🎮 Episode 3 – “STRING AND STICK”

▶️ Episode THREE Now Streaming

The Polybius Protocol — a retro sci-fi horror podcastinspired by the infamous 1981 Portland arcade legend — has been recognized by the Austin Film Festival (2025) as a Second Rounder in their Fiction Podcast Screenplay category. Thank you, AFF, see you in Austin!

About the Series:
Blending analog horror, Cold War conspiracy, and psychological suspense, The Polybius Protocol explores what happens when humanity loses control of their technology, and must remember what their own creation has been forcing it to forget.

Episode 3 Summary
On her first day at a new middle school in 1980s Portland, young Liz Faire discovers her father — a military official working on a top-secret project — has forgotten her eighth birthday. That same day, she will celebrate her dubious date of birth by encountering the mind-controlling arcade game POLYBIUS.

Meanwhile, in the present day, Liz introduces us to the Men in Black: agents who investigate and suppress government-created anomalies such as Polybius. String and Stick, agents in the Portland area are called to a bizarre bank robbery involving a mannequin-human hybrid known as the Mannequin King —a living, real-world manifestation of the AI known as Polybius.

What is the Mannequin King trying to steal? And are String and Stick, descendants of the original test subjects, allies… or something else entirely?

This extended episode dives deeper into the Polybius legend in an extended episode rife with action, dark humor, and existential mystery. All hail the MANNEQUIN KING! All HAIL POLYBIUS!

🎧For fans of Archive 81, Welcome to Night Vale, and TheMagnus Archives.

TIYCwABSVDt12Gi2aAj3