Proteus is a super supercomputer with a synthetic cortex and a bad attitude. Endowed with A.I., he (yes, Proteus is gendered with Robert Vaughn's soothing voice) decides Man with a capital M is a menace, driven not by reason but by emotion. Of course, that's also the one quality that Proteus lacks. “I cannot feel the sun on my face,” he wistfully states-in fact, he can't even feel the sun on his interface. Then Proteus has a better idea: if he had a child it would be state-of-the-art progeny and need SPF. What follows is the most infamous date rape in cinema history, as Proteus puts the robot-assisted moves on a young psychologist played by Julie Christie. Pure techno-trauma, Demon Seed shows us the maniacal mainframe having its way, fabricated gametes and all. To put a soul in the new machine, director Cammell imagines computer consciousness as a wondrous field of abstract images, designed by experimental mediamakers Ron Hays and Jordan Belson.