The steady hum of the Landship's engines filled the air, a comforting backdrop to the mechanical rhythms of our journey through the unstable lands of Carcosa.
But my focus wasn't on its miraculous engineering at the moment. My attention was consumed by the glowing matrix of circuits and neural patterns spread out before me, the foundation of a new Cognitive Engine I was weaving into existence, something different from the Foundational Template that I developed back then in Kuzunoha's mansion.
Charis sat beside me, her childlike wonder tempered by an earnest curiosity. Her delicate hands hovered just above the intricate patterns I had laid out, her white eyes flickering between fascination and determination as she tried to follow my movements.
"Is this right, Father?" she asked, mimicking my gestures as she attempted to guide the flow of neural energy into a small cluster of circuits.