Domino is the name of a game, but it is also a metaphor for a domino effect – high leverage actions that trigger a chain reaction. For example, starting your day with one small task that gets you on the path to accomplishing the rest of your tasks is like tipping over a single domino in a row; it sets the entire chain off running. These domino actions are often small victories that help get your day started on the right track.
The word domino appears in English and French in the 1750s, but it had an even earlier sense – as a long hooded cloak worn together with a mask during carnival season or at a masquerade. It may have come from the similarity of the ebony black domino pieces to a priest’s cape, which would contrast with the white surplice.
A domino (also called a bone, cards, men or pieces) is a rectangular tile with a number of dots or “pips” on each side. It is usually twice as long as it is wide, but there are many different shapes and sizes of dominos. Dominos are used for a variety of games, most of which involve blocking or scoring. The pips may be colored or blank, and the total value of a domino is based on its rank and the sum of the pips of the two adjacent sides.
In modern times, most domino sets are made of plastic resin, but historically, sets were also made from bone, silver lip ocean pearl oyster shell (mother of pearl), ivory or a dark hardwood such as ebony, with contrasting black or white pips. The more expensive sets are typically carved from natural materials.
When a Domino’s franchise in Ypsilanti, Michigan was hit by an arsonist, the owner, Dominick Monaghan, implemented changes that emphasized listening to employees and addressing complaints. He began hiring managers who had previously been Domino’s pizza cooks, and he placed Domino’s stores near college campuses to cater to the student market. His strategy worked, and the company grew rapidly.
Domino joined X-Force after Pete Wisdom offered to turn the team into a proactive black ops unit. She was later possessed by the Undying alien Aentaeros and forced to kill its rival Semijan, but Cable saved her. She subsequently helped him restructure X-Force on the eve of Earth being overlapped with Reality-295 during the Age of Apocalypse.
During her time away from the team, Domino found work as a freelancer and became involved with fellow mutant shapeshifter Copycat. When the emotion-manipulating mutant Psycho-Man caused her to resent him, she hacked into his computer and destroyed his telepathic link. Later, she helped X-Force prevent the third genital harvesting of mutants by the Armajesuits and hindered John Sublime’s Third Species mutant organ harvesting movement. She then helped resurrect Lazarus with the same priest that cared for him as a child. Later, Domino was contacted by Jesse Aaronson and given alien technology that enabled her to deactivate the implant; she also shared the psionic link with Cable.