The time cabinet was developed by the Supreme Alliance. It was an unsuccessful device, as it had been based on Sa Yy Findecker's discovery of the double nexus particle, which, according to the Fourth Doctor, would lead mankind into a scientific cul-de-sac. It used the principle of a zygma beam, which if overstretched could cause a huge and catastrophic implosion. Its use could lead to severe and life-threatening mutations. It could be locked by fused molecules, and thereafter only opened by a "time key" in the form of its trionic lattice, a unique element which was central to its operation. (TV: The Talons of Weng-Chiang) Another Supreme Alliance war criminal would, however, discover means to reverse the degenerative process. (COMIC: The Time Machination)