Originally written as an entry to the back-from-the-hiatus Hero TV Forums' Forum Fiction Writing Contest.
Power Rangers RPM (c) Saban Brands / Disney / Toei. Hayate the Combat Butler (c) Kenjiro Hata / Shogakukan / Bandai Enterainment / Viz Media.
Conviction in Yellow
I never knew my life would take a 180-degree turn.
I had everything what life has to offer…
…a luxurious mansion…
…precious material possessions…
…faithful servants…
…a vast network of friends…
…and, most importantly, a loyal butler.
But then… it came. The virus.
The virus that infected computer systems everywhere and anywhere in the world spared not even my mansion's advanced security systems. Right on my 15th birthday.
Scores of humanoid mechanical minions stormed through the mansion. Their sheer numbers tore through even the most impregnable of walls.
My servants, friends, and bodyguards tried their best and hardest to fight them off. But the robots kept on multiplying.
The dust has settled, and their strengths were utterly spent amidst broken robot parts. Some just passed out, but others had crueler fates.
My eyes bore witness to a horror never before seen and felt.
Luckily, my butler did his best… and survived the ordeal. However, after the assault, he was nowhere to be seen. As were the remaining friends and staff.
Being the persistent girl that I was, I decided to leave the then-wrecked mansion, and settled to search for him.
It was such a shame that everything I and my family built for several years, for several generations – would be laid to waste in such an attack. Guess I was too conceited for my own good.
After searching aimlessly… in a wasteland placed wide open before my eyes that were once used to pretty vistas… I found him.
He immediately remembered me, but he adopted a new codename – Andrews.
He intended that in order to fool the minions who only remembered his original name – a name so notorious among all other butlers – that the leader of those minions took notice and decided to mark him for death.
"Come with me… to Corinth."
Corinth? The name sounded so… exotic.
"Humanity's last refuge. Even in this barren world we're now in… we can still stick together… milady."
The two of us journeyed through miles and miles of desolate wasteland, without any of the comforts I have so enjoyed in the past.
Every time another one of those robotic minions showed up… he always defended me.
And so, I have come to realize what he had done for me ever since our first meeting on a certain Christmas night.
He may be called "the debt-ridden butler", but he was kind-hearted. Even though I used to ridicule him due to his effeminate look.
But times have changed, and he has continually taught me how to fend for myself, especially in this bleak world. I have learned to take martial arts very seriously unlike before, for instance.
Eventually, we saw the breadth of Corinth. It was a domed city as reported in scattered news outfits.
But before we actually set foot in that city, another group of those robotic soldiers ambushed us. I thought he would save me and finish the fight alive like several times in the past…
…but the end result was him in a bloodied heap. Several bullets tore through his back.
The minion who fired those fatal shots was thankfully eliminated by me.
Alas, it was a Pyrrhic victory.
"M… milady… Now… I've… fulfilled… my duty… as your ever-loyal butler… Now… all my debt is paid… so…"
"No! Don't ever die! H-how can I live without you by my side?"
"You've… certainly… grown a lot… since that attack… in fact… this computer virus… that affected… us all… is a… blessing in disguise… So… you must… survive… and fight… to restore… our beloved… Earth… G… good… bye… mi… la… dy…"
He finally breathed his last.
I shouted his original name and drowned myself in tears, knowing that my supposed life partner was yet another victim of that accursed virus. And, if my other fears came true, the rest of my loved ones.
After allowing myself to drain all my emotional baggage onto his lifeless body, I finally headed towards the domed city. The promised land. Humanity's last stand. With a memento of him, his butler's tie, in hand.
With a fresh start came a new conviction: that to achieve true freedom… I must live a purpose-driven life.
This new conviction called for a new name.
I have changed my name to reflect my total evolution as a person – from a spoiled young brat to a woman who highly values passion and dedication to achieve something.
My new name represents a shining beacon of hope over a land that will someday recover from the huge, disastrous chaos it is suffering.
I am the new me.
I am Summer Landsdown… formerly Nagi Sanzenin.