Black Box
A black box is a small, ominous-looking box that were actually highly-advanced data storage devices created by The Engineer for Percy that contains many different pieces of government information, and also information not known by the government but only by Percy.
It was mentioned for the first time in Pilot by Michael although not as Black Boxes, just as files that Percy can use against government in case of his fall. They were first called "black boxes" in the following episode by Michael.
Seemingly containing an impressive amount of database, a black box can contain anything from details on Division missions, operations carried out in Division, technology acquired and utilized by the organization, to information on recruits. Information like these are very controversial, and could potentially lead to a world war if openly exposed to the public. The information inside these black boxes are what Percy uses to blackmail the people who put him in power in case they ever attempt to stab him in the back.
As they are potentially very destructive, each black box is guarded by a "Guardian", who is usually a highly-trained and skilled Division agent, and it is usually locked in a bank safe near where that agent is based. Black boxes also require a blood sample from its assigned Guardian so that it is not accessible by all.
There have been seven created, and Birkhoff humorously refers to them as Percy's "horcruxes." Nikita seeks to track down and destroy them all so that Percy will lack leverage against the government before taking him down. However, if Percy is killed, then all the Guardians would release the contents of the black boxes to the public, thus causing unimaginable chaos. It was revealed that he has a chip implanted that monitors his vitals: if he ever were to flatline, the information from these Black Boxes would then be automatically released into the public.
Detailed information concerning the black box was revealed in Dark Matter.
The last of them was destroyed in "High-Value Target."
Individual Black Box details[]
First Box:
- First appearance: "The Guardian".
- Guardian: Owen Elliot, in Montreal.
- Destroyed by: Nikita in "Dark Matter".
- History: The box was guarded by Owen Elliot in Montreal. Before Nikita kidnapped Owen he buried the box somewhere in Montreal. After he escaped, he took the box with him. In "Dark Matter" he gave the box to Nikita. She shot it with her gun.
Second Box:
- First appearance: "Into the Dark".
- Guardian: Brandon in London.
- Destroyed by: Michael in "Into the Dark".
- History: After Owen told Nikita that one of the boxes is in London they went to find it. They saw Brandon leaving the bank and chased him. After the fight, Owen took the box and threw Brandon in the river. Later he realized that he needs Brandon's blood to unlock it. The two fought in the church and Owen killed Brandon. He unlocked the box, but Michael appeared and shot the box.
Third Box:
- First appearance: "Glass Houses".
- Guardian: Dana Winters in Pennsylvannia.
- Destroyed by: CIA in "Pandora".
- History: Dana gave access to Nikita to get the box from the bank. Dana also gave her her blood sample so that she can unlock it. Unknown to her, Percy put nerve gas in it. Nikita gave the box to the CIA. CIA tried to see what Operation Sparrow is. It enabled the gas to come out of the box. The box melted itself.
Fourth Box:
- First appearance: "Pandora".
- Guardian Percy in Division.
- Destroyed by: Sean Pierce in "Fair Trade".
- History: Percy took the box out of his safe. Michael fought with him and took the box. The box helped Nikita and Michael with some missions. In "Fair Trade" Nikita traded the box for Birkhoff with Sean. He shot it with his pistol.
Fifth Box:
- First appearance: "Guardians".
- Guardian: Patrick Miller in Russia.
- Destroyed by: Owen Elliot in "High-Value Target".
- History: After Patrick Miller got arrested, Ari Tasarov took the box from the police evidence. He gave it to Amanda, later recovered by Ari after she betrayed him and he gave it to Nikita Mears. Owen stole the box and wanted to trade it. He sold it to Karl Jaeger. After Karl got killed, Owen destroyed the box. This was also the final Black Box destroyed.
Sixth Box:
- First appearance: "Pale Fire".
- Guardian: Jeff Shore in Amsterdam.
- Destroyed by: Michael in "Pale Fire".
- History: Michael and Owen took the box from Jeff Shore after they killed him. Michael brough the box to guardian meeting.The box was full of explosives. Michael pulled the trigger and destroyed both boxes.
Seventh Box:
- First appearance: "Pale Fire".
- Guardian: Tim in Amsterdam.
- Destroyed by: Michael in "Pale Fire".
- History: Tim brought the box to the guardian meeting. Michael put "his" box on top of Tim's. The box was full of explosives. Michael pulled the trigger and destroyed both boxes.
