The three designs' screen were distinct in their visuals as well as their complexity.
One of them was extremely intricate in its design with a great degree of complexity in its engineering. It was comprised of a myriad of different layers and materials, with many different components that were both mobile and immobile.
It gave him the real impression of it being a proper machine.
"This prototype, ES-1, is the engineering solution prototype," she explained. "As you can see, it had complex mechanisms that deploy different low-grade magical substances to ensure ventilation, protection from precipitation, a mild degree of temperature regulation, and is able to withstand the pressure of winds and water."
Cæ listened with an impressed expression as she detailed the specifics of the technologies that she was utilizing.
When she was in her element, her nervousness was gone.
Her expression grew more confident and certain as she explained the pros and cons of the ES-1 prototype to her audience.
It also helped that she had built a personal rapport with all of them in the past six months, allowing her to be more calm and composed around these people who she had come to regard as friends.
"…And so, to summarize," she continued, "the ES-1 prototype has a higher barrier of skill and fixed capital for manufacturing and assembly. With all the structural complexity of the product, you will need skilled assembly workers and manufacturing enchanted machines that are able to handle the size and precision of production that we require. The good part is that it doesn't require additional research and development for the materials used."
She shifted her round spectacles, turning her gaze back at the screen. "The second prototype is the AS-1 prototype. This prototype approaches the problem of ventilation and the elements with a pure alchemical solution."
She pointed out the second set of diagrams detailing the AS-1 prototype.
It was a design that was lacking in complexity compared to the previous prototype. Absent were the multiple layers of substances and materials, the intricate grooves, holes, and other lines and carvings fitted with various components.
In its place was a single substance from which the entire micro-housing unit was created.
There was a single label on the substance.
[AM-1]
Cæ's eyes lit up. "This…"
She pointed at the prototype designs. "This is the alchemical solution. It is very structurally simplistic, but materially…"
BZZZT
She switched to a different slide titled with the labeled substance that displayed a large amount of information and tabulated data.
Data that described the causality of AM-1.
"AM-1 is the prototypical substance that I have formulated and will produce with the help of alchemy," she explained. "Since none of you here have a background in alchemy, I will strive to give you a basic run-down on it and, in particular, what I'm trying to do."
Cæ's eyes lit up with interest.
"Alchemy uses magic to manipulate the form of substances," she explained. "Not just their states of matter but also the very substance itself. You can not only change one substance to another, but you can also create new substances, as I have already mentioned. But… in order to do that, there are several conditions that need to be followed…"
She pointed to the substance. "The resulting substance cannot violate the laws of nature. Magic itself is extra-causal, being able to break the laws of nature to a certain extent. However, the product created must still adhere to the laws of nature. These include the rules governing motion and the law of conservation of energy. These are the constraints that all alchemists seeking to create new substances must adhere to."
She turned back towards her fellow colleagues.
"Additionally, for the created new substance to be stable, I need to create what is known as a causal model prepared," she explained, shifting a tuft of her short, blue hair behind her ears. "This causal model is essentially a dataset that thoroughly and entirely describes how the particular substance will interact with the universe. It needs to be extremely thorough, extensive, and all-encompassing enough to contain information on how the substance will react to any given stimulus. This includes extreme temperatures, pressures, different kinds of forces, different locations, conditions, and every conceivable interaction."
Cæ stirred with interest as he pondered her words deeply.
It made sense.
The eidos in alchemy were essentially eidos of change that overwrote the natural forms of the target substance, rewriting the information that described their causality and reality to turn them into another substance.
If that substance didn't exist, then one would need to ensure that all aspects and dimensions of its causality were entirely detailed in the eidos so that it could actually exist within causality.
Cæ realized that as incredibly amazing as the act of creating a new substance that never existed before was, it was also extremely difficult.
Just how much information would one need to conjure in order to create a viable design?
He couldn't even imagine just how incredibly taxing such a process was. Detailing such information for even the most niche of parameters would drive people insane.
His attention returned to Seliphaz as he gazed at her with renewed respect.
As a mageling, he understood just how difficult the kind of magic she was doing, or working on doing, was. It was beyond impressive and far exceeded his imagination in so far as the difficulty of the feat was concerned.
She was literally designing her own substance as she wanted it.
"Unfortunately, creating my own little substance for this project will take a lot of time and effort," she explained. "Thus, although the AS-1 prototype is the least lacking in structural complexity, its material complexity is through the roof, taking away this advantage. An advantage that the AS-1 prototype has over the previous ES-1 prototype is that it has a very low barrier of labor skill and has a simpler manufacturing process. However, one disadvantage is that…"
Her expression grew complicated, "…it requires magical energy as an input. About as much mana as the difference in the value of the starting substance and the final product."
Cæ's eyes lit up. "The Law of Conservation of Value."
It stated that the mana consumed by a spell was directly proportional to its value.
Seliphaz nodded. "In alchemy, this law manifests in a particularly unique way. Since, with alchemy, you're not starting from zero but with an existing initial substance. Thus, what matters is the change in value. You subtract the value of the initial substance from the value of the final substance, and you get the difference. That difference in value is the cost of the spell. And in order to produce AM-1 or any substance, that cost needs to be paid each time you create a sample."
"…Meaning that you will need to supply value each and every single time," Cæ's expression sharpened. "This… this will be expensive."
It meant that they would have to pay more for magical energy when creating the product.
"But the simplicity of the engineering will reduce production time and labor costs," Cæ fell into a deep thought. "But will that be enough…?"
There was an entire field of operational management known as queueing modeling and productivity optimization that was dedicated to measuring manufacturing productivity that allowed one to distinguish which particular method yielded the most output for a given amount of time and magicapita.
It was a niche of business management that Feidin, in particular, was tasked with handling.
"Unfortunately, we don't have the necessary data," Feidin heaved a stressed sigh. "We will have to gather the data once the prototypes are ready to have samples produced for testing and data gathering."
Seliphaz winced. "I-I am working on that. I will try to finish it as soon as possible."
"Don't rush it," Cæ gently told her. "We are not stressed on time. Better be thorough with this phase of development, lest there be fundamental problems in the product that we're developing. But it will be better if you can get it done before you graduate so that we won't have to pay for the labs until the next iteration's development will be commenced."
Seliphaz was using the labs of the magicademy, which Cæ had managed to cover thanks to his membership in the student council. These labs, of course, were extraordinarily expensive under normal circumstances.
They would not be able to fund such labs unless the business was a whopping success, making it worth spending such heavily on the quality of the labs used to produce them.
"The final prototype," she continued, drawing everybody's attention, 'is the HS-1 prototype."
BZZZT
She moved to the next slide in her presentation, which showed a design that was in between the previous two prototypes as far as complexity went.
It was certainly structurally complex with multiple layers and components; however, it also had only three substances and materials that comprised the entire prototype.
"This is a hybrid solution," she informed them. "It is comprised of not just structural engineering solutions but also the alchemical solutions with three separate substances that are artificially created."
Cæ frowned. "Three? Won't that take forever to design the causality models for?"
"Two of them are existing substances already created by other alchemists," she explained. "Of course, we will need to purchase a license since they are patented by the inventors. The third one, I can invent by myself. This path is indeed the most time-consuming in development, but will likely lead to the most cost-effective product due to the flexibility of the solutions."
Cæ's eyes lit up at those words.
If that was the case, then it might be worth it.
All three prototypes had their pros and cons.
It was impossible to tell which one was worth it and which wasn't.
"Data," Cæ concluded once more, this time with more certainty. "We need to obtain data on all three prototypes and use that to decide which prototype we will be using as our final product."
His gaze shifted to Seliphaz. "I want samples produced and tested as soon as possible. Simulate a manufacturing run on assembly lines and figure out which prototype fulfills all the conditions for the lowest price. We will go with that one and spend the next six months developing the product to completion."
Several nods emerged from those sitting in the room as Cæ had decided the path forward and the following timelines.
The business had grown increasingly fleshed out as the product did.
Everyone was acutely aware that with each passing day, they grew increasingly closer to the day when they would need to begin sales and actually function as a business. It felt increasingly serious with each passing day.
It also felt more exciting.
To Cæ at least.
He had always perceived this as merely the means to an end to obtaining the magicapita to obtain the power that he needed to recreate the world order. But he hadn't imagined that it could be that stimulating and interesting to start a business from scratch.
Regardless, his new business venture was developing at a solid and steady pace, growing to the day when it would bloom in all its glory.
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