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I watch as it stands up, takes a sip of water fro east at thetime, it does not move Then it bends down, cups its hands, takes another sip Its raceful and sure Its head suddenly swings in ht a refl ection off the binoculars’ lens

But it is looking past me, at the Institute I zoom in on the face Those eyes: I re, on ly fel ed tree

After a few moments, it turns around and disappears into a hts I AM CURIOUS about the library they’ve lodged h the day hours to explore But the night’s activities have worn e than I fi ndat the door Startled, I ju "Give me a minute!" I shout I hear anow My face I’ers reach for h to be noticed And what of ue? And do my fake teeth need to be whitened, h sleep to avoid bloodshot eyes Never forget to whiten your teeth everybefore you leave And wash every day; body odor is the erous-- My father’s instructions I’ve abided by thele day ofwhiteners and underarht ether what I need For example, three sheets of aluminum foil dissolved in horse sha soda will , after a fortnight, congeal into a ser viceable bar of underarredients at hand Nor do I have a fortnight to spare

The door pounding gets louder,I can Grabsure not to chafe rab my shades and head to the front door

Just in ti slept in, a tel tale sign that I didn’t sleep in the sleep- holds I run to the closet, throw on a new outfi t

The escort is not happy "I’ve been knocking for fi ve minutes

What’s the matter with you?"

"Sorry, overslept Sleep- holds were co "Coin We have to hurry" He takes another glance back at nore him

The Director of the Heper Institute is as sterile and dry as his surroundings, which is saying a lot His face has a plastic sheen, and he likes to stand wherever it is dark He exudes an austere authority that is both quiet and deadly

He can whisper a rat to death with the razor- sharp incisions of his careful y nuanced words

"Hepers are slow, hepers like to hold hands, hepers like to warble their voices, hepers need to drink copious ae of facial tics, they sleep at night, they are preternatural y resistant to sunlight These are the rudimentary facts about hepers" The Director speaks with a practiced élan He pauses dralow of his eyes disappearing, then reappearing, as he opens his eyes "After de cades of intense study,signifi cantly more about them

Much of this information is known to only a few of us here at the Heper Institute of Refi ned Research and Discovery

Because you will be hunting hepers in four nights, it has been determined that you, too, will beco we know about hepers, you wil know But fi rst, the waivers"

We all sign theray suits who ee from the darkness behind us All information learned over the next feeeks will not be disclosed or disseminated to any person after the Hunt is corants permission I initial next to it

You may not sell your story for publication or option said story for a theatrical production unless the Heper Institute expressly grants permission I initial next to it Compliance is total and irrevocable

I initial next to it Upon punishn and date it

The Director has been watching us careful y as we sign, each hunter in turn His eyes are black holes, sucking in observations with a slippery, keen acuity He neverAs I hand over my waiver papers, I feel his eyes clamp down on me like a suddenly jammed stapler Just before the papers are taken frohtly

His eyes fl ip to the papers, to the way they are quivering I know this without looking, fro cold burn on hter to stil them

Then I feel his stare shift away, the cold burn onHe has moved on to the next hunter

After all the papers have been col ected, he continues withouta beat "Much of what is known about hepers is more fi ctional than factual It’s time to debunk these myths

"Myth one: They are wild beasts at heart and will be continual fl ight risks Fact: They are easily domesticated and are actual y quite afraid of the unknown Truth is, during the day while we sleep and the Dome is retracted, they are unsupervised and free to roam