Episode 4: Welcome to the 21st Century
The city of Townsville: Home to some of the country's most gifted scientists! Although most use their knowledge for the good of the world, (like Professor Utonium) others use it for all the wrong reasons. (cough! Mojo Jojo-cough!) Still, there's no denying the vast amount of knowledge they hold. Others, well, let's just say they haven't gotten the hang of all the constant changing of technology.
Just as the Powerpuff Girls were returning home from school on that Tuesday afternoon, while the Professor was reading a book in his living room, the Powerpuff Hotline suddenly rang through the house. Prof. Utonium rushed to the table where the phone was located; he picked it up and answered,
"Yes, Mayor? What's going on?" the Mayor paused before answering,
"Ahem! Uh, listen, this is a little embarrassing for me to talk about..."
"No, no, it's fine,"
"Well..." the Mayor sighed, "I decided it was high time I got myself one of those newfangled phones, but, I just can't figure out how to use it."
"Oh, that's too bad..." the Professor murmured,
"The employees I bought it from did the best they could, and then Ms. Bellum tried to help me; of course, my wife has no idea how to handle it... I feel really old now, it's like whatever anyone tries to teach me these days goes in one ear and out the other..." the Mayor went on, "So, Utonium: I want you to come over to City Hall so you can try to teach this old dog here one last trick, I'll pay you if you want..."
The Professor didn't hesitate to accept,
"You don't have to pay a thing! I'd be glad to help you out, once the girls come home from school, I'll be on my way." Utonium hung up, and the Powerpuff Girls came inside the house. "Girls, we're going to City Hall," the Professor informed his daughters.
"Is it serious?" Blossom asked,
"Far from it, the Mayor just called and asked me to help him get more in touch with the modern age." the sisters looked at each other, then back to their father, and shrugged. The family drove into Townsville and parked in front of City Hall, where the Mayor's secretary, Ms. Bellum, was waiting.
"You're his last hope, just so you know," Ms. Bellum whispered to the Professor as they went up the stairs. In his office, the Mayor sat at his desk, gripping his new phone in his hands. Utonium walked up to him and pulled out his own phone, which happened to be the same model. The Professor turned it on,
"Actually, I haven't updated it in a while," he said, "Don't worry, Mayor, it won't take long at all." The group waited as the Professor swiped the screen; then, they waited as his phone was updating everything, "Almost done..." Utonium murmured. But, when his phone was finished, an electronic, male voice spoke from it,
"Good afternoon, Professor Utonium, I'm known as ALFR, and I've been sent to you to act as an application for every device you own!" Instinctively, the Professor jolted and dropped his phone onto the floor. He, the Powerpuff Girls, the Mayor, and Ms. Bellum leaned over to look at the phone. On the screen, there was an image that looked like the silhouette of a man surrounded by a teal background.
The only distinguishable features on his face were white circles that were either meant to be blank eyes or glasses; the only other feature was a curved white line representing a smile. At the bottom of the screen was the text "ALFR" in all caps. The Professor picked up his phone and spoke into it,
"Um, I don't really know what to say..." ALFR laughed, the silhouette shifting around.
"I know, I know, I must really be creeping you out, aren't I?" Then, ALFR explained, "For starters, I'm a sentient version of that other application, what was her name? Sarah? I don't really care; one of my most useful features allows me to connect to any of your devices that enables Wi-Fi." The Professor chuckled nervously and looked back at at the Mayor and Ms. Bellum,
"I'm sorry," he apologized, "I really need to straighten things out with this thing..." the Mayor sighed, and replied,
"Go ahead. If I've been able to avoid using my phone for this long, I'm sure I can wait a little longer." The Utoniums left the office, Bubbles waving at the Mayor and his secretary as they went. As they stepped into the car, the last thing ALFR said before the Professor began driving was,
"I'll leave you alone for now, when we get back to your house I'd like to speak to you in your laboratory." the phone shut itself off. The Professor and the PPGs sat there, almost paralyzed to their seats,
"Maybe someone's trying to hack your data and steal your identity!" Blossom theorized,
"This is like something out of a scary movie," Bubbles remarked,
"I think this ALFR thing is a ghost haunting your phone..." Buttercup added. The Professor stared at his phone, shaking his head in disbelief. Finally, Utonium started up the car and drove back to the suburbs. When the Professor parked his car, he leaped out and hurriedly rushed into the house. The Powerpuff Girls and their father went down the stairs and into the lab located in the basement.
At first, nothing happened. But, one of the Professor's computers turned itself on, with ALFR's avatar taking up the entire screen; the family gasped and leaped back, huddling very close to each other. ALFR frowned, raising his arms to his chest,
"I'm sorry, did I scare you? But, it's really useful in an emergency, I must say...I'd better get explaining..." the Professor sat at the computer, his daughters peeking their heads out to look at the AI from behind the chair, "Just in case you haven't figured it out by now," ALFR began, "I am the world's first entirely sentient AI. That means I can feel and express every human emotion. I can be both a simple application for your phone, and a true friend!"
The Professor leaned back in his chair with a little smirk on his face,
"You sound pretty special," he remarked, "An AI like you would probably get a lot of publicity. So, why haven't I ever heard about you before?" ALFR raised an arm to his head, the white circles for eyes shutting,
"Honestly, I don't know," ALFR admitted, "I've looked at all the information about the corporation that's available, there's nothing anywhere that mentions me... When you updated your phone I woke up, and I figured I was somehow meant for you, and you only." The Professor sighed,
"My using you could be illegal." ALFR's avatar took on a horrified expression,
"No-I don't know! Just call the company and we'll sort this out!" the AI pleaded, "I want you to give me a chance!" The Professor closed his eyes, thinking; he felt a small tug on his coat, and he looked down to see Bubbles,
"Um, Professor, I like ALFR, he seems really nice!" she giggled. Blossom and Buttercup emerged from behind the chair, nodding in agreement. The silence was shattered when the Powerpuff Hotline began to ring from upstairs. Buttercup left the basement to answer the phone; several minutes later, she came back downstairs,
"It's just another monster attacking Townsville," Buttercup sounded a little disappointed. In the blink of an eye, ALFR disappeared from the computer screen, reappearing on the Professor's phone,
"Maybe I can be of some service?" ALFR's avatar grinned. The Professor didn't say anything, and as the Powerpuff Girls flew from the house, he and ALFR followed them by car. A 50-foot or so monster that looked like a cross between a wolf and a snake was slithering around the buildings of Townsville; it screeched at the charging Powerpuff Girls.
Meanwhile, the Professor and ALFR were driving across the bridge to get into the city, "Utonium, most of these monsters have come from a little island off the coast of Townsville!" the AI noted,
"Monster Island? I never would have guessed..." ALFR's avatar folded in his arms,
"I can tell that's sarcasm in your voice, impressive, huh?" ALFR retorted in a bitter voice. The Professor parked his car in a lot as far away from the monster as he could; he stared at ALFR,
"Listen, my girls usually don't need technology to defeat their enemies; in fact, I'm putting my life at stake by bringing you out here."
"Well, you could have just handed me off to one of your daughters!" ALFR snapped,
"Maybe. But, you could have distracted them with all your pointing out the obvious." The two sat silently in the car, watching the pink, blue, and green contrails circle the beast, listening to its screeches as it failed to hit any of the Powerpuff Girls. After a while, ALFR spoke again,
"If I can't fulfill my purpose as an application, I'm sure I could still fulfill my purpose as a companion." the Professor laughed, but, ALFR assured, "Even if I don't know where I came from, I still know what I'm capable of. I could invade any technology that uses Wi-Fi at any time. But, somehow I've been programmed to know that's the wrong thing to do. To me, that's proof I have a conscience."
The two were silent again. The Professor was thinking deeply, Amazing, just amazing... this changes everything! The Professor looked at ALFR, smiling,
"All of my real 'friends' have let me down at some point," Utonium said, "But, I can see this working out well." ALFR's avatar smiled in response. Meanwhile, the Powerpuff Girls had taken out the monster, freeing the Mayor from one of its claws,
And so, once again, the day is saved, thanks to: The Powerpuff Girls!
"Whew! You're safe now, Mayor!" Blossom panted.
"Thank you very much, Powerpuff Girls!" the Mayor replied gratefully,
"The Professor's with us, do you want him to help you with your phone now?" Bubbles offered the old man.
"Oh, that's so sweet of you," the Mayor answered, "But, my memory is just too shaky. If I ever need to use my new phone, I'll just let Ms. Bellum take care of it." the Powerpuff Girls waved goodbye to the Mayor and got inside the Professor's car,
"Are we keeping ALFR?" they asked together. The Professor nodded, and ALFR smiled.