What Are You Worth?

[awesomefoot]

What's a life worth in Los Santos these days?

 

If you've been to the airport recently and stopped and look around for a few minutes, you've probably noticed that there's a whole hell of a lot more cats arriving than there are departing. Day after day, a sea of new people are coming to our city with the dreams almost all of us had at one time or still do. Dreams of starring in some new Vinewood classics, cashing in on the latest trend in Mirror Park, closing deals in Richman or any other avenue they think will lead them to one of those skyscrapers in Downtown.

 

But if you really know the city, you know it's not all Bean Machine lattes and Ferris Whale rides. And believe me, the criminal underground is more aware of this than anyone else. They're watching these airport arrival gates, ready to prey on the weak and make the ones tough enough to survive become subservient. These 21st century outlaws have adapted to the times and let the system work for them. They know these new arrivals can't get a gun past security and there aren't a lot of taxis around with the advent of private fare services.

 

These shady figures also know that a lot of these fresh faces are coming in with little more than the clothes on their back and the phones in their pocket. They're well aware of the temptation of quick money and that it's easier in this climate to get a gun than it is to get a job. These troublemakers, the ones that give their South or the East neighborhoods a bad rep know all too well how hard it is to cover rent when you're flipping burgers across town at Up 'n Atom.

 

It's hard out there, just like it's hard not to hear stories. I've talked to outsiders that were sleeping in garages, which is apparently the modern day version of sleeping under the Vinewood sign. Everyone seemed to know someone with a similar story. The guy or girl was taken out for a Meat Stack meal from Burger Shot and offered some fresh clothes from Binco or a stolen Picador. If they agreed, they were handed a shotgun and told to drop some rival gangbangers. Like I said, it's a new age for criminals. They're well aware of the gang wars that happened in the 90's between the Ballas and Family and how easy it is to ID a face off Lifeinvader. So the new trend seems to be finding taking someone who dresses and looks unaffiliated and having them drop a few of your enemies. If the merc dies, there's nothing of value lost. If he lives, it's still a cheap price to pay considering that rival gang won't know which direction to look with all of these colors and crews.

 

A similar problem that's been happening is this wave of car thefts. Those Ballers and Felon GTs are apparently worth a pretty penny in parts. I talked to a guy who knew a guy who heard of a guy that was making a comfortable living, tens of thousands a day, by selling these cars on the black market. And much like those gangs, their old school rides have a lot of sister cars sitting in scrapyards with easy to replace VIN numbers.

 

That brings me to another story time. You may have seen the news last week of a gang war in Davis. An unidentified suspect opened fire on some reputed Balla members with weapons the cops don't even handle, the sort usually reserved for Fort Zancudo or Merryweather. Over ten gangbangers were dead and the suspect escaped and nobody seemed to see enough to talk, which isn't surprising. But word on the street was one of those tricked out Tornados tore out of there. I don't know about you, but in all my years in Los Santos I've never seen Ballas run from a fight. Talking to a source who asked his name not to be mentioned, I was told a Tornado in that condition would hold a value in the six digit range. As for making them legal? I was told to take a trip up to Sandy Shores to see how many of them are barely running. I'll take their word for it, though. These street gangs keep each other in check, you head up north and it's easy to get lost.

So what's a life worth in Los Santos? A dead gang member seems to be worth about $10000 on the high end after all sales are final. The rest of us? We're not so lucky. I saw a guy get knocked out in Vespucci Beach for the $10 he had in his pocket. For the record, he didn't get up, although I left before the Ambulance arrived. I read and hear about enough of these dead bodies everyday, I don't need to see another one.

 

And an aside before I go, Bulimic Capital? There's a lot more sick things going on in Los Santos today. Maybe it's time I hit up Ammu-Nation for one of those Apocalypse Kits I keep hearing about.