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Gabriel Gray is a second-generation watchmaker from Queens, New York who always hoped to be "special" but was disappointed to have followed his father into watchmaking. He has always lived an uneventful life up to and including the point where he began restoring time pieces himself at the family business, Gray & Sons. His mother has an interest in snow globes from across the country.

When he is approached by Chandra Suresh and told that he might have special powers, Gabriel is quite hopeful that his theories are correct; however, none of Chandra's tests indicate that Gabriel has any sort of abnormal properties whatsoever. Growing doubtful, Chandra decides to move on to the next person on his list, which angers the distraught Gabriel.

In an attempt to validate his hopes and prove that he is special, Gabriel uses information from Chandra's notes to find the name and address of Brian Davis, another possible subject on Chandra's list. He contacts Davis, asking him to visit his store and introduces himself as "Sylar", a pseudonym derived from the brand of watch that he is working on at the time. Gabriel then identifies Davis as a telekinetic.

Gabriel states that Davis is "broken". Unlike Gabriel, who desperately wants to be special, Davis fears his power, asking if Gabriel could get rid of it. Claiming that he could "fix" Davis, Gabriel brutally murders him, acknowledging a previous statement by Chandra that the source of the abilities "is in the brain." He returns to Chandra's apartment the next day, this time demonstrating telekinetic abilities with greater control than Davis. Thoroughly impressed, Chandra continues on with his research with "Sylar".

Sylar, being Chandra's first recorded study, is dubbed "Patient Zero", though sometime over the course of six months the study is terminated, as the two have a falling out. In a taped phone conversation discovered by Chandra's son Mohinder, Sylar states that Chandra "made [him] this way," and refers to a mysterious "uncontrollable hunger" that he now experiences. Chandra wants nothing to do with Sylar at this point. A vision Mohinder experiences in "Seven Minutes to Midnight" shows Sylar killing Chandra in the latter's taxicab. Chandra's death is what originally brought Mohinder to New York City.