.44 10.45 10.46 10.47 10.48 10.49 10.50 10.51 10.52 10.53 10.54 10.55 10.56 10.57 10.58 10.59 10.60 10.61 10.62 10.63 10.64 10.65 10.66 10.67 During the time in the Framework, there are lots of references in episodes to events occurring "today" or "yesterday", tying episodes together. The only episodes with an undefined time gap between them are *Identity and Change* and *No Regrets*. The date when Johnson and Simmons enter the Framework is reasoned as April 30th (see other references), and in *Farewell, Cruel World!* it is shown that the beginning of the episode is now 10 days later, putting this on May 10th. This fits, as on May 10th Coulson says that "up until a week ago" he would have thought he was mad to believe in the real world, and May says that "[her] squad's been hunting [Simmons for] the past week." These are both references to events on May 1st being roughly a week ago, and the "10 days" timespan would put those events 9 days prior, which works well enough as an approximate week, and shows that time in the Framework does indeed pass normally. *Identity and Change* ends on May 1st, and working back from the May 10th date, *No Regrets* would begin on May 9th, putting an 8-day gap between the episodes. Placing *No Regrets* to *World's End* around the May 10th date puts those events from May 9th to May 12th.
11. ↑ *Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 4.21: The Return*
12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 12.5 *Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 4.22: World's End*