<h4>Chapter 538: The Ball Pit</h4>


    Once Kat and her ''little sister'' Lillian made it to the elevator Kat wasn''t quite sure what to do. Lillian was the one who would be directing the tour, or at least that''s what Kat was assuming, and the number of buttons here was quite high. Even if the big G for ground right at the bottom was an obvious start.


    The alternative of course, was letting Lillian press the buttons herself, but considering the size of the smaller demon Kat knew she''d still need to be mostly correct. This of course meant, that when Lillian just sort of stared hard at the buttons and they lit up before flickering through them all and settling, not on a single number, but a clear circle. Kat was surprised.


    "How did you do that?" asked Kat


    "With the power of imagination!" said Lillian in an over the top cheerful voice.


    Kat rolled her eyes at the answer. *I wonder how she managed to say that. I guess as a much older demon she''s got a few tricks but… that seems to be a bit more than I''d thought she could manage. It isn''t a lie, but it certainly isn''t true. I really don''t know how she''s stretching the truth to speak those words.*


    Kat didn''t get time to think about it long though, soon the doors were open and Lillian announced "FORWARD!" as the course of action with her pointing to the left actually so Kat followed along, examining the hallway as she did so. The walls were painted with various sea life and seemed to be one continues mural that was distinctly different on either side.


    The ceiling also somehow showed what looked to be the sky outside. Of course, knowing there had to be a floor above this meant Kat knew there had to be some trick, but it certainly wasn''t obvious and the slight bending of the walls outwards at the top made it look like the hallway was opening up into the sky and really stopped it from feeling ustrophobic in the slightest.


    Kat listened to her intense desire to take in a deep breath and found that the air here was just as interesting as the ceiling and walls. To her, it smelled like she was sitting at the beach, with faint hints of trees in the distance and the slightest hint of rain either just past or on the horizon.


    *Ok now that is impressive. Move over air fresheners. Whatever the heck this is, is the real shit. I''ve seen a lot of cool and interesting technology before this that feels like just fancier versions of what we have on Earth but I don''t even have a clue how this was done. It all smells perfectly natural and because of my vastly enhanced senses, if it was artificial, it should have been even easier to tell.*


    "The smell is lovely Lillian, how did you manage it?" asked Kat


    "Hehehe" giggled the ''little girl "I can''t take credit for that one actually. Work done in previous Hubs I was able to carry over. You''d be surprised how much it really helps people rx to give them something that feels natural. Arguably it is depending on your definition of natural."


    "Oh?" said Kat as she kept walking "Where does the argumente in?"


    "Hmm…" mumbled Lillian as she wiggled in Kat''s arms, ying up the ''kid'' disguise a little as a pair of other Subi walked past. "Think of it a bit like… wait do you have photographs?"


    Kat nodded, not noticing that the people walking past weren''t able to see Lillian or her speaking. "Yes of course. I don''t quite see how it trantes though"


    "Well" said Lillian putting on a kids version of a proper lecturing voice. Kat thought it was adorable, and Lillian was smiling genuinely, enjoying the act as well. "think of it a bit like a scent equivalent of a photo or arguably a video. This mix of smells IS real, or was once upon a time. We set up the capture equipment for it, let it capture the scent and then brought it here.


    "It''s just on a loop, so the smell won''t ever drift. That''s the only thing you can really notice is that it loops on the hour, but the transition is smooth and I''m not sure Rank 2 is enough to spot the switch over. Of course, we have to keep it stocked with energy and certain samples but it''s mostly a maintenance free system.


    "That''s why it''s considered arguably artificial. All the smells are real. They exist and you could find where they came from. But they didn''te from this hallway and we are cheating a decent amount to make it smell soparable."


    "That''s honestly really cool" said Kat as she thought on the implications of that. *This is a whole knew branch of technology. Oh sure people back on Earth were trying to mimic scents in air fresheners and perfume but they have NOTHING on this. If I closed my eyes I doubt I''d be able to tell… barring the absence of the necessary sounds. No ocean waves, no trees, wind I can hear but… hmm… I was thinking it would be air conditioning or something but I don''t hear any mechanical parts… I wonder.*


    Before Kat could ponder the implications of that particr thought Lillian said, "In here" and Kat looked over at the door in question. It was an odd mix of easy to see and yet blending in well. The door had a pile of what were clearly stic balls on it but all styled to look somewhat like coral. A quick nce wouldn''t allow you to see anything off but properly looking at it made it clear this was a door and that it was something involving those same stic balls.


    Pushing open the door, Kat was only mildly surprised to see a giant ball pit the size of an Olympic swimming pool. There was plenty of empty spaces as groups chose there little spots around the edges.


    Kat wandered a bit to find an area for herself near one of the edging, because apparently the ability to fly meant the middle of the ''pool'' was more popr then the human equivalent. "So… do I like jump in or…?" Kat let her question hang in the air.


    "Of course you jump in silly" said Lilly grinning, "Doing it any other way would? be boring and that''s not what this is about. It''s about having fun and rxing, though do put me up on your shoulder first. I''m not going to drown and the balls have enchantments to keep them sanitary but that doesn''t make them taste good"


    Kat jumped in as she moved Lillian up and considered that point. *Huh, didn''t even think about keeping something like this clean. Then again… I don''t even know how they keep stuff like this clean on Earth so maybe that isn''t a surprise.*


    When she fell in, it was certainly an odd feeling. The balls parted way easily and she felt her feet hit the ground. It was soft though, and decently springy. It felt like the floor was made of something foamy, simr to the floor you drop down on in Kamiko''s house, though sturdier than that at its bounciest certainly.


    The balls around her seemed to get just about everywhere. She could feel a bunch squeezed around her wings that was odd, but not necessarily ufortable and her tail was sitting somewhere around the top as apparently the balls were solid enough and her tail flexible enough, her weight alone wasn''t going to bring it in all the way. Shifting around through it was an interesting experience, an odd sort of resistance but once again, not bad, just strange.


    The balls themselves went up to Kat''s shoulders where Lillian happily kicked them around with her feet. Of course, with so many balls around, each that was kicked away only made room for more to fill in the gaps rendering the whole thing somewhat pointless from one perspective. However, it felt very interesting on the feet, and Lillian could still take plenty of small pleasures from life.


    "Well this is strange" said Kat "Not bad certainly… but I don''t know I have the words for this. I hardly remember if I ever encountered stuff like this when I was young but I can''t help but think it all feels different now"


    Kat leant back, trying to let the balls take her weight but quickly started falling into them properly when she did. Using her tail to correct herself, Lillian let out a "Wheeee!" of enjoyment at her sudden movements and waited for that to finish up before answering. "It''s not for everyone but it''s quite fun.


    "We have more than one version of this room. This is for the families. We once again have… dirtier… versions of them, of pretty much EVERY room because it''s someone''s favourite ce. Some of them more private then others"


    Kat frowned at the ballpit. *You know what. I don''t think I wanted to know that.* "At least they''re sanitary" said Lillian interrupting Kat''s thoughts for a second and sending them down a slightly darker path before Kat pulled right back. *I REALLY don''t want to know.*