Kyle is a permanent resident of Matchstick’s little entertainment center, working as a baker and barista. They used to be a scientist working for an empire whose leader was obsessed with the idea of immortality. 

 

The Artifact Empire is set up under a brutal system of hyper independence and isolation of the people, everyone turned against each other in a constant cycle of fighting each other which keeps Artifact in power. Wanting power for eternity, Artifact banded together a team of scientists to try and discover a permanent cure for aging and Kyle was a part of that crew.

 

Originally born a woman and referred to as Kayla, she faced harassment in the workplace as well as having her ideas and discoveries given to her male peers. However, Artifact was wise to the mistreatment and Kayla had an intelligence he was attracted to. He grew fond of her and helped her rise in the ranks, regardless of the baseless rumors of her sleeping with him.

 

This resentment grew to the point where she was eventually jumped by her coworkers and nearly killed, but saved by security just in time. Artifact was sent into a spiral and immediately began to try and use the testing they’d done for immortality on his love rather than himself - resulting in Kayla being turned into a conventionally attractive nanobot-infused cyborg. 

 

To her horror, Kayla realized that not only was she not allowed to die, she was being forced into becoming the empress of an empire she no longer wanted any part in. She no longer even had a body she was familiar with; the modifications to her body were made for Artifact's gaze.

 

Kayla seduced Artifact before giving him a drugged cup of tea on one of their ‘lunch dates’, causing him to collapse and appear dead. She escapes through the vents and hijacks a ship, fleeing from the planet. Little did she know, Artifact had already taken the nanobots that filtered the poison. Eventually he survived, vowing to track her down and break her.

 

Kayla’s desperation causes Love’s veil to thin and she unknowingly is taken straight to the purgatory forest world where she meets Matchstick and the rest of the crew who vow to keep her secret and tell her the history of the broken planet she was now residing on.

 

During this time, Kayla decides to recreate her body as she saw fit - a little wonky robo-dude. When asked why she even wanted her brain showing in a dome on her head, she simply said ‘because it’s neat’. Finally, Kayla decided to rename herself to Kyle and begin a second life helping Matchstick and the crew to create a self-sustaining world with her knowledge of hybrid organics and science.

 

Kyle became burnt out on scientific discovery and aid, turning her new life towards baking and community service instead. It isn’t the magical healing baking from Love’s caretaking village on the main planet, but it’s still wholesome snacks made with love. Kyle just wants a life filled with company and those who appreciate her.