Cid and the other researchers that came with them have settled around, set their measurement instruments up, and gotten to work with similar analyses.

"Simple?" wonders Cid.

"It feels like all you need is to create a sufficiently pure set of foci of the four classical elements and filter the four layers of the shield through them to warp its shape and create passage."

All the researchers stopped what they were doing to stare at him, gobsmacked. "First, my friend, that is not simple at all. Second, did you manage to discern that from just looking at it?"

"I... wasn't technically looking, per se..." This is still his jam, though, and he's much more comfortable suffering the stares of people if it's about magic. He shuts his book and hops to his feet in one motion. "But yeah it's simple, you grab crystals of sufficient purity, attune them to the right side of the spectrum—using ice and lightning as catalysers can help, they naturally occur in astral and umbral states much more often than otherwise and since they won't themselves be foci they don't even need to be pure, just concentrated—then while keeping the attunement stable you use fine aethersand to create a polished shield layer on each focus so that they don't lose the attunement, or even worse, get mixed." Without paying attention to his body language, he's taken a more and more animated set of gestures, using his hands to accompany every word and even the occasional burst of magic to illustrate his points.

"Once you have that, you arrange the crystals in the proper order, mount a neutrally-elemental opposite-aspected set of aetherial barriers between each pair of them, and send a wave of aether through them in the direction of the barrier. Oh, you do need to make sure the streams of aether are polarised with the opposite polarisation from the forcefield—actually, if they were smart they gave indivisible polarisations to each element so maybe you'll need four different aether streams, I should check that. Anyway, once you do that, the forcefield should resonate with the crystals and then you can just manipulate the shape of the aether you're sending through them—maybe creating a focus construct to do that part for you, that'd be smart—and if you do it right you should be able to reshape the forcefield itself and just create a tunnel through it."

At some point in the middle of all that some of the researchers started taking furious notes while others still started fiddling with the measurement instruments.

"We... hadn't thought of the polarisation trick, truth be told," says Cid, scratching the back of his head. "We did figure out the elemental part—though nowhere near as quickly and precisely as you did—and we had plans to use a more brute-force method of jamming an interference signal through—"

"That has a significant chance of exploding in your face, though!" he interrupts. "Not to mention if the shieldmakers were clever at all they'll have sensors to notice this kind of overt tampering and it'll certainly spring traps. My method—could still do that, I don't know how they'd be able to detect the tampering from afar but it's the Allagans, they knew crazy things—but it will certainly be safe."

    "Can you teach us that?" says one of the researchers, a lalafell standing on a wooden crate so she can reach high enough to peer into one of the goggle-like apparatuses. "We can get all sorts of numerical data but figuring signal from noise is extremely difficult and we don't have automatic ways of separating stuff like that—I think your theory that the four layers have separate polarisations is right, we didn't think of crossing elemental data with it..."

"Oh, uh... I'm not much of a magitek engineer," he says, and he manages to look guilty about this, as if the fact that he's not infinitely knowledgeable about everything related to magic were a personal failing, "but maybe I could help interpret the data?"

        "I think even an explanation of the magical theory would help," offers another researcher. "The underlying principles, that is, and how you manage to pick those apart..."

"That I can do. How much do you know about arcanima?"

        "Not much..."

"The basic principles involve enforcing self-sustaining spatial structures in your expressed aether, which can create constructs but also tease apart different specific dimensions of the aether..."

Cid shares Otohiko's idea with Rammbroes, driving the roegadyn into a frenzy of calculations to try to nail down a specific implementation of it and make sure there wasn't anything Otohiko missed that could render it impossible (there wasn't). Once they have the specifics down, it transpires that they'll be able to make do with smaller elemental crystals, but they'll need more aethersand. Which is kind of a pain because aethersand is both much more expensive and harder to acquire than elemental crystals by volume, but the added safety and stability of the method makes it worth it.

Otohiko is enlisted to procure those. The crystals are straightforward enough—the Kobold, Sahagin, Amalj'aa, and Ixali tribes will have them and this has the double purpose of depriving them of the means to summon their monstrous murderous primals—but the aethersand is less straightforward.

Neutrally-aspected and—elemental aethersand is—not cheap, exactly, no aethersand is cheap, but it's available, as the regular extraction process from certain special rocks and plants can be done in bulk under the right weather conditions. But if they specifically want aethersand with the correct elemental affinities they're looking at either paying through their noses for it or having to go on dangerous treks to perilous lands during inclement weather around unstable aetherial phenomena.

All in a day's work, if Otohiko is to be asked.

Rammbroes does not ask, and first has him go check in with the Goldsmiths' Guild; he sent in an order for aethersand a while ago, and enough money to cover the additional amounts they'll need for the modified proposal.

When Otohiko gets there he runs into a familiar face arguing with one of the representatives.

"What do you mean someone else already has this aethersand spoken for?"

    "The order was placed weeks ago and we have a good working relationship with them."

"Well I have the money right here already!" The roegadyn places a jingling bag of coins on the counter, which the representative eyes assessingly.

    "We can take this as partial advance payment for a future shipment, but I'm afraid the current batch really is spoken for."

Biggs's face blanches. "Partial?"

Otohiko can't help it, a sudden irresistible instinct takes over his body, he has no control over himself. Really. It is an entirely subconscious act that has him walk over to the same counter and place a bag with about two and a half times as much gil as Biggs's on it accompanied by a note from Rammbroes.

Biggs does a double take when he notices the bag and its holder.

    "Oh, you're here for the aethersand? Right away, sir," starts the representative, but Biggs immediately interrupts her.

"Come on, he arrived after me, it's just 'cause he's the Warrior of Light he gets special treatment!"

    "...no, sir," she says, waving the note. "He's speaking for the party that I told you about which was ahead of you." And has more money, she doesn't say.

"...what, seriously?"

"Oh, hey, Biggs, didn't see you there," says Otohiko with a shit-eating grin while the Guildsperson goes to the back to fetch their shipment of aethersand. "Yeah, sorry, I'm here on orders."

"Great timing," he grumbles.

"What do you need the 'sand for?"

Being asked about his projects, his greatest weakness! "Wedge 'n I figured out a way to use it to enhance airship engines—based on the design you and the chief came up with for Garuda, actually—but the first prototypes will need a lot of it... But it'll revolutionise the field of arcraft design!"

"Oh, well, I suppose you'll have to take it up with Cid, then, I'm here on his project."

"—you workin' with the chief? He went off on a secret mission an' never told us what it was... but whatever interests 'im will be important too..."

"Oh, yeah, loads. You can come back to Saint Coinach's Find with me if you want to ask him whether you can be let in on the secret."

"...temptin'," he says as the Guildsperson comes back with the bag of aethersand.

    "I'm afraid we only have the fire variety so far," she says, looking apologetic. "But perhaps you knew that? That amount would only cover the one batch," actually slightly more than the whole batch but who'll tell, elementally-aspected aethersand's so rare and the prices are always fluctuating so volatilely...

"Rammbroes suspected you wouldn't have lucked into more than one element's worth if you had found any at all."

    "Well, this is the whole batch. It was a pleasure doing business with you!"

"The pleasure is mine." That phrasal response he's memorised.

"...but afore that we'll need to find Wedge. He's gone on his own... adventure to find the 'sand."

"—Wedge went somewhere dangerous without you?"

"S'rprised me as much as you! We got him a bodyguard o' course, he still can't fight to save his life—lit'rally—but even then."

"So what's the plan?"