((go look up theory of 3d time, it's really interesting and it might be another step towards understanding everything fr fr :3))

Viktor had never believed in the big bang.

In a manner of speaking, of course. He believed in the creation of the universe, that was obvious enough. But he didn't believe it was a bang. No, for Viktor, it had started quietly, silently. Like a drop of water on the end of a leaf. Or a shooting star. There had been no sound, only light.

The lab had been quiet, too, when the last equation was solved. No big sound, no big cheer. Only a breath of relief from his lips and a shy smile from his team. For thousands of years, humanity had puzzled over the question. And now, in his trembling hands, lay not just a finished problem, but the answer to everything.

Time had always been the outlier. Looping, fraying, inconsistent. But three-dimensional time, modeled and layered, suddenly fit. Kletetschka had been right, even if it took years to prove his theory. It was a lattice, a framework, and space constructed itself around it. And somewhere in that lattice, Viktor realised, the universe listened back.

He barely had time to grasp the implications before the sky opened.

That had been quiet, too. No storm, no lightshow. No alien spaceships or laser beams coming to destroy earth. Something just shifted, like the wind on a summer afternoon. There had been a simple announcement from NASA that day, broadcasted to every screen across the globe. Please stay calm.

It was a good thing the military hasn't immediately decided to blow the ship up. Even from down on the ground, it was clear to anyone with eyes that they'd never even come close to breaching the odd metal structure. But that wasn't the only reason. Because a few days later, Viktor got a call from a panicked director, where only five words actually registered in his mind. They're coming down to see you.

It had been the silence after the call that made him realise the implications of what he had just heard. Him. Coming to see him. As if it was somehow all thanks to little old Viktor that all of this happened, and not centuries of trial and error. But then again, he was the one who finalised. He was the one who solved it, in the end. Him and his team of brilliant minds.

A very precise spot had been picked out for the meeting. Of course, as a precaution, despite the total lack of aggression from the visitors, Viktor had been assigned a group of bodyguards. And of course, ever welcoming, he had been given armfuls of gifts to offer to whoever would come off the ship.

Most of them had come from his team. A few pictures, Polaroids from the time spent in the lab. A box of chocolates. A homemade cake. A little figurine of a dog, crudely painted in shades of pink and purple by the daughter of one of the seniors. And then things from NASA. A starmap with the names of all the constellations. A recording of Apollo 11. And a bouquet of flowers.

For a quiet, foolish moment, he let himself hope that whoever it was had found the golden record.

The hatch of the ship opened. Their was no pressurised hiss, only a silent glide. And you walked out, sun glaring on your odd skin. It was beautiful, and weird, and Viktor almost felt like he could cry.

He offered you the bouquet first, hiding the slight wetness of his eyes behind it. His hands still shook when you delicately took it from him.

"Welcome to earth."