Lyric discussion by Syco 

Cover art for Melting City lyrics by Between the Buried and Me

and to add to my comment below, we know that prospect 2 didn't destroy his own planet, because in Lunar Wilderness, he returned to his planet and it had already been destroyed

My Interpretation

Syco, I agree with you that the "Black Box" is a doom's day device, but this song doesn't say Black box, just "Box." I hate to split hairs, but it could be a big enough difference to matter. If Tommy is talking about the black box, what do you think it means to "sneak into the box"? What does, "the robot has stepped out of his box" mean? Just a thought.

I think now that you're right, that the "burning smell" is reminding him of the moments before his world ended, and...