Reverse Playback - Lucy Hernandez

Rachel Garrison lives her life through high-end studio headphones. As lead sound designer for a high-stakes Seattle mobile gaming company, her world is measured in decibels, ambient tones, and brutal production deadlines. But during a late-night pass on a seemingly clean audio track recorded in an empty booth, she catches something that chills her blood: the unmistakable rhythm of human breathing.

Ordered by her ruthless creative director to ignore the glitch and push the release forward, Rachel takes the raw sound files home to isolate the artifact. When she plays the track in reverse, the static dissolves into a distorted voice whispering in the dark.

The voice knows the precise layout of her apartment. It recites the exact minute she leaves for work each morning. And it is tracking her every step.

Teaming up with an uneasy network technician and a battle-scarred private investigator, Rachel uncovers a malicious surveillance backdoor embedded within the game-designed to exploit millions of unsuspecting users upon launch. But with launch night looming and her allies disappearing, Rachel realizes the broadcast is already live, and the ultimate predator is waiting in the booth.