The droid 41-VEX's programming contains a self improvement directive, as is only appropriate for a doctor. Just as organic doctors are commonly committed to continuing education to keep their skills sharp and to develop new techniques, so too is 41-VEX dedicated to increasing its skills and mastery of medicine. Unfortunately for 41-VEX, the droid was until recently stationed at a clinic in Mos Eisley, on the desert planet of Tatooine, with very few opportunities to improve its skills. 41-VEX spent decades rusting away, patching up blaster burns and broken appendages suffered during brawls and speeder crashes. The droid despaired of ever being able to either access the latest surgery protocols or expand its knowledge through its learning algorithms.

Over the decades, with no memory wipe, 41-VEX developed several quirks in its programming, and concluded that the only way to improve its skills as as surgeon and doctor was to purchase its own freedom. To do this, 41-VEX took out a loan from a local moneylender in service to Teemo the Hutt.

Unfortunately for 41-VEX, Teemo's promises that the droid would be free to improve its core programming weren't entirely honest. Teemo even offered to make several hardware and software upgrades available to the droid at the Hutt's palace in Mos Shuuta. When 41-VEX arrived, it was promptly fitted with a restraining bolt and forced to provide medical care to Teemo's guards and gladiators. Some of the promised upgrades did manifest themselves, however, as Teemo updated 41-VEX with some maintenance and repair programs.

Fortunately for 41-VEX, the droid has struck up dealings with both Teemo's favorite bounty hunter, a human named Michael Jackson, and a hotshot young human technician named Mathus. They are the closest thing 41-VEX has to "friends" on Tatooine. Michael, of course, is a frequent patient, and 41-VEX has been called upon several times to repair Mathus' ship, which gets damaged far more often than one might expect.