The fake acoustic ceiling tiles were gone, and the ceiling soared up twenty feet, with high window slits providing natural light to the former sales floor area.  Exposed beams and ducts crossed the space above.

The three of them (four if you counted Fibble) walked back toward the stock room.  All of the walls creating the small offices had been re-arranged, forming into a large sleeping quarter with its own bath, an attached study, and large kitchen area with two long dining tables.   The stock room had been converted to a barracks, rows of stone beds with a chest at the foot of each one, and a large communal bathroom at the back.  And the roll-up loading dock door had become a wide metal door that rolled to one side like a barn door.

Fuzzy sniffed around a bit, then lost interest.  With a whip of his head, he tossed his green buddy up into the air, then proceeded to chase it, pouncing on the slobber-soaked thing like a kitten before rolling onto his back and dropping it on his belly.  All four feet pawed slowly at the air as if he were half-heartedly fending off an attacker.

Chuckling, Helen said, “I can’t tell if he thinks he’s a dog or a cat.  Never seen a bear behave like he does.”

Allistor shrugged. “It might be something the system is doing.  He seems to… understand what we say.  At least on a basic level.”

A little more exploration revealed that the two public restrooms off the main floor area had each become a full bath with shower and tub.  The dressing rooms had combined into small guest quarters, one by the men’s’ and one by the ladies’, each one attached to one of the bathrooms.   The small stock room behind what had been the shoe department was now a conference room with a long table and chairs and a wet bar at one end.

They exited the area and moved out into the mall, Fuzzy and Fibble trotting alongside them.  The main section of the mall had been two levels of shops along either side.  About halfway down the main wing stood a burbling fountain with what had previously been fake greenery.  Now there was lush grass in a ten-foot radius around the fountain, with several tropical ferns and small trees.  Directly above, the extensive skylights had remained, allowing the sun to shine down upon the entire walkway.

Each of the old shops on either side of the main hall remained in roughly the same footprint.  Glass storefronts had been reduced to smaller windows with shutters, and roll-up chain gates were now solid-looking wooden doors.  The shops on the upper promenade had changed more significantly.  Now there were two rows of what looked like residential units – single windows and single doors spaced evenly apart approximately every forty feet.