STORY
ACTIVATION
The exact time around their activation is something Kai prefers not to talk about—keeping to themselves, only being vague about it, if anything. In fact, they consider the day they arrived at Phoenix and Teru's living quarters, July 4th, their 'birthday' instead—ignoring the day they were really activated altogether. Regardless, they were only a few months fully active, maybe half a year TOPS by the time they arrived, so they were still essentially a "baby" unit.
That being said... they were only in sleep mode, so Teru was given quite the confused surprise when they woke up and... well. Didn't have the best reaction. Phoenix was able to come in, and the both of them managed to calm Kai down enough, at least to get their bearings. Kai grew very attached to the two, very quickly—even if Phoenix seemed cautious about them. After all... they didn't want to be alone.
Not too long after their arrival-- a couple months in September, they and Phoenix came across a couple broken units-- one still active, Lunaire, and one... very much not active, who would be Soleil. Kai and Phoenix brought them home to repair, with Lunaire being the easier, but Soleil... Soleil would take a few more months. Kai would become quite attached to her even while repairing-- hoping to see her alive and well, hoping their repairs would be enough. Even after her activation, they would become very protective of her.
EARLY YEARS
Those first three years would be filled with them learning more about how it was to live, as well as-- things feeling oddly familiar for them. They would watch over and protect Teru, take odd jobs to help with the financial situation... such things.
An incident would occur with their Glitch Mode activating for the very first time a year in, in reaction to an... unpleasent situation. The thing is... they don't remember a lot of the incident (an oddity, given they always remember when they're in glitch mode), and would prefer not to speak on it, or... even think about it. That incident would create pity from Phoenix(or at least-- it would become more obvious to them), with Phoenix having known what their... deal, is, much to Kai's chagrin, and would lead to Teru promising them that Kai would never be abandoned. From that day forth as well, they would have to deal with their glitch mode... and try to watch their emotions and reactions even more.
Eventually, after some struggle, Kai would find a nice job at a local cafe that would help them settle job-wise. Paid well, the coworkers were friendly with them, and the customers seemed to enjoy them as well-- given their looks and unintentional charisma, not to mention their delicious recipes they offered to the cafe's menu. Things would settle decently enough, even with a couple odd bumps and... odd happenings to them, for their second to almost-fourth years active.
"THIRD" INCIDENT
Nearing their fourth year active, a mishap would occur. Allegedly, though Teru intended to buy upgrades for Kai, somehow, a whole new unit was sent instead.
Kai would not know the entire context, or what exactly happened before they found out-- just that, for a good couple of months, suddenly everyone would seem-- uncertain or uneasy around them, from their point of view. This would lead to mounting anxiety as time passes, worries that they might have done something to cause this. They would try asking, but not get any satisfactory response.
...eventually, though, a close coworker of theirs would ask them if their family had gotten a new unit. Confused, they would ask her what she even meant, leading to her clarifying that she saw a new K4 unit at their house. The mounting anxiety would peak, leading to them rushing out of the Cafe, to their home...
And there they would see, through the window, a newer, squishier, K4 unit in their home. Anxiety leads to irrational thoughts, fear, and anger-- were they being replaced? They were surely being replaced-- what did they do to deserve it? Were they just-- ...not noticing what they were doing? Did Teru and the rest grow tired of them...? Did Sol--?? But Teru promised-- They PROMISED--
Kai would storm into the house, demanding to know what was going on-- seeing the new K4.iii unit up close-- their glitches setting off, they couldn't really hear what everyone was trying to say... and suddenly, there would be the sound of something... something cracking...
Shattering.
Piercing headache, a disgusting sour and metalic taste in their mouth, intense pain in their spine-- joints-- neck-- stomach--
System screaming. System fai l i n g .
Fog. ...darkness.
