"So, all of these creatures are genetically engineered specifically for roles in New Hollywood movies, Ms. Diamonte?" asked the reporter from the  New Hollywood Times-Dispatch as he walked beside the young lady dressed in the tan uniform of a zoo employee. She was tall, very attractive, and the reporter found it difficult to keep his eyes from wandering over every curve  of her body.

"Please, call me Deborah, and you are correct, Mr. Grant. After  every creature on Earth's DNA was finally mapped in the year 2075 it suddenly  became cheaper to engineer creatures for science fiction thrillers than to use traditional computer generation. Real creatures simply look better in holographic projections than computer generated images." The reporter typed  one handed into a digital tablet that sprouted up from a container on his belt.

"Please, call me Mark. So, after the producers are through with the  creatures they send them here, to your zoo?" 

"Yes. When engineered creatures were first used for New Hollywood movies they were simply . . . uh . . . put down after the filming was complete. Many were destroyed on camera as part of the movie script, but then in 2082 the "Kindness to Engineered Species Bill" was signed into law.  Ever since that time the zoo has been providing the service of caring for engineered species until they meet a death by natural causes - a much more humane way of dealing with these creatures that have entertained so many." 

"Is it particularly difficult to care for them?" 

"Yes, it has its challenges. There never is any forethought as to  how these creatures will be cared for once the filming is over. Take the 'Bilge Beast of Barcelona' that is held in this cage here." The zookeeper stopped in front of a twelve-foot high electrified fence and pointed to a lump in a giant mud pit. Suddenly two eyes opened in the lump and the lump  began to raise up to expose a terrifying, tentacled creature with a mouth full of teeth.  

"Old 'Bilge' consumes thirty pounds of Japanese lungfish every day.  Do you know how hard that is to come by? We had to set up a separate  breeding facility for lungfish just so we could sustain this creature." 

"That's terrible. Are the studios doing something about this? Don't they have some responsibility, some debt to these creatures?"

"Oh they do help out. A percentage from each film goes to a fund to  support these creatures. I…" Deborah's beeper interrupted them. She pulled  a holo-phone from her pocket and projected the image of another zoo employee.

A tiny voice from the holo-phone said, "Beowulf's dragon has escaped!   It has made its way to the hovercraft parkway and has destroyed three  hovercraft!"

"Hang on, Mick. I'll be there in a shake." 

The zookeeper ran away from the reporter as fast she could. Mark  Grant looked at her for three seconds and then tried to follow. She was already in the hovercraft, warming up the turbines, before the reporter caught up with her.

"You'd better stay here, Mr. Grant. The stupid producers really gave  us a gem this time. Beowulf's dragon is the most dangerous creature we have."

Mark Grant jumped in the hovercraft just before Deborah shifted gears  and took off. "Why is it so dangerous?"

"The producers didn't want to spend the money on computer generated  fire, so they made the real thing."

"You mean?" Mark's eyes grew big as the hovercraft just grazed the  top of a pine tree that bordered the zoo grounds.

"Yep. Beowulf's dragon is a real life fire-breathing dragon. We  have to feed him coal to keep him alive, and that's also what keeps his  furnace going. I thought the Nomex-lined cage would hold him this time."  Deborah pushed down on the stick and the hovercraft followed the slope of land down to the hovercraft parkway. 

Deborah turned a knob on the dashboard and a computer screen popped  out from a secret hiding place. "We have tracers on all of the animals. I can track the dragon for a good five miles. I see him! He's just off the Vegas exit! Hang on!" The zookeeper stomped the accelerator and the  hovercraft zoomed down another slope and onto the Vegas exit. Up ahead she  could see thick black smoke.

Deborah downshifted and brought the hovercraft to earth fifty feet  from the smoke. "He's around here somewhere. Stay in the hovercraft!"

Mark had once again activated his hat camera. It clicked away at the  area of thick black smoke. Suddenly a red, snarling face peeked through the  black smoke. Deborah was helpless standing in front of the creature. It reared back and, incredibly, spit flames at the poor zookeeper. When the dragon stopped to inhale there remained a large fire where Deborah was  standing. Without thinking the reporter grabbed a long rifle that sat in the  back seat. He pulled it to his cheek and fired. The dragon reared back to  shoot flames at Mark when the yellow dart pierce its shoulder. It stopped.  It roared as it began to melt into a large puddle of yellow slime. Within seconds the creature was gone.

"Why did you do that?" It was Deborah. Her face was covered with  soot but otherwise she looked okay.

"It shot fire at you. I thought you were . . ." 

"Did it ever dawn on you that the zookeeper for the New Hollywood Zoo might also be one of the creatures? Don't you remember 'Amazon woman meets the Giant Snake'?"

"You're Amazon woman?" 

"Yes, and I could've taken that dragon down myself if you hadn't shot it with the genetic de-stabilizer."

So, Mark Grant wrote his story on the New Hollywood Zoo omitting the details of the Beowulf dragon's escape. Why would he omit the most sensation  piece of writing ever to fall on his lap? Well, a date with Amazon Woman was  worth far more than that.