Now based in San Francisco, Warren Ellis establishes the X-Men as protectors of the city. The new team consists of Cyclops, Emma Frost, Beast, Wolverine and Armor, and later, Storm arrives. The X-Men uncover a plot of mutant synthesis from an unusual murder. The killer (designated 'X') is located, fixing and restarting the eponymous "ghost box" in a spaceship. X is defeated but kills himself rather than surrender information about his intentions and "the Annex."