As a direct result of Sonny's paranoia, Tommy was sent far away to Liberty City's eastern district, ostensibly to "develop the eastern market" for the family's operations, but in reality, everyone knew it was nothing more than a convenient exile.
After crossing a massive suspension bridge that connected the city's sprawling districts, they arrived in Liberty City's grittier East District.
At an abandoned, decrepit warehouse on the waterfront, two groups were conducting an extremely illegal transaction
On one side stood Boshita's character, the Marine Elf Boshita aka Tommy Vercetti, along with his assigned East District contact, the sharp-dressed Dark Elf lawyer Ken, and two of Tommy's former loyal subordinates who'd agreed to work with him again.
On the opposite side stood the notorious Vance Brothers, well-known suppliers in the underground market.
Fifteen brutal years of harsh prison life had fundamentally hardened Tommy's once-expressive gaze into something cold and predatory. He swept his eyes across the tense scene, assessing every angle and potential threat.
"Relax, Tommy," Ken walked over casually, trying to show confidence. "The Vance Brothers are reliable suppliers with a good reputation. Once this deal's done, we can report our success back to Sonny and get him off our backs."
Behind them, two nervous underlings carried heavy suitcases absolutely stuffed with cash, their arms straining under the weight.
Not far away, a sleek hovering motorcycle skimmed low through the humid night air, its engine humming softly. One of the Vance Brothers piloted it expertly, stopping the vehicle suspended in midair.
The other brother approached on foot, carrying a suspicious-looking case.
"Did you bring the goods as promised?" Tommy's voice was flat and dangerous.
"It's all here, every bit of it. Cash for goods, clean and simple."
Both sides placed their respective items on the oil-stained ground, and the groups began carefully inspecting the merchandise with practiced efficiency.
At that precise moment;
Masked figures suddenly burst out explosively from the surrounding shadows and launched a coordinated attack.
"Damn it!" Ken shouted.
"It's an ambush! We've been set up!"
The attackers wielded specially modified firearms that looked nothing like standard weapons, and they opened fire immediately without hesitation.
Shrill, deafening gunshots rang out, echoing off the warehouse walls.
Scorching bullets tore viciously into one of the underlings. He didn't even have time to comprehend what was happening before dropping dead onto the concrete, blood staining the floor.
One of the Vance Brothers desperately pulled out his own weapon to fight back, but he was quickly gunned down as well, his body jerking violently before collapsing.
The survivors scattered frantically in every direction, seeking any available cover.
Tommy grabbed Ken roughly by the collar and dove into the nearest car, practically throwing him inside. He started the engine immediately and sped away into the distance, his tires screeching.
In a narrow city alley bathed in flickering neon light, a vintage gray-white sedan roared in dangerously fast, nearly scraping both walls.
Inside the cramped car, the conversation was tense and loaded.
"I barely poked my head out of the gutter to breathe, and the universe dumps a massive pile of crap right on my head!" Tommy snarled, slamming his fist against the steering wheel.
"So what are you going to do about this situation?" Ken asked nervously, adjusting his expensive glasses.
"Tomorrow morning I'll come to your office. Then we'll start systematically cleaning up this entire mess," Tommy said coldly, his voice a slaughter.
After that brief exchange, Ken quickly got out of the car and disappeared into the shadows, leaving Tommy alone with his thoughts.
The camera perspective shifted dramatically.
The game officially began.
A beat-heavy, absolutely incredible soundtrack suddenly kicked in, the kind of music that made one's hair stand up instinctively.
The hardened, dangerous gangster Tommy had now completely become the Marine Elf Boshita in both appearance and control.
His character's eyes gradually shifted from cold and ruthlessly calculating...
to slightly dazed and confused.
Then clear and alert.
And finally, faintly stupid-looking.
Boshita stroked his smooth chin thoughtfully.
There had been far too few concrete clues provided in that opening sequence. He honestly didn't fully understand everything that had just happened in the cutscene's complex narrative.
All he clearly knew was that it had been intense. It was a black-market deal gone catastrophically wrong, hijacked by some unknown third party with unclear motivations.
He'd never experienced anything remotely like that before in any game.
So next up in the story, would he be clashing directly with these dangerous criminal factions head-on? That sounded genuinely exciting and thrilling.
But... what exactly was he supposed to do right now?
He genuinely had no clue whatsoever.
It seemed like the game clearly wanted him to go visit Ken's office for the next mission briefing. That was probably where the next main quest would continue.
But there was no rush at all. He wanted to familiarize himself thoroughly with the game's systems and world first.
He checked his avatar's pockets carefully.
Not a single Bailey to his name. Completely broke.
But there was one small cube-shaped object tucked away.
He pulled it out curiously.
Its design was sleek and unique, constructed from polished metal, with a small glowing screen embedded cleverly in its surface.
A floating virtual interface suddenly popped up before his eyes.
[Mobile Phone]
Was this something like an advanced magic communicator, but better?
After a bit of experimental fiddling, the screen lit up fully, displaying multiple icons.
Contacts list, music playback, and a complete virtual map of Liberty City with incredible detail.
This sophisticated device had exponentially more functions than any standard magic communicator he'd used before. The technology was genuinely impressive.
Opening the city map revealed the full traffic layout in stunning clarity, completely zoomable and even projectable as a 3D model. Extremely convenient and user-friendly.
Many specific locations were helpfully marked throughout the sprawling city, though he had absolutely no idea what most of them were actually for yet. He'd learn that eventually.
After briefly messing around with the phone's various features, he put it away carefully.
Looking around the dimly lit alley, the only thing nearby was that vintage car they'd escaped in.
Boshita had wanted to try driving this car ever since he first laid eyes on it. It was just that cool.
He opened the driver's side door and slid smoothly into the seat.
The ergonomically designed, leather-wrapped seat was incredibly comfortable, molding perfectly to his body.
A classic steering wheel sat directly in front of him, with a gear control lever positioned conveniently to the side.
Once properly seated, a detailed driving tutorial appeared helpfully before his eyes, explaining the basic controls.
Starting the engine and the fundamental controls were all simplified compared to real vehicles, designed for accessibility.
He got a rough grasp of how everything worked.
And then the car suddenly shot forward violently.
"Ah-!" Boshita yelped.
"Bang!"
Because of his clumsy, inexperienced handling, the car burst wildly out of the narrow alley and slammed straight into a solid brick wall.
A gorgeous woman with hair so crazy, it made Fran Fine's hair look normal, passing by on the sidewalk, was startled badly and screamed before running away quickly, her heels clicking frantically.
No panic. He could definitely do better. Keep going.
After fumbling around awkwardly for a while, he finally got the proper hang of the basic controls.
Then he really let loose, gaining confidence.
Driving cautiously at first, then gradually tearing down the open road faster and faster.
Outside the car windows, Liberty City's spectacular nightscape rushed past in a blur of colors.
Pristine beaches, tall swaying palm trees, brilliant neon lights everywhere, towering buildings reaching toward the stars, and scantily dressed beauties of various exotic races filling the vibrant streets.
Yes, although the city was technically located inland geographically, Saintheart Lake was absolutely massive in scale, and its expansive shores featured beautiful beaches as well.
Liberty City without beaches would have no soul whatsoever.
The clothing styles here were completely different from anything Boshita had ever seen before in his life.
Not in the Imperial Capital.
Not in Lunaria.
Not anywhere.
Yet somehow, they all looked absolutely amazing on the diverse population.
Distinctive and memorable.
Fashionable and cutting-edge.
But while he was busy enthusiastically sightseeing and gawking.
He didn't notice the road ahead properly.
The car slammed straight into a thick palm tree.
His HP bar dropped several points immediately.
The front of the car was badly dented, and the hood crumpled pathetically.
It hurt his heart to see the damage.
In real life, money wasn't an issue for him at all. He could afford anything.
But in-game right now?
He was completely, utterly broke.
This battered car was basically his only tangible asset in the entire world.
He also had absolutely no idea how to eventually buy that incredible hovering motorcycle he'd been dreaming about since the opening cutscene.
And he didn't even know how to make money yet in this game's economy.
After that painful lesson, he drove extremely carefully, treating the car like porcelain.
At a busy intersection, he noticed that every single crossing had properly functioning traffic lights controlling the traffic
Despite the massive number of vehicles moving through constantly, traffic somehow flowed incredibly smoothly without any issues.
He was genuinely stunned by this sophisticated system.
This kind of fully automated traffic infrastructure was clearly extremely mature and well-developed.
Even the Imperial Capital still relied heavily on hired manpower to manually direct traffic at major intersections.
Just what kind of brilliant brain did this designer Alto possess?
Soon, he came across a massive, impressive shopping complex that dominated an entire city block.
Curious, he parked carefully by the roadside and walked inside to explore.
The building itself was ridiculously luxurious, all polished marble and gleaming fixtures.
Inside was an enormous multi-level mall.
Clothing boutiques, trendy hair salons, exotic food shops, specialized tool stores;
So many options, it made his eyes spin trying to take everything in.
Unfortunately, he had no money whatsoever.
All he could do was look longingly at all the things displayed in the windows.
He really hadn't experienced this frustrating "too broke to shop" kind of life before. It was humbling.
Sighing heavily, he walked back out and decided to keep driving around the city.
First priority: get completely familiar with the urban layout.
Then start his money-making career properly.
But just as he stepped outside the mall's gleaming entrance, he spotted a suspicious Cat-man lurking, obviously next to his parked car, doing who knows what with his hands near the door.