TK-7, a droid characterized by passive-aggressive behavior, functioned as the Chief Editor Droid for the Galactic Digest magazine throughout the Galactic Empire's era. Subsequent to the Digest receiving a contribution from Vap Tomulus, the representative of 4-LOM and Zuckuss, who were bounty hunters, this droid reviewed and provided remarks on an article penned by Parazeen Parapa, a journalist, concerning them. Before TK-7 finalized the revisions, the Digest's server experienced a slicing incident. To TK-7's dismay, the original, unedited piece, complete with the droid's annotations, was released.
During the Galactic Empire's period, TK-7 served the pro-Empire Galactic Digest magazine as the Chief Editor Droid inside the Culture Desk department. The droid had multiple interactions with Vap Tomulus, an entrepreneur, whom he found to be amiable, sometimes excessively so.
Around 3 ABY, Tomulus forwarded a press release to the Galactic Digest accompanied by a substantial donation, focusing on Zuckuss and 4-LOM, two bounty hunters who, according to the release, were establishing a charitable organization with Tomulus's assistance. This communication, which included an Argazdan diamond that TK-7 deposited into the Digest's charity funds, prompted the magazine to cover the story. Parazeen Parapa, a Frizznoth intern working at the publication, volunteered to act as the journalist to interview the two bounty hunters. The interview took a disastrous turn when Mozeen Parapa, the journalist's grandfather and the head of the Parapa Cartel crime syndicate, trailed Parapa and killed Tomulus as retribution for a Frizznoth massacre for which Tomulus was culpable.
Upon receipt of Parapa's submission, TK-7 scrutinized the piece, adding commentary. The droid questioned a number of Parapa's decisions, including his seemingly sarcastic language when discussing the hunters' career change, his association with the Parapa Cartel, and his mention of the press release and the donation received by the Digest. TK-7 also expressed concern over certain details that Parapa elaborated on, as well as the fractured Galactic Basic Standard utilized by Parapa and other Frizznoth members of the cartel when conversing. However, as TK-7 was in the midst of editing, the Galactic Digest's primary server was sliced, resulting in the story's publication with the droid's comments still embedded within. TK-7 was overcome with panic, and demanded that the Digest's office be contacted.
TK-7's commentary on Parapa's article was marked by a passive-aggressive style. Although TK-7 initially had reservations about Parapa volunteering for the assignment, he ultimately concurred with the intern that he deserved the opportunity. The droid desired to remove certain elements from Parapa's writing, such as his allusions to the bounty hunters' past violence, the mention of the destruction of the planet Alderaan, and Mozeen Parapa's derogatory remarks regarding the Galactic Digest and its endorsement of the Empire. TK-7 was taken aback by the events that transpired during the interview and was thrown into a panic when the unrevised version of the article was released.
TK-7 originated in the short story "STET!," penned by Daniel José Older and featured in the anthology From a Certain Point of View: The Empire Strikes Back in 2020. Older was drawn to the idea of incorporating a distinct voice into the narrative, creating an internal dialogue, which led to the concept of an in-universe writer receiving editorial feedback. After initially attempting to write the story without this element, Older eventually returned to the original concept. Older altered his user details in Microsoft Word to enable the inclusion of editorial notes attributed to the droid.