I was cut mid sentence by the beeping of my Personal Computation Device. "Codex" had somehow opened itself again, and words and phrases and letters and numbers and pictures began to flash across the screen.

"You need to leave for a second," I told my mate, pointing to the door. "I need to be alone, something is wrong with my PCD." 

"Why must I leave?" She questioned. The one thing about her personality that I hated was her natural inquisitiveness. It was the one attribute which almost prevented our Binding. She was always prying into my personal business, and it was due to this that she had previously found that I had not been working on earning more credits to move to the next phase.

Out of nowhere, memories of an unknown person assaulted me. I nearly fell to the floor, and I clutched at my head, random pictures and scenes of unknown vistas wracking my mind.

"Mathilda," I heard myself say in a different voice. It was an odd word that I had never seen, heard, or read before, and I heard her reel back as a different word fell from my mouth. "Frankenstein."

"Mathilda? Who is that? And what in the world is going on with your PCD?" It seemed as if a minor case of paranoia was setting in on her. Jealous and inquisitive as ever, she prodded once more.  "Who is Mathilda? Are you Bound to another beside me? Are you a hack?"

"No," I stated after a second, thankful that my diction was my own once again as well as my voice. "I...I don't know what overcame me there. I promise that I am Bound only to you and that nothing is going on with my PCD. It must be a virus or something."

She stepped back, horrified. "You know what the viruses do now. They can...kill. I must contact our elder or even the Tribunal! They must know immediately!"

I waved my arm, stopping her. "Do nothing of the sort. I was hasty in my word choice, for it may not be a virus. As I said before, give me a few minutes to work on this to see what the problem truly is. If it is actually a virus, I will alert you so that you can report it immediately."

Satisfied, she walked away. "Now what do we have here," I said to my monitor under my breath, truly confused. I attempted to close Codex, but it would not respond to my commands. Some of the flashing symbols began to slow and stop, and I realized that it was looking up information on this certain "Mary Shelley" that I had used to earn credits off of.

"What is--" I fell to the floor, this time clutching my chest. I felt pain as more of the images suppressed my normal stream of thinking, and was about to blackout when I heard a new voice speaking in the room. The pictures in my head began to slow and then stopped with alarming speed, focusing on the face of a woman before fading seconds later.

"Hello," it said. I quickly glanced around my room. The door was still shut from when my mate had left, and nobody else had entered. 

"Hello," the voice said again. "You know who I am."

I stood up slowly, using the wall as an aid. As I straightened out and regained equilibrium, the power to the room went out, bathing everything in pitch black. Everything that is, except for my personal computation device.

I reached for my chair and sat down as I faced my PCD. I almost fell from the chair once more when I stared into the face of a woman, or more appropriately, millions of pictures and letters and words and phrases composing the face of a woman.

"Yes," she mouthed and "yes" I heard. I was completely flummoxed at my current situation; as she spoke I began to question the validity of my recently acquired program, Codex.

"You know who I am. You are using me to go to the next phase, and I do not think that I will allow that," she said, glaring at me. I became frightened when I realized what was happening.

I was facing Mary Shelley on my own PCD, and she was taking control of my entire cell.

"Try this," Mary said, voice full of mirth. A scene appeared before me, and before I knew it, I was living as a seven year old girl, enjoying her birthday. I was about to blow out the candles when I was brought back into reality, and my mind swirled as I stared back into the immobile face of Mary Shelley.

"I am willing to bet that you enjoyed that," she continued, her face warming up. It darkened in a heartbeat and she was almost wailing. "Well try this one!" she cried.

My mind was flooded with images until it stopped on that of a car. My point of view was moved to that of the driver, and when I looked ahead, I was frozen with fear. A large vehicle was coming straight for me, and it appeared as if neither was going to change their course...

"STOP!" I screamed at Mary. A quiet laugh greeted me in return.

The vehicle grew closer. I heard a pounding at the door and the muffled voice of my mate attempting to break into the room.

"Oh dear, I must end this prematurely," Mary stated, pulling me back into the room. I was covered in a cold sweat, and my breath was labored. Thoughts of what Codex meant were on the edge of my mind, but I could not remember for the life of me what it was.

"Thank you for releasing me," Mary said. "I hope you have fun inside of Codex longer than I did." Her voice changed, as if she were about to cry.

"I was locked in there for over four hundred years, alone, sad, miserable..." Her voice faded.

"BUT NOW," she screamed, "I AM BOUND NO LONGER TO WATCHING OTHERS, HOPING TO LIVE AGAIN!"

The lights came back on, and I heard my mate begin to pound more furiously on the door.

"Good bye," Mary said, regaining composure. "Codex is my durance no longer."

The monitor and her face began to flicker, and I finally recalled what Codex was. As I felt my mind begin to leave my body and head toward my PCD, I allowed a smile. Codex was a program in which memories, feelings, and lives could be stored. Mary Shelley was now taking control of my body. 

I cursed my own ignorance and impulsiveness. I also cursed the elders for requesting Manuscripts at such short intervals. And finally I cursed Mary Shelley, for living at one point.

It felt odd when my mind passed into the monitor, and it was an odder feeling to look out at my old room. The voices of other, older people from distant time and fame unknown were unnerving.

The image that was last etched into my memory before the monitor died was that of my old body, no longer in my possession, standing up and embracing my Bound mate.