"I'm sorry, viewer." "The TV show you're searching for cannot be streamed in your reality." "Please stand by for reconnection." "In the darkest depth of cyberspace, there is another world." "A lost dimension, home to wonders unseen, terrors unspeakable." "Stories unlike any ever told until now." "Do not click back." "Do not reload." "We have reconnected to..." "Dimension 404." "Life is a lot like Frogger." "Chaos surrounds us and death is everywhere you look." "To survive in Frogger and in life, you have to obey two simple rules." "Keep thy..." "Hey, what are you doing in there?" "Uh... nothing?" "Well, shake a leg." "You're gonna be late for church." "To survive in Frogger, and in life, you have to obey two simple rules." "Keep thy head down." "Run like hell." "On the highway of life, every second can be your last." "If you wanna make it across the road, you have to see trouble coming and avoid it at all costs." "Hesitate and you're dead." "Stop and smell the roses... bam." "You're pushing daisies, pal." "Don't be a hero, don't show off, just follow the arcade commandments." "And above all else, try not to get eaten." "You're really good." "Oh, uh... yep." "Think you'll get a high score?" "I'm actually trying for a kill screen." "Oh." "What's a kill screen?" "It's when you get a score so high, it crashes the game." "I'm really close to getting one, so..." "Wilma, I think this game's busted." "It ate my quarter." "No quarters... hit the bricks!" "Oh, man, this place sucks." "Hey, you go to Jefferson." "I've seen you at the bike racks." "I just moved here." "Do you wanna be friends?" "Mom says I have to try to make friends this time." "I'm Amy." "Amy, I really need to focus here." "Hey, Wilma, I am so sorry that I'm late." "Wow, that guy is hot." "Huh?" " Oh!" " Did you get it?" "Did you kill the screen?" "Huh, he wishes." "Can smell that pizza now, Myers." "Is that, uh, pepperoni or fine Italian sausage?" "In your dreams." "Free pizza?" "Only if he gets the kill screen before I do." "Oh, well, now you're both in trouble." "Hey, you're welcome for your mail, by the way." "Mail?" "You get your mail delivered to the arcade?" "You do when your parents think that video games are the devil." "If anybody asks," " he's at Bible study right now." " Oh!" "Oh my God." " What, is that it?" " Bits 'N Blips." "Well, go on, man, open it!" ""Dear Andrew." ""Thank you for your recent submission," ""'Conquering Centipede in 100 Simple Steps.'"" ""We found your writing to be both informative and enjoyable."" "See, dude?" "I told you they'd like it." ""Unfortunately, as Centipede is an older title,"" "blah, blah, blah," ""write about a newer game if you ever want to get published."" "You shoulda wrote about Millipede." "That game rocks." "I'm... sorry, who are you?" " I'm Amy." " Jess." "Bad news, Amy." "This is the only arcade in town, and this place is in the middle of nowhere." "We never get any new games." "Come on, buddy, it's not that bad." "I'm sure you'll find a way out someday." "It's official." " I'm going to die in Beaverton." " Okay, that is not true." "One day, I'm going to be able to tell every single kid that comes in here that I was once best buds with the great video game journalist" "Andrew Myers." "Thanks." "Hey, what are you..." "For my scrapbook." "You guys wanna play another round?" "I should probably go." "I'm out of quarters anyway." "You're out of quarters, then..." "I know, the bricks." "I'll catch you guys later... if I live that long." "What's this?" "Huh?" "Poly-bee-us." "Poly-buy-us?" "Weird." "Hey, Wilma." " How long have we had this?" " Get back to work." "I mean, if it were new, we would have heard about a release or something, right?" "There's always ads, previews, and junk." "I bet it's a beta." "A what now?" "When they make a new game, sometimes they place a prototype into the wild, you know, see what the kids think." "They call it a beta." "A game so new it's not even out yet." "Bits 'N Blips'll flip!" "I'd watch out for that thing." "Why is that?" "It ate my quarter." "If you aren't careful, it'll eat yours too." "Scram, kid." " You'll be sorry!" " Jess!" "Ah... well, I gotta get back to fixing the Robotron machine, but I'll catch you guys later, okay?" "Welcome... to 1984-04." "If you're jonesing for a rose-colored ride down memory lane, well, you're in the wrong dimension." "Because tonight, the nerd doesn't get the girl." "The bully doesn't get what's coming to him." "Tonight, a kid living life on hard mode tries to survive it..." " one quarter at a time - _ and discovers the things in life... no man can escape." "Heads up, freshman." "What his heart wants, what his mind fears," " and whatever the hell..." " _ is in Polybius." "Hey, swimming laps today, ladies." "And no one dips a toe in my pool without showering' off first." "So get stripped and start scrubbing'." " Whoo!" " Hey!" "No, none of that homo stuff." "Man, why is it these jerks are at the top of the food chain?" "Keep your head down and keep moving." "We'll make it out the other side." "Screw that, man, I'm takin' a shower." "Dude, are you crazy?" "They can't kick all our asses." "Freshmen..." "What do we have here, huh?" "You wanna shower with the big boys, Dennis?" "Huh?" "You know what, faggot?" "You just won yourself a visit from the magic finger." "No, you're just messin', right, man?" "Here's the deal." "You can beat me up, but don't give me the finger." "What's the matter?" "You afraid you're gonna like it?" "You can stay and play too, nerd." " Uh..." " Please, don't leave." "I'm sorry, man." "Now, can I get a drum roll, please?" " 'Kay, me first!" " Nope, sorry." "Quarter." "All right, Bits 'N Blips." "Here I come." "No... no, come on." "No, it's broken." " Oh, okay." " There it goes." "Run!" "Oh, a maze game." "Okay." "Is that all you do is wander around?" "Real scary." "Your souls are mine." "What is that?" "He's getting faster." " He's gaining." " There's no exit." "This is weird." "You just rack up points until you die." "Let me try again." "You're just wasting your quarters." "Hold on, I got this." "Come on." "Run!" "Kill Screen?" "Kill Screen..." "Your souls are mine." "Hey Myers." "Hey Dennis!" " Are you okay?" " Take a wild guess." "What was I supposed to do?" "Are you okay?" "What is your problem?" "You should have run." "Running would have been a picnic compared to what I'm gonna do to you." "Hey." "You get out now." "Okay." "I'll see you in gym class, dweeb." "Hey." "You okay, man?" "You okay?" "_" "_" "I'm fine." "I gotta go." "Andrew, wait!" "Andrew." "The parents of a high school boy were shocked by the mysterious death of their 14-year-old son, found deceased early this morning." "Melvin Raimi of Jefferson High was discovered in the basement of his parents' Beaverton Court home." "No details as to the cause of death have been released at this time." "A source close to the family detailed the scene as "beyond description."" "More on this tragic incident, soon." " Ew!" " I have a surprise for that barf bag... where's his locker?" "No, Amy, please just..." "leave it alone, okay?" "No way, after what he did?" "You don't know the whole story." "Andrew, he called you... an F-A-G." "You don't call people that, it's mean." " Especially if they're..." " Especially if they're what?" "If they're... different." "Listen." "Where are you from, again?" "San Diego." "Well, originally Boston by way of Chattanooga..." "Okay, well, you're in Beaverton now, right, and being different in Beaverton gets you killed." "Believe it or not, Kill Screen," "I kinda know a lot about being different." "I'm just saying we're friends now, you can talk to me, even share secrets." "Look, you don't even know me, okay?" "You don't know the first thing about me." " But..." " I'm not different." "You're not my friend." "Keep your head down, keep to yourself, and if someone calls me an F-A-G, do us both a favor and leave me the hell alone." "_" "What's going on in there?" "Just saying my prayers." "Well, it's bedtime, get to sleep." "Yes sir, goodnight." "Dad?" "Hello?" "Hey, Myers." "See you in gym class, dweeb." "All right, everyone, quit your dilly-dallying." "Get in the showers." "Oh, um..." "I... just, uh, freshening up, um, I..." "Shower." "Yeah." " Shower" " Yeah." "Hop in, frosh." "Water's fine." "Myers, don't leave me, Myers." "_" "Excuse me, Detective?" "I think I might know something about what's happened." "Tell us what you know, son." "Okay, well... this is gonna sound weird, but there's a strange video game at Wilma's Arcade." "It's called Polybius, it might be a beta, that's besides the point, um..." "Look, there's this weird symbol, right?" "And... the nightmares, uh..." "Okay, just lemme back up." "There's this monster, see..." "Slow down." "What's your name?" "Um, Andrew Myers." "Well, Andrew Myers," "I'm gonna make you my junior detective, okay?" "Take this notebook, write down all your scary video game nightmares into that book, then you hand it to Mee-Maw and Paw-Paw and you let them handle it." "I'm not making any of this up." "Myers, come on, let's go." " It's a crime scene, okay?" " Go on, buddy." " God." " Run on home now." "Excuse me." "Did I hear that right?" "Did you play a game called Polybius?" "You gonna make fun of me too?" "Who else have you told?" "Just him, and now you, I guess." "Do you know anyone else that's played the game?" "What's going on?" "Why don't you come with me, Andrew, and we'll talk about Polybius." "Who are you?" "You... obviously like video games, right?" "Well, we've got all the best ones." "Pac-Man, Missile Attack, Mr. Frog." "Maybe even a few you've never heard of." "Come with me." "I've got a whole roll of quarters in the car." "_" "_" "_" "_" "_" "Bedtime, buddy." " Say your prayers and hit the hay." " Okay." "I don't hear you praying." "Now I lay me down to sleep," "I pray the Lord my soul to keep." "If I die before I wake, I pray the Lord... my soul to take." "It appears the case is an isolated incident and has no connection with the discovery of Melvin Raimi, found deceased earlier this morning." "Authorities are urging witnesses or anyone with knowledge of the crime to come forth and contact the county sheriff's department." "Now, on to Sports." "Quittin' time, Amy." "Oh, come on, just one more!" "All righty, Amy, come on." " Okay, okay... wait a second." " Come on, it's time to go." "Hey." "Um, sir?" "I'm sorry, but we're closed." "Andrew?" "It's not just a game." "Andrew, that's just... it's just crazy, man." "Is it?" "Jesus, you too?" "I was trying to knock F-A-G off the high-score board." "I played last night till I ran out of quarters, had a bad dream, and I woke up, and this was on my tummy, I..." "I thought it was a rash." "I get those." "In the shape of the symbol from the game?" "Come on." "No, it's gotta be just a coincidence, man." "What about the guy in the suit?" "Probably a child molester." "That's a relief." "What are you trying to say, man, that... that these guys are going after and killing everyone that's played the game?" "What I'm trying to say is," "I think it is the game." "In the Revelations of Ezekiel, one of the lost books of the Bible, there's a story about an angel named Polybius." "He was like a heavenly muse." "He inspired artists to create works of beauty in the Lord's name." "Songs, paintings, stuff like that." "But God got all the credit for the work." "So one day, a jealous Polybius inspired someone to do a painting on him instead." "When God found out," "He branded him with the mark of death and cast him out." "That's just crazy, man." "According to lore, he's still out there, wandering the fiery maze of hell for all of eternity." "His only remaining power is to possess the artists of Earth." "Here, listen." ""And woe be to all who listen." ""The foul works made in his name," ""for by night, Polybius shall brand their flesh" ""and cast their souls into hell."" "Polybius is real." "Okay, somehow, that thing got into the game, and we played it, right?" "So we're marked." "We've been cursed." "Tonight, he'll come for us and try to claim our souls." "I mean, that's just stupid." "The marks, the monster, "your souls are mine"?" "Hell, even that guy, the... child molester!" "He kept talking about video games like he knows something." "It's stupid, it's clearly a government experiment." "And that's impossible." " Makes more sense than demons." " Guys?" " It's just, it's..." " It's..." "It's alive." "Oh my God." "Look, there's obviously something strange going on in Beaverton." "I think the bodies of Dennis and Headgear Kid prove that much." "If I'm right and it is this game, we need to figure out where it came from and get some answers." "And what if we can't?" "Then we might not make it through the night." "But if that's the case, we do what I always do." "We run like hell." "Your souls are mine!" "All right, I'm gonna go check Wilma's back office, see if I can dig anything up on this thing." "I'll start with Bits 'N Blips." "Just see if you can find any mention of Polybius." "So... crazy day, huh?" "Yeah." "Hey, and about this morning," "I'm sorry, I was being a huge jerk." "I was being nosy." "I kind of have a problem with that, so." "I'm sorry I lashed out." "Cool beans?" "Cool beans." "Hand hug!" "For what it's worth, though..." "I think you guys would make a really cute couple." "I don't..." "I don't know what you're talking about." "Okay then." "You think that he might be..." "Have you asked him?" "Of course not!" "I don't..." "He sorts your mail, Andrew." "Maybe you should go see if he needs some... help?" "Yeah, go see if he needs some..." "All right." "Yeah." "Scream if you need me." "Hey, Jess!" "Jess?" "Jess?" "Jess!" "Jess, is that you?" "Wilma!" "Hey." "She's sleeping." "What... what are you doing?" "Wilma keeps everything in here." "So if we can trace the cabinet back to a name or an address, then..." " Why don't we just ask her?" " No, no, no!" "Trust me." "You do not want to wake that woman up." "Come on, help me look." "Did you know Wilma ran a laundrymat in Austin?" "Portland, Albuquerque, Detroit... man." "She's been everywhere." "Makes you wonder how she ended up in a dump like this." "If I actually die in Beaverton..." "Okay, dude; we get it." "Beaverton blows." "Listen, I'm not trying to say that I like this town any more than you, but... instead of wanting to be somewhere else all the time, why don't you just try being here?" "What's so great about being here?" "I don't know, your friends?" "Amy?" "Me?" "Look, I'm not bound for greatness, like you." "'Kay, I'm a D-student on a good day at best." " Jess..." " But the point is," "I don't let it anchor me down." "I live life in the moment, you know?" "That's very Yoda of you." "Try it sometime, you should!" "Whoa!" " What are you doing?" " I..." "Living in the moment?" "Look, I'm sorry, dude, I just thought that..." "You... you thought what?" "Psst!" "You guys!" "Damn!" "That's the guy!" "He must have followed me from school." "We should bail." "And go where?" "It's not like we actually still know what's goin' on." "That guy knows something." "I bet my allowance on it." "Why don't you walk up and ask?" "Can I ask you a few questions?" "Hm." "I can't believe that actually worked." "No wallet, no ID, nothing." "He's a spy." "See if he has fingerprints." "He has fingerprints, Amy." "Switch to decaf." "Hey, guys, look what I found in this trunk." " Put that down!" " It all makes sense." "This is some Black Ops MKUltra thing." "What are you talking about?" "The CIA mind control program?" "They gave people LSD and filmed them dorking hookers and stuff." "You're saying the CIA or the MKUltrons or whoever made a mind-controlling video game that kills people and they left it here at Wilma's." "In Beaverton." "You should run, children." "It won't save you, but it might just buy you some time." "It's the game, right?" "How do we stop it?" "No, that's not how this is played." "You're already dead." "There has to be a way." "If there is, let me know." "I'll put it in my report." "Oh, my..." "Guys, you're gonna want to look at this." "Look here." "Sunnyvale, California, summer 1978." "17 were found dead at Sinnesloschen Software." ""Documents recovered at the scene reference 2a new game prototype, Polybius."" "July 1979." "It was found at a movie theater in Colorado Springs." "Eight confirmed dead." "Then in a laundrymat in Seattle, 1982." ""Agency commences Level 5 blackout."" "Oh my God." "He doesn't even know what it is." "He's just cleaning up its mess, sweeping it under the rug." "Why are you doing this?" "Because some things are beyond comprehension." "They cannot be stopped nor controlled." "The only way people can sleep at night... is if they can pretend they didn't exist." "My colleagues and I... facilitate this process... by any means necessary." "Well, if they didn't build it, then who did?" "No way." "Now, will you let me go..." "Our souls are his." "Now you... sit." "Wilma, please, just put..." "Shut up!" "He'll be here soon." "I can't let you leave." "If I let you leave, he comes..." "Who?" "Who's coming?" "It's not my fault." "It's just a game." "How was I supposed to know it was gonna hurt people?" "Wilma, please, you don't have to..." "You were there, at Sinnesloschen." "You helped them create the game, didn't you?" "Back in 1978." "I was the best programmer they had in that shithole of a place." "You've heard of Rabbit Run?" "That was mine." "Xenoblaster too." "Did I get any credit, no." "Sometimes, ideas just pop into your head." "They come from someplace, some... other dimension." "A little voice whispered in my ear." "Polybius." "It used me to make itself." "I just set it free." "And now what?" "You're feeding it." "Sunnyvale, Portland?" "You take it from place to place so it can kill." "I'm sorry." "I really am." "But I've seen what he does to people and I'm not gonna let that happen to me." "We have an understanding." "You're a real bitch, lady." "Come to me." " No!" " He's here." "My baby." "No!" "No!" "No!" "Leave my friend alone, you ugly piece of..." "No, Amy, no!" "No!" "No, Amy!" "Hey, asshole!" " Amy!" " Come on!" " Amy!" " Come on, we have to go!" "She's gone!" " Amy!" " Andrew, we gotta go!" "She's gone, let's go!" " Amy!" " Let's go!" "Come on, go, go!" " Jess, Jess!" " Come on, let's go!" "Go where?" "As far away from that thing as we can get." "It's just gonna catch up to us." "Well, then we'll go somewhere else." "I can't, Jess, I'm done running." "Well, then you're gonna end up just like Amy." "We are like Amy." "She's dead, Jess." "And so is the next poor chump in the next hick town that Wilma goes to, unless we put a stop to it." " But it's suicide, man!" " We're dead either way." "You're right." "Live in the moment, it's what you said." "This moment, Jess." "Together, we can." "If you wanna get yourself killed, then go right ahead." "But you're on your own." "I love you, Jess." "And I know you don't feel the same way about me and that's fine." "But I'm tired of hiding." "From who I am, from everything." "I don't know what's gonna happen when I go back in there, but whatever it is, it's better than what I've been living." "Please don't make me face it alone." "I'm sorry." "Jess!" "I'm in the game." "Okay, let's get this over with." "Your souls are mine." "Jess!" " You came back." " I thought about what you said, okay?" "You were right." "You gotta live in the moment, man, I'm through running." "I'm through with..." "Holy shit, it's the monster, man!" "Yeah, no shit, dude, did you come with a plan?" "Not exactly." "Well, the cabinet's indestructible, we've gotta find another way." "You better think fast, any bright ideas?" "_" "No, but I just came up with a really stupid one." "We don't destroy the cabinet, we destroy the game." "Rack up enough points, crash the program, a kill screen." "Quarters, I need quarters, come on!" "It's my last one." "Make it count." "Hey, ugly!" "Come and get me." "Run!" "Come on!" "Come get some!" "Over here!" "Come on, man!" "Shit, no, no, no, no, no." "No!" "No, no, no!" "_" "No!" "No!" "Andrew!" "Andrew, he's coming for you!" "Yes, yes, come on!" "No!" "Amy!" "Hit the bricks, Wilma." "_" "Oh, oh, oh." "You okay?" "Yeah." "Let's get the hell outta here." "Geez, the way you dips are acting, you'd think I died or something." "You know what?" "Lemme guess:" "Beaverton sucks." "I was actually gonna say it's growing on me." "Do you guys wanna play some video games?" " No!" " No!" " You sure?" " Yes!" ""Polybius." ""A review by Andrew Myers." ""Life is a lot like maze games." ""They're cruel, they're hard..." ""and no matter what, you die." ""Now, given all that, you have two basic options." ""You can live in fear, hide in the shadows, and die anyway," ""or you can stop trying to survive your life" ""and start trying to live it." ""It's not the easier choice," ""especially if being yourself means being different." ""But it's worth it." ""In your darkest moments, when you're most afraid," ""just remember the two commandments." ""Keep thy chin up," ""and fight like hell.""