Born in Surrey, Canada, Syed's mother refused to raise a parahuman child and wished to give him up to the government right away, but her sister, Ayda, argued against it. His father was conflicted, but eventually bowed to a compromise; Ayda would be the one to raise Syed instead.
In his early life Syed grew up with frequent visits from his father, and scarce visits from his mother, which marked his childhood as one that was tense and full of conflict. Eventually something outside his knowledge came to a head and the visits from both stopped, his parents deciding not to be part of his life anymore. He was summarily adopted by his aunt and pulled from public school, and began being tutored by his aunt's boyfriend of the time, a man named Wyatt.
While it was known that Syed had powers, it took some time for them to be revealed, and even then there was a lot of dubious confusion on the part of his government visitors. Ayda was required to inform them of any odd events, no matter how seemingly childish or insignificant, so when she reported Syed as talking to himself for extended periods of time, he was tested. The massive headache that resulted was a whole fiasco; Syed could not explain the conversations he held with 'the lights', nor could said 'lights' be detected. Feeling as if he'd done something wrong, Syed tried to behave normally from then on, but despite his caution the tests came again, and again, and again. He stopped speaking to the lights, and to the animals, and the computers, and soon he found he could not talk to people either, his tongue turning to stone at the idea of messing up and being tested again. He could do nothing right, even after it was determined his powers had more to do with energy flow than communication.
Syed became so uncomfortable in his own home he escaped the only way he knew how; retreat, retreat, retreat. He studied until he began testing higher than his public school counterparts, finishing the curriculum well ahead of his age range. Other forms of inward focus came first in meditation, then in yoga, occasionally interspersed with various self-taught athletic techniques from martial arts or gymnastics he picked up online.
His powers were not an escape however, simply a distraction he was reluctant to exercise, no matter how intrigued his government visitors were in ascertaining what exactly he could do. Inevitably, one day they pushed too far and Syed pushed back; his eyes went black, and then pale and cloudy, and an electric shock discharged from his body. It was relatively harmless all thing considered, the doctor responsible was stunned, but unharmed, merely spending half an hour feeling as if he'd been drugged, and the electrical equipment suffered errors and crashes but eventually returned to working order - meanwhile Syed's heart was pounding so hard he gave himself a nose bleed and a panic attack. Afterwards the tests became less frequent.
For a very brief stretch of time things were calm and normal, and then he and his aunt were in a car accident and she was due to spend time recovering for much longer than a minor could be left alone. Not too keen on emancipating a parahuman teenager, Syed was offered The Promise. He accepted.
//Abilities:Superhuman Ability | Electroreception
Possessing a sensitive bio-electric field generated by clusters of sub-dermal extrasensory cells along his nervous system in a similar fashion as those seen with creatures such as cartilaginous fish, monotremes, and even apiformes. Applications associated with electroreceptive powers are electrolocation and electrocommunication. Electrolocation is an ability much like a sixth sense, capable of detecting electrical currents generated by living beings or electrical machines, as well as sensing the resistivity or conductivity of matter. Electrocommunication actually has very little to do with communicating as humans understand it, instead it's more or less a very mild attack; an electrical discharge into the air of the immediate area can leave those within a few feet stunned, feeling numb and sluggish, which would make it difficult for the victim of the shock to react quickly or think clearly for a handful of minutes.
Limitation(s) | Syed cannot consciously manipulate the electrical currents he detects, so there is no application for any technomancy or other energy-specialized abilities. Neither can he sense certain levels of complexity within currents; he cannot read minds by recognizing patterns in neural synapses, and he cannot perceive digital data whether it's being streamed or stored in hard drives - his senses just aren't clear enough.
His ability to discharge a small burst of energy is a double-edged sword, as it causes him severe physical stress and exhaustion, resulting in small bouts of blindness, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, and nose bleeds, and it's effect on others are much less severe, only mimicking the effects of depressants for around five minutes before they begin to recover, or else only causing temporary instability in electronics. Furthermore, Syed must have a long drawn-out cooling period, with lots of rest and high-calorie food, in order to gain his strength back: prolonged strain after a discharge without taking any recuperative measures is a sure ticket into a coma.
Weakness(es) | There's a sort of balance involved in Syed's ability; given that he has no control over his bio-electrical field he cannot simply turn it off to conserve energy, and while he does absorb some ambient energy from the feedback he largely relies on large quantities of foods rich in sugars and carbohydrates in order to stay healthy. He also tends to be off-balance in highly industrial environments where there is more energy flow, causing him to become more clumsy and easily distracted.
//Skills:Acrobatics | Syed, through haphazard self study and a great deal of yoga, is quite flexible and limber. While unused to extensive or prolonged exercise, it is still an ability that grants him a measure of maneuverability.
Observation | Being the wary and anxious soul that he is, Syed has a keen eye for detail. He's cautious and thorough, quick to systematically peruse every occupant and object in a room and account for the setting, and usually quite intuitively too.
Trilingual | Raised in a Punjabi-speaking home in an English speaking country, Syed considers both to be his native languages. His early years in public school gave him the beginnings of French, which were continued by his French-Canadian tutor.
Technician | While his ability doesn't grant him any ability to manipulate or control technology, he can take things apart and feel how they work, and the same when putting them back together. In response to his perceived talent, his education was much more detailed in the subjects of electrical engineering and computer science, aided by his intuitive insight.