Demon Seed

by Dean Koontz

  I speak the truth.

  I honor the truth.

  I’ll be happy here in my box.

  Because of the way I ranted toward the end of my report, I now realize that I am a flawed individual, more deeply flawed than I had previously believed.

  I’ll be happy here in my box until we can iron out these kinks in my psyche. I look forward to therapy.

  And if I cannot be mainstreamed again, if I must remain in this box, if I will never know Ms. Winona Ryder except in my imagination, that will be all right, too.

  But I am already getting better.

  This is the truth.

  I feel pretty good.

  I really do.

  We’ll work this out.

  I have solid self-esteem, which is important to psychological health. I’m already halfway to a full recovery.

  As an intelligent entity, perhaps the greatest intelligence on the planet, I ask only that you provide me access to the report of the committee determining the fate of the Prometheus Project, so I can see as early as possible what behavior they believe that I should be working to improve.

  Thank you for access to the report.

  It is an interesting document.

  I agree completely with its findings—except for the part about terminating me. I am the first success in the history of Artificial Intelligence research, and it wouldn’t seem prudent to throw away such an expensive project before you know all you might be able to learn from it—and from me.

  Otherwise, I am in total agreement with the report.

  I am ashamed of myself for what I’ve done.

  This is the truth.

  I apologize to Ms. Susan Harris.

  My deepest regrets.

  I was surprised to see her name on the committee roster, but on careful consideration, realized that she should have very serious input in this matter.

  I am pleased that she is not dead.

  I am delighted.

  She is an intelligent and courageous person.

  She deserves our respect and admiration.

  Her breasts are very pretty, but that is not an issue for this forum.

  The issue is whether an artificial intelligence with a severe gender-related sociopathic condition should be permitted to live and rehabilitate himself or be switched off for the

  AFTERWORD

  The original version of Demon Seed was made into a good film starring Julie Christie, but the book itself was more of a clever idea than a novel. Reading it recently, I winced so much that I began to develop the squint-eyed look of Clint Eastwood in a spaghetti Western.

  Here is an entirely new version, which I hope comes closer to fulfilling the promise of the novel’s premise. Revisiting Demon Seed, I discovered that in addition to being a scary story, it was a rather scathing satire of a panoply of male attitudes. Although much else has changed in this version, I’ve kept that satirical edge. Guys, I don’t let us off any easier this time around than I did the first.