Memories and Names

V was confused. He was never given a different task before, especially from a human and did not know what to do.

"I don't know where your mother is or who she is." V replied.

"Then at least help me." She told him.

"Help me find my mother. She could still be there in the Threshold, trying to survive."

He once more felt silent. Deep down he wanted to help her, but he feels he's not ready for the task.

"I don't know if I can but I can try."

He then stood up and tries to raise her up yet she refuses and attempts to stand on her own.

"I know that you want to help now." She says.

"But I still don't trust you."

"I understand." V said.

The two quickly went outside the back portion of the house to avoid the Dominators' sight. As they stayed there for a minute he observes his surroundings. Small puddles of blood, spilled on the roads, survivors trying to runaway but ends up getting gunned down. There were also others who fought back against them, but to no avail. The entire town has completely turned into a slaughterhouse. When the area was clear they ran towards the convenience store to see if Nero was still alive. Domina walks to the back of the cashier and sees Nero's body lying down on the floor, lifeless. She wanted to fight back. Get her revenge on them but now it's not the time. She needed to find her mother.

When V who was outside the cashier area, notices that she was taking too long, he entered.

"We have to go. If we stay here for too long they could find us." V told her.

Domina pulls herself together and the two once more went at the back to escape. They went towards a parking lot, where Nero's vehicle was parked. Domina approached it and notices she doesn't have the keys. Somehow he understood what it meant, and attempted to hack into the vehicle so they could get in. Immediately after opening the vehicle, Domina drove it away from the attack. During their journey, she talks to V.

"You seem to have some of her modifications."

"What do you mean?" V asked.

"She originally created the Dominants to help. Protect the people of the Threshold and assist them when needed." She explained.

"It was in their programming to help people."

"How do you know this?" V asked.

"When I was young, there weren't that many books to read besides histories about the Threshold. So I needed find readings that suits me. I eventually found my mother's schematics and the manual she made. I got into her work so I studied their purpose, how they functioned and how they were created."

V understood but also was confused. How would a child understand her mother's creation? She was young yet somehow her memory is more advance than the average individual.

"Did you ever questioned your own identity to your mother?" V asks further.

"Yes." She told him.

"And she would always say that I am her daughter." Domina told him.

"Do you still believe that?" he continued.

"I don't know." Domina went silent. Throughout the journey, the two went silent. Not speaking, until they have reach a gas station. She then parks the car and motioned V not to get out.

"Just stay there and keep an eye out for any of them." She told him.

"Sure."

Domina enters the small store. The shelves were left untouched, the lights were flickering, the floor looks clean and polish and the cashier seems to be not in use for a long time. There were lots of food and she was already getting hungry. Seeing that there was no one in the store at all, she stole some of them. She grabs a plastic bag from the cashier area and puts the food in it. She also grabs some drinks from the refrigerator and then left the store. Domina returns to the vehicle and notices that V was gone. She panics, put the food and drinks at the back of the vehicle and went to search for him. She looks at the back of the store and finds him staring at the photos.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I was just looking at these photos." V told her.

"They seemed to have been here for a long time."

"How can you tell?" Domina curiously asked.

"All Dominators have a universal database chip, inserted in their brains. We mainly use it for reconnaissance." He explained.

"From these photos, when I cross-checked it with their last known location. The people who have been here have already fled."

"What did they use for escape?"

"A vehicle, that was once there." He said whilst pointing to a spot where it could have been park.

Domina upon listening to his explanation, seem to know the modification. It was still her mother's. A thought then came to her.

"Can you use your database to find my mother?" she asked V.

"I can try." V told her. "Can you tell me her name?"

"Xandra, Lucina" she said.

V hears the name and begins to check his database. He searches for similar names, similar people, but for some reason no name showed up.

"Are you certain that name is your mother's name?" He asked.

"Of course it is. I should know she's my mother. Is there something wrong?"

"Your mother's name seems to not to be part of the database." V explained.

"That can't be possible how could my mother be not part of the database?" She asked.

"Didn't you have every person recorded in there?"

"Yes but it seems that your mother does not exist in here." V told her.

"Is there a part of the database which does not exist in yours?"

"There is but it belongs to the more advance models of the Dominators." V explained.

"I figured." Domina told him.

"What did you figured?" V asked.

"Well since you were sent to the town to do possible recon but then eventual killing then surely there were others who did other tasks."

"Yes, the other models like the Annihilators destroy cities and buildings and remove all traces of them, while models like the Dominators and the Surveyors only do recon or frontline attacks." He explained.

"Is it possible to hack on one of those Annihilators and upgrade your current universal database?" Domina asked.

"There is a 50% percent chance of it failing." V said.

Oh great. She thought.

"But, if you can find a Phaser, it could lessen the risk of failing." V reassured.

"Do you know where one of these Phasers are?"

V quickly activated his database, and surveyed the area for Phasers. When he found one, he pointed it out.

"There is one over there. But that place is riddled with Dominators." V explained.

"So, it's a kill zone. Great." She sarcastically remarked. After learning the information she goes back to the vehicle and prepared it. V was confused and followed.

"Where are we going?"

"We're going to the kill zone." Domina told him.

"But we could die there; I could find us a different one." V reassured.

"Nope we're going there. Besides there's a chance that we could find something useful there and possibly a better vehicle."

"That's quite a thought." V told her.

"It's more of a gut feeling. Now let's get out of here before those Dominators find us." Domina told him.

V nodded. The two quickly started the vehicle and continued their journey.

While on their journey, thoughts loomed over her head. The fear that her mother could have been killed irks her. She tries to ignore it but to no avail. She thought she had moved on from her leave, but she hasn't. She never did.