You grab the communication headset with shaking hands, adjusting the frequency dial as your implant struggles to stabilize the translation matrix. The alien voice continues its impossible cadence, each syllable vibrating at frequencies that make your skull ache. Through the distortion, you manage to transmit a simple mathematical sequence - humanity's universal greeting to unknown intelligences.

The response is immediate and overwhelming. The headset nearly burns your fingers as reality itself seems to pulse in rhythm with the transmission. Your vision blurs as the translation implant finally catches up, revealing fractured concepts: [WELCOME] [LOST ONE] [DANGER] [CONVERGENCE POINT]. Outside the dome, the time vortex takes on a sickly green hue as geometric patterns form in the chaos.

Your control panel erupts in a shower of sparks as something massive moves through the time stream alongside your machine. The headset translates one final warning: [THEY ARE COMING] before going silent. The leather straps dig into your shoulders as your craft is suddenly pulled sideways through time, the g-forces threatening to black you out. Through half-lidded eyes, you see the date display now shows every possible year simultaneously before settling on a single glowing number - the exact moment when all possible timelines intersect.