Lister, Rimmer and the Cat meet Kryten by finding him in the remains of the wrecked Nova 5, where Kryten was still caring for the rest of the crew, seemingly oblivious to the fact that they were all long dead...they had all been there for over 3 million years. They then take Kryten along with them to Red Dwarf. What Lister and the others don't know though is the reason Nova 5 crashed--it was because Kryten washed everything onboard the Nova 5--and I DO mean *everything*. That includes the ship's computer. And I mean washing as in with water and soap. This was only mentioned in the books, however.