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 $2,500,000 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 the SubUrban on Power Street; if Michael approaches the shop without any money, Lester will give the player $200 to buy the outfit. After this, Lester gives him instructions to infiltrate the Lifeinvader Office 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 his cigarette break and lets him in. He mistakes Michael for 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 living room, and switches over to Weazel News to watch the event broadcast live. 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. This will allow Michael to start running earlier.
- Popups Clear - Clear all popups within 32 seconds.
- Move as fast as possible. Otherwise activate Michael's ability before the cutscene triggers, this will slow down time allowing the player to clear the popups in less time.
- When clearing the popups, you won't be able to see Michael's ability, however after finishing the mission it will show that you cleared the popups in a shorter amount of time.
- Don't bother trying to start up the anti-virus software until all pop-ups have been closed as it won't work.
- Move as fast as possible. Otherwise activate Michael's ability before the cutscene triggers, this will slow down time allowing the player to clear the popups in less time.
Deaths
- Jay Norris - Killed by the explosion of the prototype phone during the Lifeinvader event caused by the explosive device created by Lester Crest, who then instructed Michael De Santa to implant it inside of the prototype phone at the Lifeinvader Office, who then dialed and called the phone during the broadcast once Jay Norris unveiled the phone.
Aftermath
Phone Calls
- Rickie Lukens - Rickie will call Michael, knowing that he was the one who caused Jay Norris' death, but now offers his services as a hacker.
- Jimmy De Santa - Michael can call Jimmy after this mission. Michael will tell Jimmy that he's just calling to check up on him since he's been busy. Jimmy responds that he's terrible because "the calm and routine of having a cranky alcoholic slumped in front of the TV, or passed out on a sun lounger has completely evaporated." He then mentions to his father that if Michael is robbing and probably killing again not to get shot or arrested at the house because it would be embarrassing. Michael snidely retorts that if Jimmy was working he wouldn't have to resort to crime.
Other
- If Michael returns to the SubUrban store he purchased the clothes from, the store attendant will ask him how the job interview went.
Unlocks
- The stock market is unlocked after receiving Lester's email.
- The player will also receive Gray Nicholson's email if they have retrieved his bike for him.
- All clothing stores are unlocked, while new features are unlocked at Los Santos Customs.
- Premium Deluxe Motorsport reopens, unlocking Simeon Yetarian's Random Event.
Media
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
- @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."
(after The Long Stretch mission)
- @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 openness 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.
Gallery
In-Game
Video Walkthroughs
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.
- 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 (poke her in the rear, another example of Rockstar Games' sexual humour).
- The keynote is held at the Vinewood Bowl, the only time in the game an event takes place there.
- 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.[1]
- 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 trailer Tracy wore silver pants; in the game she wears purple pants.
- Some of the pop-ups play ringtones from GTA IV, as "Lesbians", "The One for Me" and "Hooker" can be heard if one listens carefully.