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	On a night like this the normal hum of electronic communications in Los Angeles was cluttered with violent and chaotic bursts of terror. It was easy to witness this from the basement of the switching station, 27 stories of wiring and interconnections, a great river of data just waiting for someone to drink from it. In Grace’s case the noise interrupted the normal lessons she was trying to teach Julie, an overwhelming force she tuned out while sampling the datastream. All of the circuits were at their maximum, but alternate channels let Grace get the calls she needed to make through. News of the fire was spreading fast, and with her subordinate in tow Grace headed out of the basement and to the street outside.

	They walked to the skyscraper at the end of the block, a mass of steel, glass and the basic geometric forms of the international style. Grace’s card got them past security and through the white marble lobby, completely deserted except for security guards that time of night. Once they made it to bank of elevators at the back, Grace began to talk. 
“It’s almost calming to have something in the present to deal with, a break from unlimited worries of the future.”

 Julie answered “Very true. My father used to wake us up in the middle of the night and time how long it took us to get to the fallout shelter. He kept rankings of me and all of my siblings, telling us which of us would make and which of us wouldn’t when the bombs fell. I spent so much time worrying about that it felt weird when the government was at our door, because it was one of the only times that something else was on my mind.”

	Julie bit her lip, and then said “If I’m slowing you down, I can do something else. Just tell me how I can help, I know it’s a weird night and I don’t want to be burden”

Grace said “It’s fine, this is an opportunity for some direct experience. If it wasn’t for the fire I’d probably be over at JPL or Vandenberg doing readiness checks right now because that’s where I always end up when something far away makes the high command nervous.”
After the elevator there were stairs to climb, up to the rooftop, above the massive glowing Deloitte sign. 

Julie asked “Where are we going?”

“The Helipad.” Grace said.

“There’s a helipad on this building?”

“Forty years ago one of us snuck a line in the fire code that required helipads on top of all the skyscrapers in the city. That’s proven to be useful to us, it may make the buildings look boxier but that is the least of our concerns. So much of this city’s history has been shaped by the hands of someone who fancies themselves an aesthete I’m surprised we were able to slip it in the first place.”
	
	One flight of metal stairs brought them to the helipad where their vehicle was waiting for them It was painted pitch black, and looked close but not identical to civilian models, having dozen of modifications to harden it against electronic warfare, give it a suite of stealth technologies and other technocracy additions. Near silent and invisible to conventional radar, the usual methods of helicopter detection would write it off as no more than an urban myth while it flew through the air. Despite its aptitude for evading normal technology, the files were had a laundry list of incidents where their enemies had managed to use exotic means to spot them, ranging from dowsing rods to divine revelations, conjured spirits and jury rigged tv antennas, a frustrating reminder of the variety of reality deviant threats they faced.

The pilot’s seat was empty until Grace got in. She fished around for a thin cable and plugged it into a socket in the back of her head, giving her full access to the helicopter’s systems. Julie talked as she found her place in the co-pilot chair “I didn’t know we still used these. I thought we went all drone.”

Grace said “We keep a few of these around just in case. Truth be told this could be done with them, but I believe some firsthand experience would help you.” The aircraft rose off the ground with so little sound and a smoothness that made it look like it was being pull into the air by invisible strings. They gained altitude and kept a low flight pattern, just above the rooftops of the skyscrapers as they headed towards the fire in the hills.
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	The orange glow of the fire filled the sky. Pillars of smoke rose in the Hollywood Hills, a beacon for where they were going. The helicopter glided above the streets, seeing the cars and streetlights like they little shining specks in a tight grid pattern. Grace flew it without lights, relying on the GPS, IR, inertial guidance, and other means to find her way. With all of the data feeding in through the port in the back of her head, she didn’t even need to open her eyes to guide it. 

	In just a few moments they were flying towards the cloud of smoke. Julie was quiet, absorbing it all and hearing the noise of dozens of fire engines below. Grace said

“You’ll have to address this tomorrow, you know. It’s topical.”

Julie said “Yeah. What do I say? I can’t talk about fire science the whole time.”

“Do what you always do, explain, but do it in a way that will make them feel safe, let them know we have a system and it’s in control.”

“And then what?”

“Then you offer our solution. You give them something new for them to support. A new government office, a new forest management practice or investment in the electrical grid; I’ll have a menu of policies for you in the morning. This is how we get them on our side. Fear drives people, because it’s something they can’t ignore, so offer them a choice between our safe options and only darkness outside it.”
	They were flying low to get images of the site of the fire and the smoke was all around. Grace wasn’t bothered thanks to her own enhancements, but when Julie started to cough from it, she turned on the filters to spare her. After she could be breathe clearly, Julie said

“Are we going to try and put it out?”

Grace said “That’s what the fire department is for.”

“But we can help”

“We help by making institutions like fire departments, like intelligence agencies, corporations. If we didn’t trust them then we wouldn’t have invested in them.”

“It’s hard to ignore people being burnt alive down there.”

“It’s what we must do. It’s a tragedy, but not a new one. How many billions died in misery before them, and how many more would’ve if not for our work? At the end of the day we’ll count up the damage, but it will be so that we can move forward. Once this fire is out there’ll be federal redevelopment projects, new policies to push on the politicians, so much work to be done. You have to see the big picture.”

“What you’re saying is that we can’t save everyone”

“Not yet. But some day, we’ll be able to. We have to believe in the plan, believe in the goal, because that is what makes this all worthwhile.”

The helicopter continued on its route, circling in the dark of the night and the light of the flames below, passing over the site of the Sunset Lounge.