Slowly raising your hands in the universal gesture of peace, you keep your movements deliberately non-threatening. The armored figure cocks its head, the servos in its neck whirring softly. Its four mechanical arms remain poised, but don't advance as you carefully step out of the wrecked pod. The violet-tinged sunlight glints off the stranger's polished armor plating as you make eye contact through the mirrored visor.

You try a simple greeting in Old Temporal, the ancient language of chrononauts. The figure responds with a burst of static-filled binary that your neural implants automatically translate: "Identify origin vector." The voice is genderless and metallic, but not hostile. You notice intricate clockwork symbols etched into the armor's shoulder plates - perhaps this timeline's version of timekeepers?

As you attempt to explain your predicament, the ground suddenly trembles beneath you. The armored figure snaps into a defensive stance, scanning the horizon where the bio-luminescent castle walls shimmer ominously. Your scanner erupts with warnings - a temporal storm is forming, threatening to tear this unstable reality apart. The armored being grabs your arm with surprising gentleness, pulling you toward what appears to be a hidden hatch in the metallic forest floor.

The last thing you see before descending is the violet sky splitting open like rotten fruit, revealing swirling darkness beneath. The armored figure's grip tightens as it leads you down a spiraling staircase lined with glowing runes that pulse in time with your racing heartbeat. Somewhere in the depths below, you hear the unmistakable sound of more armored figures moving to intercept you.