This story is based on actual items and plans for Animal Kingdom. However, the little conspiracy theory is purely fiction…as far as I know…anyway, the disclaimer. Ahem…I do not own anything by Disney, not even a stock share. I found out about these plans by researching it at many different sites, and I know every inch of the parks, but I have no real affiliation with Disney (well, until I become an Imagineer there, that is).
Oh yeah, and if you're wondering why the tracker is watching that screen and who (or what) Alta and Talon are, it will be revealed later. It's the mystery of the thing that will come into play.
Alison had barely survived the dinner thanks to the boys' fart jokes and her mother's subtle yet obvious disapproval of her outfit, but after it was over, she realized it wasn't nearly as bad as lunch was every day. As she quietly chewed on the limp veggie wrap that had been today's main course in the cafeteria line, she felt a slight pang in her chest for some company. After all, sitting by herself at a small round table by the entranceway to the lunchroom wasn't much fun, no matter how much she detested the people around her.
"Too bad the groups were set at the beginning of the year," she thought wistfully as she finished her lunch and picked up her books. "Otherwise, I might have joined a table…oh, what am I thinking? I don't want to sit with them. They're plain annoying." There was some truth to that statement; all of the groups at the school were extremely exclusive. Even the people considered losers made sure not to be seen with anyone else out of their circle, especially the loners. Alison was included in that stereotype. She had always guessed the reason was she didn't stick out in a crowd, what with her plain dirty-blond hair and average features. The only thing that stood out was her eyes, since one was green and the other was blue. But that didn't help her, it only made things worse. It had labeled her as a freak early on. That was why her mother always strived to help her become one of the "In-crowd". It had only taken Alison two years to realize she didn't want to be part of a crowd that secluded her in the first place because of her differences. So instead, she left her mother's dream of mini-skirts and lip gloss and entered her own: to do what she wanted, wear what she wanted, and hang out with who she wanted. The only real problem with the plan was that she hadn't found anyone to fill the third requirement. And the only time that issue really stood out to her was lunchtime.
"So, like, anyway, I was looking for a place to work so I could get my mother off my back, you know?" Alison heard coming from a table as she began to leave. "But I can't find anyone who'll hire me." It was Joli Maxwell, Alison's brother's girlfriend and head of the prep table. And unfortunately, since her brother sat there, he often used her as an example for anything dumb.
"Well, you could apply for a cast member job at Disney World or something," Will offered. "It's only about twenty minutes away by car from here, right? And if they hire people like my sister, they'll hire anyone."
Case and point.
"Eww, and be seen in some weird mouse costume surrounded by smelly kids?" Joli scrunched up her nose. "As if. Besides, how could you visit me at work to give me kisses when I'm covered in fur, Willy?" Alison struggled not to gag. Maybe to her, with her long black hair and fake nose, his spiky brown hair and blue eyes was attractive, but they both looked and dressed like they were asking for it.
"Why would you even need a job?" Kara Stone asked. As her right hand girl, the blond-haired hazel-eyed beauty had to know everything about everyone for Joli's use, whether it be blackmail or otherwise. So, she had a habit of being a snoop, even around the people she was getting information for, not from. "I mean, it's not like you need the money. You live in the same suburb as Will. Oh, wait, what if-" Her blue eyes widened. "Omigod, your dad didn't lose his job, did he?"
"Uh, no Kara."
"And now you're poor, and you have to support your entire family by working at McDonalds and you'll have to drop ou-"
"I said no Kara! God!" Joli exclaimed in exasperation.
"Sorry," she giggled. "Watched one too many TV movies, I guess." Alison rolled her eyes and hurriedly left the cafeteria.
"What'd you bring for lunch?" the security guard asked the tracker.
"Tuna. You?"
"Subway cheese steak," he said with a grin.
"Lucky," the tracker groaned. "Trade me?"
"Not a chance," he said, taking a large bite. "Oh yeah, I was gonna ask you why the supervisor was yelling at you yesterday."
"Hm? Oh, that," he muttered grumpily. He pointed at the large green monitor. "He told me when I started here that anytime the solid dark-green line here pulsed, I should contact him. Well, every time I do it, he shouts at me for wasting his time."
"What's it tracking?"
"Like I would know," he rolled his eyes. "I'm not high up enough to know what I'm looking for." The guard laughed.
"C'mon, let's go to the break room. Eating in the monitor area is distracting." The tracker hesitated.
"I really shouldn't leave…"
"Aw, come on. You can leave your post for a few minutes," he said. After looking back at the screen once more, he shrugged and left with the guard. If only he had stayed for a minute more, he might have caught the thing he had been searching for for four years. The line on the monitor started to pulse slowly, then lurched upwards and pulsed wildly. It went on for about two minutes before returning to normal. And no one had noticed.
"You were right, Sir Alta!" Talan said happily. "I can feel it in the air. It's freshening at last!"
"That's not all we should be happy about, young Talan," Alta said. The grin was small, but could still be seen on his beak. "You know what a hole of this size could lead to, don't you?" Talan breathed in sharply. His leader was not one for hope, especially one that was so…so unlikely! He was such a fact-based soul.
"Sir…please Sir, do not be offended, but I just can't let myself believe this. Besides, even if one did come, Serafina would not allow-"
"Ah, young Talan. Like everyone else, you are led by the bat's tall tales."
"They are the only ones brave enough to sneak into her castle, even if it is only to steal her treasure."
"So you believe thieves?" he asked with an amused tone lingering in his voice.
"No, no…I mean, er…maybe…"
"Do not worry so much," Alta said serenely as he gazed toward the sky from the cave mouth. "Everything that needs to happen will. And I pray this will include a partner for Sebastian and perhaps even his chance for escape."
"And now, to complete my shift…" Sarah Rae said dramatically. Alison rolled her eyes. Sarah had the shift before hers. She had dropped out of high school to pursue an acting career, but the homely black-haired girl hadn't been able to cut a break. She said that since her parents weren't supportive of her plans, she had to work to pay her agent. But the only gigs she had managed to get from him were a cereal ad and the end of her shift. So even though Alison was changed and ready to go at three-thirty, Sarah kept her waiting until four.
"Can you finish up today, girl?" Raquel exclaimed in exasperation. "We don't have time for your nonsense!" Alison had to hand it to the loud and proud Spanish chica who also worked at the souvenir shop in Harambe Village: she knew how to get stuff done. Maybe getting through all four years of high school helped her; she had graduated the year before and had taken a year off of school to earn money for college.
"Well, fine then," Sarah said in a huff. "I won't waste my time on people who don't appreciate my talents!" She handed the register key to Alison and stormed off.
"Well, she's getting there," Alison smirked. "Drama queen is a step above where she was two months ago." Raquel chuckled and shook her head, causing her wavy black hair to swish in front of her face.
"All right, we better get started."
"Yeah," Alison said with a trace of sarcasm laced into her tone. "Don't want to keep the four-o-clock rush waiting."
"You know that some people stay later than one-o-clock here," Raquel replied as she straightened a stack of Safari Mickey stuffed animals.
"Not many, though," Alison sighed and leaned against the cash register gently. "I think those Imagineers are gonna have to step it up a bit to keep the visitors coming in for the whole day."
"Don't complain," Raquel warned. "We've got the easy shift. Imagine how busy the people are that do the ten-o-clock shifts."
"Guess so," she grinned. Then she noticed something was missing. The store that they worked in included safari hats in their uniforms. "Uh, Raquel? Where's your hat?" She blinked in confusion.
"Hat? It's not…?" She felt the top of her head. "Oh, crap! I didn't even notice!"
"How could you not notice it?"
"I don't know! Aw, man, it must still be in the changing room!"
"Look, you watch the register, and I'll grab the hat," Alison said, tossing the register key to Raquel.
"Why you?" she asked, scrunching up her nose.
"I think I left my locker unlocked and I wanted to check. I was going back anyway." With a tiny wave, she walked away from a distressed Raquel, who still couldn't figure out how she had forgotten the hat. In all honesty, though, Alison knew it was locked, but saying her locker wasn't locked was always a good excuse to get out of something, whether it was the start of her shift or the start of gym, when running was a mandatory warm-up.
"Oh well. Raquel can handle a few customers without me," she thought as she walked toward the locker room. When they had built it, they wanted to keep the natural beauty of the park instead of just having it for all the visitors to see, so it had been hidden behind a grove near the oasis. In order to get there, she had to walk back to the beginning of the park and weave through the now-decreasing crowds. She realized that what she told Raquel was right in front of her. The park just couldn't keep the crowds in. Sure, her job there wasn't the best in the world, but she still had sort of a soft spot for the place. She just felt that the Imagineers could have done a better job with it.
"What on earth had gone wrong?" she wondered, reaching the secret door. She opened it and immediately the heat dropped, turning the hot day into a bearable cold interior. She quickly spotted the safari hat lying on one of the benches. "How could Raquel just leave it there like that?" she sighed. "Even Will isn't this much of a scatterbrain and he forgets where his homework is when it's still on his desk." She grabbed it and headed toward the door.
"Sir Alta?" Talan asked hesitantly. His leader was sitting back at the cave mouth with his eyes closed. "Are you oka-"
"Shh!" he ordered. "It's going to happen about…now!"
Alison stared. That's all she could manage to do. The shock of going into a room one minute when it's daytime and coming back out to a night sky kind of takes it out of a person.
"Um…ok…," she managed to whisper shakily. "What the… it wasn't nighttime thirty seconds ago… How the heck is this possible? Is this some sort of special effect they're testing?" She might have actually considered this if the park had any people in it, but there wasn't a single trace of human activity around except for her. She was all alone in complete darkness…until she noticed a glimmer of light out of the corner of her right eye coming from where the stone crocodile was. "Signs of life!" she cried out in a half-joking tone, running through the empty pathways toward the glow. As she got closer, it seemed to be coming from the Camp Minnie-Mickey area, around the bridge. But instead of being a light on the pathway, it was coming from the small pond that separated the character meet-and-greet area from the Oasis, near a strange rock formation. Up close, the light was a strange twinkling yellow, and wasn't from any light source Alison could identify, sort of an unearthly shimmering.
"Umm…hello? Is someone working on an effect in there?" Alison called from the bridge. It was the last thing she remembered doing before her life turned upside down forever.
