The Box
| Item: The Box | |
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| First Seen: | May 2003 |
The psionically-shielded chamber known as The Box is a structure in the medical complex underneath Xavier's. It is designed as a medical recovery room to isolate psionics from outside contact, but has also been used for safety and containment purposes.
The room itself is no different in appearance than any other recovery room in the infirmary, with a bed, private shower and toilet, sink, and a small desk. The room is also designed so that padded walls and, if necessary, restraints can be added for patients who lack control over their emotional state. The room can be secured from the outside, with a touch-sensitive control panel on the door. There is also a double-sealed portal in the door so that food and items such as medicine or books may be given to a patient without breaking the integrity of the psionic containment.
The Box was originally designed by Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr, during the early years of converting the mansion into a school. It works by maintaining a very specific adaptive magnetic current through the walls of the room, interfering with psionic energy and acting as an insulator around the structure. As a side effect, devices such as radios and communicators do not work inside The Box, and any computer equipment brought in must be specially shielded.
The delicate electronics in the room have been known to suffer degradation when used for extensive periods. At one time, overuse of The Box was significant due to an increased stress level in the mansion that some of the empathically-sensitive and telepathic could not deal with, and voluntarily sequestered themselves in The Box. This overuse eventually required a complete overhaul of the room's systems by Henry McCoy and Forge, and led to the medical team's dictum that it was to only be used in case of medical emergencies.
