The next day, Cage sits on his couch, watching TV. He sees his energy drink commercial and cringes when he hears himself shout "The energy drink that gives you PPOOOWWWEEERRR!". As it turns out, the commercial was a clip shown on an entertainment talk show. Once the clip is over, the host chuckles, "Wow, with the amount of criminals Luke Cage has been putting away, I'm surprised he had to stoop this low. I guess crime-fighting doesn't pay." He rolls his eyes and turns off the TV, then leaves his apartment to go to his car, only for a teenage boy to approach him as he gets in, "Hey, you're Cage, right?".

Cage turns and smiles, "Yeah, man."

"How much that car cost?"

"A lot."

"Man, my parents can't even make rent. You're supposed to be from Harlem. Why aren't you helping us more?"

He shakes his head and walks away, leaving a contemplative Cage. Shortly after that, Cage arrives at a local orphanagae where a few nuns play with children in a playground. When one of them notices Cage, she leaves their side and walks to the chainlink fence, "Can I help you?". Cage nods and motions toward his car, "Yeah, I'd like to make a donation."

That night, he shows up at the club once again. He still dresses fashionably but has relegated himself to walking up to the front entrance. The bouncer at the door takes a look at him curiously, "Cage, man, where's your car?". Cage shrugs, "I gave it away." The bouncer shakes his head in disbelief; and as Cage tries to enter, he quickly holds up his hand, "Sorry man, there's too many people in there already. Place is packed tonight," then when he notices the look on Cage's face, raises his hands defensively and blurts out, "It's management rules, man. I got nothing to do with it." Cage waves him off, "Yeah, man. I'll see you later." As he walks away, a random group of party-goers notice him and one of them shouts, "It gives you PPPOOOWWWEER!," making his friends erupt in laughter. Cage hangs his head and continues on.

McIver International headquarters, the next day. The building is tall with a MCI logo at the top and a sloped rooftop. Inside, McIver's office sits within a larger executive suite. Burstein enters to great a seated McIver, "You wanted to see me?," he asks. McIver turns at his desk, "Yes. Have a seat." Burstein sits opposite him.

"How far along are you on the nanobots research?"

"Well, I've gone back to formula since the Carl Lucas incident."

"Why don't we hold off doing that for the time being?"

"Why?"

"I've spoken to Seagate Prison and they're still interested in the rehabilitation program."

"There are no other experiments to be performed at the moment. The nanobots are flawed. I need to know for sure if it's safe to continue."

"Your tests on Carl Lucas, how are they? Is he in any pain? Are there any problems?"

"No, there aren't any problems... besides the obvious."

"Having indestructible skin and increased strength is not an obvious problem in my opinion."

"Yes but if we don't change the experiment, it could lead to more subjects gaining those abilities."

"That is something I'm well aware of."

Burstein stands up, "Am I to understand that you want this to happen? You're looking for another -"

"Luke Cage has proven to be very lucrative. Having more people like him on the payroll is just good business."

"I don't believe it. I did not agree to this! This was never about any sort of medical breakthroughs, was it? You were actually hoping for someone like Carl Lucas to come along so you could exploit him."

"Exploit is a rather ugly word, no? Did you notice him on TV? Did you see how much fun he was having?"

"You realize that Mr. Lucas could also be a fluke? Assuming I wanted to help you, the next person infused with nanobots could end up with a number of ailments."

"I am willing to take that risk."

"I'm not."

McIver stands up, glaring, "As long as you work for me, that will be the direction of your research! Is that understood?"

"You don't own the patent to this technology. You can't dictate what direction it takes."

"But I fund it. If you do not give me control, then the money is gone and without the money, you would lose years of development."

Burstein takes a step back, shocked at the outburst before finally walking toward the door, "That is a sacrifice I am willing to make, Mr. McIver," and with that, he leaves the office.

Cage walks through Empire State University campus and later enters Burstein's lab but doesn't see the professor. Eventually, he finds him at his office. "Dr. Burstein?," he pokes his head inside, "I'm due at the lab, right?" Burstein looks up from his desk with a bittersweet smile.

"Hasn't he told you? I quit."

"What?"

"I stopped working for McIver. Quite frankly, if I were you, I'd find a way to do the same."

"Why?"

"McIver had others plans for this technology... and you?"

"Me?"

"He wants to make more of you and he plans to use the Seagate Prison rehabilitation program to do it. It's my belief he was always wanting to create someone like you. His interest in medical experiments was just a lie."

Cage sighs, "Jessica Jones was right."

Burstein walks across the office and motions to the gold container of nanobots on his shelf, "This is all that's left of my research. A jar of tiny little robots. Without his funding, my work will fall behind and I may never be able to recover."

"Don't worry, Doc. We'll find a way. Just keep working. In the meantime, I'll see what I can do."