The little blue beetle in this reminded me of Jurassic Park, and the famous 'life finds a way' quote, it works so well weaved into the story.

I really like how you have set this up, a story of two halves. The reporter who won't get to publish the real story, investigating it anyway - between the publicity shots. You establish so much world in your opening, and it is such a complete one at that, the bureaucracy of an established system, the greed and shortsightedness of man giving way to reflection and regret with age, and the desire to put right the follies of youth, I love how much you just drop in there, 'Asteroid Casinos', it really helps make this. You set the scene perfectly for the second half, Marcus's determination and dedication that carries him through to his role as custodian, the stark reality of his situation, so brilliantly highlighted by the difference in his real appearance and how he appeared in his publicity shots. And then the isolation! The time he spends in the forest, the build of suspense and tension, the edging in of fear tinged with wonder. This bit is brilliant, the blurred line between delusion and the forest coming to life, has he been there so long he can hear it's heart beat? Or has he encountered something that is causing him to hallucinate? There is a sense of fear that both builds and subsides in the appearance of the impossible girl. The cut to someone reading the log, and the pizza boy, gives a more foreboding sense of what may have happened to Marcus. I wonder, has that little bug travelled to the exact right place, it feels like it could be an agent of the forest, finally able to get to the other side of the cameras. Although on a human level this feels like a story of two halves in one way, in another it doesn't, for it feels more like the story of the forest, told through the trees, and through the tenacity of a single blue beetle <3