Your fingers fly across the holographic keyboard, pulling up the Archive's restricted corporate database. The system whirs as it processes your request, layers of encryption dissolving like sugar in water. The hourglass logo glows ominously on your display as the search runs. Suddenly, your screen floods with red warnings - 'CLASSIFIED: LEVEL 9 CLEARANCE REQUIRED'.

You bite your lip, glancing at Mr. Tanaka's unconscious form in the chair. His breathing has become erratic, sweat beading on his forehead as the memory fragments continue to play behind his closed eyelids. With a decisive motion, you override the clearance protocols using your emergency archivist privileges. The system protests with angry beeps before reluctantly yielding its secrets.

The file that appears is shockingly thin. A single document dated 2041 outlines 'Project Hourglass' - a corporate black ops initiative officially described as 'temporal asset recovery.' Your blood runs cold when you reach the list of authorized personnel. Every name is redacted except one: your own supervisor, Director Kurosawa.

A sharp gasp draws your attention back to Tanaka. His body convulses as the memory shifts again - now showing a sterile white lab where technicians in hazard suits examine the black case. One holds up a vial of glowing blue liquid that pulses like a living thing. The memory distorts violently as Tanaka's subconscious fights the recollection, but not before you catch a glimpse of the vial's label: 'Chronos-9.'