Mystery box

One of my friends had presented me with a strange electro-mechanical box with many buttons and dials on it to learn about how it worked. One piece of interest was a blue crystal protruding from it. You pressed the main button and after about ten seconds had passed this blue crystal would light up.

My friends house was locked and hard to enter via the surrounding fences and gates. My friend was in the process of firing a member of staff at the house however he was kept on board tue to making funny noises while he snored. It sounded like Tim Curry playing Nigel Thornberry.