Day breaks in Washington, D.C. The villain, Thomas Gabriel, launches his plan. He takes control over all of the things that help run the country, like traffic lights and transportation systems. He shuts down the FBI building and calls in an anthrax alert. He makes the lights go green and red very fast so that cars crash into each other. McClane and Farrell get out and walk to the FBI trailer outside. Farrell realizes that this is a "fire sale" – where everything being taken over by these hackers and it is called a fire sale because "everything must go."