Summer 2023. Outside, Shenzhen boiled; inside Rai-LAB, the air felt cold.

Ken stared at the screen: 78% accuracy, 10 minutes to overheating. Their chip failed again. Funds were draining fast.

Across the room, Toni clashed with designers. "This plastic frame feels cheap — we're building an heirloom, not a gadget." Yet, 24K gold plating interfered with heat dissipation.

Meanwhile, Kuhns faced rejection after rejection from investors — "too advanced," "no market demand."

At midnight, silence filled the lab. Someone suggested building a stripped-down version — just to stay afloat.

Ken shook his head. "The moment we compromise, we become the very thing we fought against."

Toni agreed: "Luxury is defined by refusal to compromise. Chanel didn't stop until she perfected tweed — neither should we."

Kuhns opened a drawer, pulled out a card, and said quietly, "This is the mortgage from my family home. Two more months. Let's make them count."

They slept on camp beds that night, driven by shared defiance.

Ken refined algorithms using 360,000 skin samples.

Toni reached out to Hermès leather artisans for material guidance.

Kuhns rewrote the business plan — replacing "features" with "human stories."

On the cover, he wrote:
"Every woman's skin is a constellation — no two stars should ever be treated the same."