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It's called a transponder snail. It's a snail that can telepathically project a person's voice to another snail.

[ Still smirking she watches him out of the corner of her eye, it's amusing how something so common to her lands as bizarre to other people more often than not. ]

What's a video game?

（ that comment disarms him instantly. he'd been anticipating... hell if he knows, 'elephant intestines and string' or something. at that explanation, though, she just gets an understanding nod. telepathic creatures, why not. use what you have. ）

Oh, like a Hell Butterfly?

（ ... yeah, they're a whole thing. ）

The snail thing's weird, but... I guess it could be worse.

（ god you just not ask him what video games are. how does he even start... ）

It's... like, imagine you're reading a book, and visualizing things in your mind as you go. A video game is kinda like, 'what if you had control over what you're visualizing'. You 'play' them. They're pretty fun, but I haven't done much in years.

Yeah, exactly. [ She starts on the heels of his question. ] Like a Hell Butterfly. [ Nami shoots a look in his direction faintly amused, and clearly bewildered. ] What's a Hell Butterfly? Don't say a butterfly from hell.

[ No less bizarre than Hell Butterflies, his explanation of video games keeps Nami confused, but at least this concept holds some intrigue. She likes reading quite a bit, piloting the story of a book sounds like a strange concept, but, potentially a fun one. ]

Do they have video games here? Will you show me one?

I mean... it's kinda a butterfly from hell.

（ like. that's it. that's the whole thing. ）

They're messengers, and guides. I don't use them much.

（ but they are a foundational part of seireitei, after all.

up ahead, there's a small corridor off to one side of the path, and as they step past the threshold of it he shines the light down the passageway, so she can get any extra dimensions she needs. he figures it's probably just a maintenance or access tunnel or something, shallow and unobtrusive. but in doing so, his light jumps across what, at first, looks like a heap of bodies. the flashlight gets switched to the hand holding the pipe with an inhuman speed — not out of shock, but so he can immediately reach out and put a hand on her shoulder to keep her from following him any further, so that the sight stays hidden by the corner of the adjacent wall. ）

Hey, I think we should go back.

（ it's said with a sort of cheerfulness. ）

We've already come pretty far, and I don't know about you but I could use something to eat after all.

[ The hasty way he switches which hand he holds the light is enough to set off
a few warning bells, and when Ichigo's hand comes down on her shoulder unexpectedly, Nami is quick to reach up, her hand covering his like she intends to abruptly lift it off of her.

She's not buying the cheerfulness, especially not after before, but that might be something she regrets after peering around him so she can see the modest pile of bodies. Freeing herself from his hand becomes a very low priority when she's too busy recoiling in horror, face pale and eyes wide as she looks up at Ichigo. ]

What is that? Are those people? [ Nami sounds as terrified as she looks, the hold she has on his hand tightening as she looks past him towards the pile again, the light catching on the dolls' "skin" making it look unnatural. ]

Oh gross.

（ given his familiarity with urahara's gigai, even realizing they're fake doesn't really make the situation any better, and he steps in between her and the pile without preamble as she peers in. ）

Don't look. I'll check, just stay there.

（ there might be real people in there somewhere, or at least sentient ones. he's not going to just walk away, not when there could be someone in front of him that needs help.

he can't use kido, can't summon zangetsu, and his quincy powers are too unstable — so what he does instead is set the pipe down against the wall on his way in and press a cut into one palm with his thumbnail, and then use the blood to call forth a cero. a small, hypercondensed ball of vivid energy manifests in one hand, brilliant crimson, casting a pallor over the bodies as he picks his way towards them. if nami has an ounce of spiritual sensitivity, she might find herself feeling suddenly weak at the knees.

up close, he can tell — they're anatomically correct dolls in a variety of gender configurations, the plastic-y sheen of their skin almost more horrifying in the light of the cero. despite his squeamishness about all things naked and female, his jaw is set as he works and there's no trace of embarrassment here as he tries to sort through the pile, moving the bodies aside with a physical ease that doesn't quite make sense given his size. he treats them carefully — almost all the shinigami he knows have used a gigai at one point or another. ）

I don't... I think they're just ... empty?

（ okay but he has not considered 'sex doll' yet, actually. ）

[ For the time being, she does as he asks and hangs back, staring after Ichigo, even going so far as to take a few steps back once he sets the pipe down and does something to his hand that floods the tunnel with crimson light. He's already told her he's not human exactly and she's been around Devil Fruit eaters long enough to know that means unexpected, random things can happen. Unfortunately, that knowledge doesn't do much to diminish her surprise, leaving her glued to her spot and wincing when he moves the first body aside.

The terrifying thought of these things springing to life keeps her body rigid with tension as she takes her first step closer, followed by another, before shaky hands grasp hold of the pipe he's set aside. Holding the weapon in the middle, as a staff fighter like her would she stares over Ichigo's shoulder, repulsed by the lifeless figures and their disconcertingly jiggly breasts. ]

We should go.

[ Nami's free hand goes to his shoulder, still staring at the figures on the ground in a mixture of fear and disgust. ]

I don't think they're supposed to be magic or anything. [ An ornery-looking cock sticking up between the legs of one doll off to the side makes her scrunch her face up in dismay. ] I think um, I think you should wash your hands.

What?

（ hang on, he needs to go on a character journey about this. he looks at her. and then back to the dolls. and back?? to her?? and then, as if for the first time, the particularities of the genitalia actually seem to register, and he. um. ）

（ immediately wipes his hands on his pants! thanks! several times! he's going to burn them actually!

the cero is snuffed out, and the pressure from than energy is gone as if it never was. ）

Ahhhh, what the hell?! What is wrong with these people? That's so fucking gross!

（ oh he is several shades of cherry tomato red right now as he scuttles backwards to their original hallway not entirely unlike a dog scampering away from the scene of a crime with its tail between its legs. he is never! ever! getting that image! out of his head! ）

Hey! Don't leave me, you idiot! [ Yes, it is gross, and no, she cannot fault him for scuttling off in horror, but does he have to take all the light with him when he goes?

Still hanging onto the pipe, Nami darts after him, back into the relative safety of the original tunnel, sticking stubbornly to his side whether he tries evading it or not. ]

Come on, let's get out of here. I got everything I need. [ And so many things she did not want! ]

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