You squeeze your eyes shut as the machine plummets through the time stream, the g-forces pressing you deep into the worn leather seat. The heat becomes unbearable as the outer hull begins glowing cherry red from temporal friction. Through your closed eyelids, you see flashes of impossible colors as the machine tumbles end over end.

Suddenly, the violent shaking stops. An eerie silence fills the cabin, broken only by the faint crackle of cooling metal. You cautiously open one eye to see the control panel completely dark, its usual blue glow extinguished. The glass dome above you is miraculously intact, though covered in strange fractal patterns where the cracks had been.

As your vision clears, you see you've landed in what appears to be an abandoned laboratory. Dust motes float through beams of golden afternoon light streaming through broken skylights. The walls are lined with strange equipment that looks both futuristic and antiquated simultaneously - glowing tubes connected to brass fittings, crystalline displays showing equations in languages you don't recognize.

The time machine's hatch hisses open on its own, releasing a cloud of steam. Outside, you hear the distant sound of... is that a marketplace? The air smells of ozone and something else - spices maybe? You unbuckle yourself with shaking hands, noting how your protective suit is now fused to the chair in places from the heat of reentry.