Rewritten Fairy Tale: Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp

Aladdin and the City of Corporations

His eyes opened to the blinding lights bleeding through the cracked windows, the neon colors flooding the decrepit room. The endless seams of flashy lights and dizzying advertisements make the night the time to thrive, and when the sun wakes the city goes to sleep. Aladdin gets up to get ready for another day of trying to find work, which has been dangerously scarce after the big corporations took control of Nightfall city in 2067.

Bidding goodbye to his sickly mother, Aladdin leaves the slums outside Nightfall city, where metal and circuit boards are the only currency. Aladdin’s favorite pastime besides scrounging for robot augmentation parts is riding on his custom motorbike, which he built himself by finding scrap. Whizzing into the city on his bike, the sounds of hovering cars among the skyscrapers and the bustling downtown always throw off Aladdin since he lives in the quiet of the slums. Today that sound was a bit too distracting, and as he found himself losing balance, his bike’s engine stops working and crashes into a Cyborg’s parked hover-car. “Did you just trash my brand new car you lowlife?” exclaims the Cyborg, while Aladdin sighs in relief to find himself alive. “My bike stopped working man, and I’m no more of a lowlife than you with those body mods”, replies Aladdin. Enraged by the audacity of Aladdin the Cyborg approaches him menacingly, since authority is lacking in Nightfall city, matters are taken through aggression and violence. Just before starting a fight with him, the Cyborg decides to negotiate. “Come with me to an outpost just outside the city, help me fix the car in an autoshop and I’ll let you go”. Being the rebel that he is, Aladdin’s refusal was met with a quick punch to the gut. They ordered an automated taxi and immediately left Nightfall city.

Just as the hums of the city were fading into the background, the Cyborg ordered the taxi to stop in the middle of nowhere and got out. “Why are we stopping here?” asked Aladdin, and The Cyborg replied, “Walk with me”. After three good hours of walking and Aladdin incessantly asking the Cyborg of where they were going, they started to see a huge junkyard on the horizon, a place where all discarded robots, hover cars, human augmentation parts are discarded. “The last remains of my Father were discarded by the money-hungry corporate bastards after he was murdered by them. The facility’s security is heavily sensitive against Cyborgs but a human might slip through, get me his remains and we’re even”. Shocked by hearing so much at once, Aladdin instinctively asked, “Hold on, first finish your story. Why was your Father killed by the corpos?”. “He was falsely accused of stealing a very rare weapon modification for Cyborgs, one that can shoot a focused energy beam from the eyes” the Cyborg answered in a somber tone. “So you mean death lasers? That sounds awesome!” Aladdin proclaimed, but was met with an angry look. The Cyborg explained an elaborate plan to sneak into the facility, and Aladdin was on his way.

Aladdin slowly approaches the facility, and the stench of corroded metal, rust, and oil makes him queasy. A large electric forcefield around the facility is the main barrier keeping unwanted visitors out, get in contact with the forcefield and you will immediately disintegrate. The only way inside is through the main gate, and so Aladdin has to talk his way in. Once he reaches the main gate, he sees a security guard patrolling in front of the gate- but something about him looks familiar, as if Aladdin had seen him before. Upon a closer inspection, Aladdin does indeed recognize the person to be one of his friends from the slums, as low paying jobs like being a security guard tends to be taken by people who live there, once the guard sees Aladdin he yells, “Stop! All forms of life are not allowed in this facility. Wait… Aladdin?”. The two get into a friendly conversation and both catch up with one another, “So listen, I threw out some important bike parts in there. Could you maybe let me take a peek in there?” asked Aladdin and got an immediate yes for an answer. The guard let him in and he entered a place that is both an oasis and a nightmare for robot and electronic parts. Before getting in, The Cyborg gave Aladdin a tracking device to find the remains of his father. Aladdin starts exploring the facility.

Even with a tracker that points out exactly where the remains are, Aladdin still felt tiny amongst the endless piles of junk that dwarfed him. The smell of oil and rust had already set in his throat making it difficult to even breathe, nonetheless he finds the room where the remains lie. Aladdin opens the door and finds dozens of discarded bodies of Cyborgs and even though it unsettles him, Aladdin was determined to finish this goose hunt and go back home. Aladdin discovers a distinct and expensive-looking Cyborg on one of the piles, and a quick check on the tracking device confirms it to be the father’s remains. While Aladdin was pondering on how he was going to bring back this heavy body, he noticed something shiny in the father’s eyes- it seemed to be the laser the Cyborg was talking about. The laser looked like state-of-the-art technology, and Aladdin wanted it bad. However, to take it out would be to destroy the body, but this laser could pay off all the medical bills he has for his mother, and he might even see her recover. Weighing the benefits and drawbacks, he takes apart the Cyborg’s body and takes the laser. After a goodbye to the guard, Aladdin goes back to the Cyborg.

“I don’t see you with any of my Father’s remains” The Cyborg says as soon as Aladdin reaches him, “And that’s because I couldn’t find it” he replied. “What do you mean, didn’t you use the tracking device?” he replied, “I did, but it didn’t show up”. Aladdin also spins up an excuse and says, “I talked to the guard and he told me that Cyborgs are all scrapped immediately, you should have come sooner”, after some aggressive exchanges back and forth, the Cyborg gives in and decides to end this venture. Aladdin orders a hover taxi and goes back to the edge of the city, where he now plans to sell the stolen laser at a black market. Moving through the thick crowds of people of all kinds, Aladdin walks to the underbelly of the city, where he makes a few contacts to sell the laser. There isn’t really a Black “Market” in Nightfall city, but the people who buy and sell illegal goods are hard to reach. The complete deal took Aladdin almost a week, and in that week he became one of the richest people in the City. He treats his mother in the best hospital, buys an expensive house inside the city, and even thinks about opening a business.

Six months later Aladdin now operates one of the largest motorbike companies in Nightfall city, his life from a slum dweller to a corporate overlord wasn’t quick but with the money he received from the laser it sure was easy. Aladdin made impressive progress in his company and accumulated many established and powerful contacts- one of them being the number one, who basically runs the entire city and has it at their will. Aspiring to grow his business beyond what he already has built, he appoints a meeting with them, where he also meets the daughter of the owner of said company, who is the head of marketing. Aladdin grows a fondness over the daughter, and asks her out on occasions to dates- and slowly they both fall in love. Aladdin wants to take the relationship further into marriage and asks for the father’s permission by showing off his company. While the progression of Aladdin’s business may be halted by his newfound relationship, the Cyborg whom he stole from learns about his motorbike company and becomes suspicious. All this time the Cyborg has been backtracking how Aladdin became so rich overnight and traced it back to a laser being sold to a Black Market collector- which he immediately recognized to be the one that was implanted in his father. His plan now is to take down Aladdin’s company, which with the information that he has, could not be simpler.

Aladdin was enjoying his time at an expensive holographic dance event when the police force arrested him on site. Even though police activity in Nightfall city is low, it still is relevant when dealing with large scale crimes. The laser was tracked down and confiscated by the police, and Aladdin jailed for lifetime while being distraught at the sudden change of events. The Cyborg is the one who exposed Aladdin to the police, and while in jail he visits Aladdin, showing him a key. “You! You’re the Cyborg I met all that time ago, what do you want this time? I’ve lost everything” says Aladdin. “Maybe if you hear me out and not betray me again I might let you have one more shot at life. You destroyed what was left of my father for money, now get back the laser from the police and I promise to not put a bullet through your wife’s head, and don’t even think about coming for me, I have other ways to kill her”. Thinking about his wife and his relationship he agrees to follow what the Cyborg says, not that he has much of a choice anyway.

The Cyborg slips him a key, and Aladdin waits until the lights are down and he can sneak out. Once he leaves his cell, it’s all up to Aladdin’s dexterity with electronic locks and stealth in movement, all of which he mastered from years of living as a thief in the slums. Slowly working towards the holding rooms in the police precinct by hacking doors and security cameras, Aladdin finds the room where the laser is being kept, so quickly grabs the laser and makes a run for it. Just as he was about to sneak out using a backdoor, a police caught sight of him and a chase ensued. Bolting through the streets of Nightfall city, Aladdin makes his way to the Cyborg, while police sirens go off in the background. “Took you long enough,” remarked the Cyborg and snatched the laser off of him. Still panting from running, Aladdin pleaded “Please don’t hurt my wife, I beg you man. I don’t want riches, I just want my mother and wife to be safe”. Nodding in agreement, The Cyborg fades into the crowds, while the police sirens get louder by the second.

Aladdin was again charged with criminal offenses, and this time went to a high-security prison far away from Nightfall city. Contemplating his ambitions and choices, Aladdin stays locked in his cell for the rest of his life, ever grateful to know that the same fate did not ensue for his mother and wife.