Part 1

Jeremy Jones. Photographer by day, liberator of animals by night. The one who saved them from cruelty. The one who protected their rights. The one who gave them freedom.

The plan was simple, nothing more than a sneak job. Rumour had it that there were animals being tested in the local biomedical facility that was just around the corner two blocks down from his place (which, by all things considered, was rather convenient), and Jeremy was there to find out for himself. If there wasn't any animals there, good. If they were, Jeremy would simply sneak as many as he could out before daybreak. Nothing too hard, considering that there was a large forested area not more than a few hundred meters from where the biomedical facility was. Easy peasy lemon squeezy. Jeremy had done similar things countless times before, and this was just going to be like any other run. Or so he thought.

Walking down the street, he looked around, adjusting the straps of his backpack as he noted the looks of people he passed. No reason to be nervous, he thought, I'm just passing by... The sun was setting as the cold, autumn wind settled in, blowing leaves across the sidewalk. It was at these times that Jeremy felt alone and scared, but he took comfort and courage in the idea that he was doing the right thing by setting the animals free, sparing them from a life of torture.

By the time he reached the facility, it was already dark. Reaching into his backpack, he checked over his equipment. A pair of old wire cutters, a lock picking set, some black paint, a long brush and a knife, just in case. Snapping away at the chain link fence with his wire cutters, Jeremy made a hole large enough for a bear to pass through, and then slipped in himself, tossing the wire cutters into his backpack. He looked around, and then looked at the building. A light was still on, which meant that even at this hour, there was still at least a few people left inside. It was a good sign though, as it meant that he did not have to break windows or pick locks to get into the place. Walking around, he examined the building, trying to look for a way to sneak into the building. Spotting a small back door entrance near a few dumpsters, he jogged over  before slowly twisting the door knob, being pleasantly surprised to find that it wasn't locked. Pushing the door open slowly, he walked into the room, shutting the door behind him carefully. The last thing he wanted to do was to let someone hear him.

Stopping to take a breath, he looked around. He found himself in what appeared to be the janitor's room. Opposite the door that he came in from was another door, presumably leading into the main building.

Sweat pouring out from his face, Jeremy creaked the door open slightly, popping his head out and looking around before darting it back in. There was no-one, and that was good. Grabbing a small role of duct tape from a shelf in the room, he peeled a small piece of silvery tape and stuck it on the door as he left, a marker to show his escape route.

Cautiously, Jeremy began trekking into the building, following signs and checking rooms to look for possible clues that might have hinted animals having been present within the vicinity.

After a few minutes of what could be considered fruitless searching, Jeremy hit something.  A door, labelled in large, capitalised letters that said 'TESTING ROOM'. Jackpot. With a slow push of the door, Jeremy found what he was looking for. It wasn't much, but it appeared to be a few cages containing some seven or so frogs, along with a few lizards that seemed to be from around the region. 

Rushing over to the first cage, Jeremy literally slammed his bag onto the floor and pulled out his lock picking set. Getting about to work, he fished out a pick, and began picking the lock. A few quick twists and some pleasant clicking noises came from the lock as he jammed the pick up the lock, twisting and rotating the pick in an attempt to bypass the system.

Almost there... Just a few more seconds, and Jeremy would have had it unlocked. He'd then open the cage and lead the animals in the first cage out, before coming back for the rest.  It was the perf- Wham. Something hit Jeremy in the back of the head. Hard. He was out cold in a snap.

********

"Unnnughhh..." Jeremy moaned, feeling the soreness of the back of his head, "Where am I...?"

"You're right where you were, Mr. Jones." a voice said from behind.

Jeremy struggled to get up, only to find that he was bound firmly to a chair. Tugging at his restraints, he struggled to get free, knowing that he was well in deep shit.

"I'll admit, bothering to even pursue the search of animals here is quite the dedication in protecting these animals, Mr. Jones."  a voice said from behind him.

"W-who are you?!" Jeremy sputtered, feeling rather embarrassed to have had been caught.

"Ah, but a mere scientist, Jones." the voice said from behind him. Jeremy struggled a bit more, before the scientist stepped in front of him to tighten the restraints. The man was a young, lanky person who couldn't have been more than past his mid-thirties, with a mop of light brown hair, dark green eyes and an air around him that just seemed to radiate a 'this-will-not-end-well' feeling for Jeremy.

"My name right now shouldn't be too much of a concern to you, but what I do is." the scientist said, looking over to the various caged animals, "You see, the ocean levels are rising, and I'm sure even a man of your intelligence should be able to see that..."

"So what does this have to do with testing on these animals, you sicko?!" Jeremy spat.

"Ah, temper temper, Mr. Jones, you've yet to let me finish." the scientist said mockingly, "You see, I've been working on something. A formula. Something to allow humanity to survive when the water levels go beyond. Something to make us more... water faring. You're only partly right about me involving animals in this, I'm actually studying certain traits in them, and the DNA sequencing for these features..."

Part 2 Coming Soon!