The Almost Principle
From Abracaslop, the fictional encyclopedia
Wanting a thing and possessing a thing are separate departments.
A concept becomes available to the imagination as soon as someone can describe it. Manufacturing remains a separate, much more expensive problem.
Inside the fiction, the Department studies the space between those states. It calls that space Almost. It is not a real scientific claim.
The retail target is a joke about a hypothetical object. The optional applause is a real digital purchase. Neither is a preorder, investment or promise of production.
Story material remains public. Optional support never buys hidden evidence, plot access or favorable canon.