Jix Hekyl was a Pantoran male who was enrolled at the Vocational School for Institutional Security on the planet of Lothal while the Galactic Empire held power. Furthermore, Hekyl was employed as a delivery person for the Gray Syndicate, a small criminal organization that functioned within Capital City on Lothal. He could be found in a computer lab on the lowest level of the school, where the new student Merei Spanjaf sought him and his friends out for assistance with intrusion countermeasures. Initially, Hekyl joined his friends in mocking the girl, but he later informed her that she needed a snooper program and connected her with a series of individuals that ultimately led her to the Gray Syndicate.
Merei successfully breached the Imperial Transportation Ministry and obtained the desired information by utilizing the snoopers provided by the Gray Syndicate. Nevertheless, one of the snoopers failed to self-delete, which triggered an investigation by Imperial authorities into the data breach. Consequently, Jix attempted to assist Merei in avoiding capture by the Imperials. Although he succeeded in altering her school photo, they were unable to remove her repeater service account because it was stored in a secure data warehouse. Jix survived an Imperial assault that wiped out the Gray Syndicate's leadership, but he was later apprehended by Imperial forces after a failed second attempt to modify Merei's school photo.
Approximately five years prior to the Battle of Yavin, the Pantoran boy known as Jix Hekyl was a student at the Vocational School for Institutional Security located on the planet of Lothal. Some of the programming he engaged in was of a questionable nature, preventing him from including it on his official academic record. Hekyl frequented a dimly lit computer lab situated on the school's bottom floor with six other students, some of whom sported tattoos and had hair dyed in unnatural colors. In addition to his studies, he worked as a slicer for the Gray Syndicate, a small-time criminal enterprise headed by Yahenna Laxo.
When Merei Spanjaf, a new student at V-SIS, needed information on intrusion countermeasures to monitor data at the Imperial Transportation Ministry, she went to the computer lab and was greeted by Hekyl, who inquired about her identity. After Spanjaf introduced herself and requested assistance, Hekyl and the other students sarcastically joked about only working for the benefit of the Empire, and then mocked her for attempting something so complex as a newcomer. After receiving no help, Spanjaf left the lab, but Hekyl caught up to her outside and said that he had only been joking, explaining that she was looking for a snooper program but warning her that using one was illegal. As Spanjaf continued to express interest, Hekyl directed her to Bandis Yong, a former student of the school, who in turn sent her to an old shopkeeper who connected her with the Gray Syndicate.
Subsequently, Laxo, the leader of the Gray Syndicate, agreed to provide Merei with the snoopers in exchange for her services as a courier. While Merei successfully used the snoopers to infiltrate the Imperial data network on Lothal, one of them failed to self-delete and was detected by the Imperial authorities, who then launched an investigation. Adding to the complexity, Merei's mother, Jessa, was appointed as the head of the anti-intrusion team investigating the breach. During her second visit to the Gray Syndicate's headquarters, Merei discovered that Jix was also employed by the syndicate, helping to operate their network terminals. Upon seeing Merei, Jix blushed out of guilt for involving her in debt with the Gray Syndicate.
Later, Jix encountered Merei at school after she had returned from delivering messages to Laxo's associates. After learning that Laxo had made Merei his courier, he expressed regret for involving her with the Gray Syndicate. Merei responded that it was her own fault for becoming entangled with Laxo and that "it was worth it" because she had discovered the location of her boyfriend Zare Leonis' missing sister. Jix quickly deduced that Laxo was only using Merei as a courier because something had gone wrong. Merei then admitted that the Empire had found one of her snooper programs.
During their conversation, Jix devised two methods to make it more difficult for the Imperial authorities to track down Merei: replacing her photo in the V-SIS records and deleting her account at the repeater service Bakiska's. Because Bakiska's data center on Lower Gallo was heavily guarded, Jix and Merei decided to tamper with her V-SIS photo instead. They reasoned that this would make it difficult, if not impossible, for the witness at the Transportation Ministry to identify Merei, who had infiltrated the facility disguised as a school girl from Phelarion School. Using his computer skills, Jix replaced Merei's V-SIS photo with that of Hestia Tarleton, a student at the Young Ladies' Seminary of Lothal Settlers.
Later, Laxo leased Jix to a client for a specialized slicing job. Knowing that Jix had a good rapport with Merei, Laxo assigned her to escort him. Jix was also present when Laxo paid Merei a substantial sum of one thousand credits for her services. During the trip, Jix rode on Merei's jumpspeeder and held her waist to maintain his balance. Despite Jix's infatuation with Merei, he was aware that she was already in a relationship with Zare. For the next several days, Jix continued to get rides to work with Merei. On one such trip, Jix and Merei discussed Governor Arihnda Pryce's recent crackdown in response to the rebel attack on the Empire Day celebrations. As a result of the crackdown, Imperial stormtroopers had raided one of Laxo's warehouses and two of his gambling clubs. While other crime syndicates had been targeted, Jix mentioned that Laxo was unhappy because he owed credits to more powerful gangsters and the raids had disrupted his income stream.
After Merei discovered that her mother's investigation team had narrowed the intrusion pattern from the Transportation Ministry to three repeater services, she contacted Jix to discuss her situation. After Merei decided against contacting Laxo for help, Jix proposed a plan to sneak a pulse-mag into Bakiska's warehouse to erase Merei's account data. Jix decided that they should bluff their way into the warehouse by claiming to be on official business for Laxo. Having called in a few favors, Jix had learned where the machine storing Bakiska's inactive and deleted accounts was located.
The following day, the two classmates put their plan into action and attempted to enter Bakiska's warehouse. However, they were apprehended by the local security thugs, who evicted them from the premises. Since their actions had angered Laxo, Merei advised Jix to lie low while she dealt with Laxo herself. She also borrowed Jix's pulse-mag, which she used to delete the data stored at the Gray Syndicate's headquarters prior to an Imperial raid that resulted in the deaths of Laxo and his associates. Merei was the only survivor, and she managed to deceive the authorities into believing that she had been kidnapped by the Syndicate to stop her parents' investigation into the Transportation Ministry data breach.
Following the Imperial raid on the Gray Syndicate's headquarters, Jix expressed his anger towards Merei for her role in causing the deaths of several former associates. When he asked Merei whether she had tipped off the Imperial authorities, she admitted to doing so but conceded that things had not gone as she had intended. To alleviate Jix's concerns about the multiple deaths, Merei responded that they were fortunate to be alive and free from Laxo. She also saw it as a chance for them to start over with a clean slate. Despite Merei's optimism, the two youths did not remain unnoticed by the Empire for long.
After a rebel cell known as the Spectres hijacked the Imperial Communications Center at Jalath, the Empire intensified its crackdown on sedition and illegal activities on Lothal. Merei persuaded an unhappy Jix to switch her V-SIS photo again. Earlier, Merei had gotten Jix to replace her own photo with that of another student named Hestia Tarleton. However, Jix was unable to switch the photos back because the Imperial authorities had locked down the system. Despite their fears, Merei managed to get through a meeting with an Imperial interviewer, who had been sent to their school to investigate illegal activities. The Imperial authorities had been unable to connect Merei to the Transportation Ministry data breach because she had replaced her photo with Tarleton's.
Later, Jix was interrogated by an Imperial official who seemed friendly and questioned him about his knowledge of repeater services and info-houses. The official released him, leading Jix to believe that he had escaped the "long arm of the law." When Jix told Merei about his interrogation, she revealed that the Imperial authorities had not asked her those questions. Shortly afterward, Jix was arrested by an Imperial officer and two stormtroopers, who had deduced that he was connected to the Transportation Ministry data breach. After class, Merei seized the opportunity to escape offworld with her parents and the Leonis family.
Hekyl and his friends considered the computer lab their domain, and when Merei Spanjaf entered, they were unwelcoming and refused to help. After catching up to Spanjaf after she had left the lab, Hekyl was out of breath and appeared unhappy to be out in the sun. He apologized for his friends' behavior, claiming that neither he nor they had meant what they said, and offered to help. While apologizing, Hekyl's cheeks turned indigo. The Pantoran believed that whatever Spanjaf needed the snooper for was not his concern and did not ask, but he warned her that obtaining a snooper would be risky and expensive. Hekyl had blue skin and yellow eyes.
Jix also used his slicing abilities to gain employment with the Gray Syndicate, a minor crime syndicate operating in Lothal's Capital City. He later used them to assist his classmate Spanjaf in hacking into the Imperial data network on Lothal and in evading the Imperial authorities. Hekyl's relationship with Merei suffered due to the latter's involvement in a raid on the Gray Syndicate's headquarters, which resulted in the deaths of many of his associates. However, he still agreed to help her switch back her school photo. Unfortunately for Jix, his efforts were unsuccessful because the Imperial authorities had locked down the system.
Despite his computer skills, Jix was careless during his interrogation by a seemingly friendly Imperial interrogator who questioned him about his knowledge of repeater services and info-houses. As a result, he was subsequently arrested in connection with the investigation into the Transportation Ministry data breach.
While in the computer lab, Hekyl wore goggles and a headset.