Friend Request

"Have you seen the prototype in the demo room? When Norris unveils it at the keynote, minds are gonna blow!"

- Rickie Lukens discussing the Lifeinvader mobile device with Michael

Friend Request is the first mission in Grand Theft Auto V given to protagonist Michael De Santa by Lester Crest.

Mission
With Michael now owing $2 Million to Martin Madrazo for his mistress' house, he visits the home of an old friend named Lester Crest. After being let in, the two briefly catch up before Lester receives an alert about Lifeinvader founder, Jay Norris. He throws Michael a backpack, containing an explosive device, and asks him to buy some "youthful" clothing at SubUrban. After this, Lester gives him instructions to infiltrate the Lifeinvader Offices and plant the device in their latest prototype phone.

Once at the Lifeinvader offices, Michael waits at the back entrance as an employee walks outside for a smoke and lets him in. He mistakenly assumes Michael is a tech support agent and asks Michael to remove a number of pornography pop-ups from his computer and install some anti-virus software. After this is done, Michael finds the prototype, plants the explosive, and leaves.

Lester then instructs Michael to head home and watch Norris reveal the prototype on TV. When he gets home, he kicks Tracey - who was watching Fame or Shame - out of the lounge, and switches over to Weazel News to watch the keynote event. Waiting until Norris reveals the phone, Michael dials the number. Once Norris answers, confused at the unexpected call, the phone explodes and kills him instantly as the crowd flees in horror, and an official waves to the camera crew to make an emergency broadcast ending.

Lester calls, saying the incident has generated a huge profit for him on the stock market, and agrees to help Michael. He also sends a text with a link to the in-game stock market for Michael to later browse at his leisure.

Mission objectives

 * Go to the Suburban store in Vinewood.
 * Go to the Lifeinvader offices.
 * Go to the rear entrance.
 * Follow the programmer.
 * Close the popups to reveal the antivirus shortcut.
 * Run the antivirus software.
 * Rig the prototype.
 * Exit the building.
 * Watch the keynote at Michael's house.
 * Wait for Jay Norris to pull out the prototype phone and then give him a call.

Gold Medal Objectives

 * Time - Complete within 08:30.
 * Skip the cutscenes.
 * Take the backdoor again while leaving will allow Micheal to start running earlier.
 * Popups Clear - Clear all popups within 32 seconds.
 * Move as fast as possible. The ability CANNOT be used.
 * Don't bother trying to fire up the anti-virus software until all pop-ups has been closed as it won't work.

After the mission

 * Rickie Lukens will call Michael offering his services as a hacker.
 * Lester will send Michael an email with a link to the stock market, and both Michael and Franklin can now purchase stocks from various corporations.
 * Clothing stores are now unlocked, as are new features at Los Santos Customs.
 * If the player has recovered Gray Nicholson's bike for him, then they will receive the email saying he sent shares after the mission, provided they receive Lester's email first.
 * Premium Deluxe Motorsport reopens, and the player can complete Simeon Yetarian's Random Event.

Weazel News Newspaper
"''Viewers were horrified yesterday to witness the worst act of corporate espionage in American history. Jay Norris, the controversial, outspoken champion of openness and data mining had his data mined all over the stage when his head was blown off while giving a keynote speech at a shareholder meeting at the Vinewood Bowl, in Vinewood Los Santos. Mr. Norris, CEO and founder of social networking site Lifeinvader had made many enemies in his rise to the top, but nobody thought he was a likely assassination target. He had recently been championing the rights of companies to share and use data as they saw fit more freely. He had also helped block proposed legislation to regulate the use of sourced labor, arguing that is "un-American of us to tell foreigners how many hours a mature 12 years old should work, or what their minimum wage should be. In some countries you can live very well on 35 cents a day." He was demonstrating the company's much hyped Lifeinvader "docking" smart phone when his head was blown off, killing him instantly.''"

Lifeinvader Posts

 * Lester Crest - "Wow, you really made yourself hard to find with the whole family on here."
 * Lester Crest - "Ok, I'd say you've atoned for that decade of poor friendship. How ironic we're both on Lifeinvader? To soon?"
 * Lester Crest - "Looks like Lifeinvader's new product exploded onto the market."
 * Hayden Dubose - "I was driving through Vinewood earlier and saw a guy dressed like a moronic teenager who looked the spit of you! I must be going crazy!"

Bleeter Posts
(after The Long Stretch mission)
 * @wibblyhymen - "RIP Jay Norris. This is a tragic day for social media. I am having a minute of silence on my Lifeinvader page and posting on Bleeter instead."
 * @baconandexactly - "PLZ tell me Bleeter isn't responsible for Jay Norris' death. I can't take it. Don't make me choose."
 * @LesterC - "I hear Jay Norris's funeral will be free, restricted access, minimal design, with guest-targeted advertising."

Weazel News (Radio)
''Jay Norris, Lifeinvader CEO and controversial champion of openess and data mining, had his data mined all over the stage, when his head was blown off while giving a keynote speech to shareholders at the Vinewood Bowl. Mr. Norris was demonstrating the new Lifeinvader telephone, when a bomb was triggered, killing him instantly. Police are unsure of the motives. Lifeinvader's shares are down on the news.''

Trivia

 * The events of the mission Repossession occur during the same in-game week as this one, according to an internet article after the Repossession mission.
 * After this mission, if Michael returns to the SubUrban store he bought the clothes from, the store attendant will ask him how the job interview went.
 * If Michael approaches the Suburban shop without any money, Lester will wire the player 200 dollars to buy the getup.
 * Should the player spend this money into something else and return to the shop, right after the cutscene with the shop assistant, the mission will fail immediately from "not being able to purchase the disguise"
 * While the anti-virus is scanning the computer, an Epsilon Program file appears very quickly. The anti-virus also shows Lifeinvader.exe as a virus.
 * Among the pop-up ads, the player can see adverts for Brucie Kibbutz's Bull Shark Testosterone, and an online poker game called Poker in the Rear (another example of Rockstar Games' humour).
 * The keynote is being held at the Vinewood Bowl. This is the only time in the game that an event is being taken place in that area.
 * Should Michael fail to call Norris during the press conference, he will comment that somebody was supposed to call him and storms off, breaking the prototype by throwing it at the stage. This will still fail the mission.
 * The phone bomb may be a reference to the 2009 crime thriller Law Abiding Citizen, where Clyde Sheldon assassinates a judge with a rigged cell phone bomb.
 * The mission name is a reference to the act of sending someone a friend request on Facebook, which Lifeinvader is a parody of, and Lester's request to Michael asking him to perform a favour.
 * The scene of Michael taking the TV remote from Tracey was used in Michael's Character Trailer. In the character trailer, Tracey was wearing silver pants, while in the actual game, she is wearing purple pants.
 * Some of the pop-ups play ringtones from GTA IV, as "Lesbians" and "Hooker" can be heard if one listens carefully.
 * No other clothing shop will be open except the marked Suburban.
 * If Michael buys other pieces of clothing at the shop before buying the cargo shorts or the vest, she'll make negative comments about Michael's choice.