Affectionately called Cricket for the clicks and chirps she made while daydreaming, Kate Shreeve spent a blissful childhood helping her parents conduct acoustic experiments in the Restless Zones. When a roaring monsoon took their lives, Kate returned home, but silent school hallways and city noise paled beside her memories of adventure. The world was calling! She switched to remote coursework, joined Overworld News, and heeded that call.

Her instincts were sharp; no story evaded her. With her parents' gear amplifying her hearing, she mapped the world in sounds: waves dragging away sand; birdsong gone quiet; the pulse of a lie. All she had to do was close her eyes, and listen.