"I don't study human subjects," Raine said, a little harshly. The Desians did, but just because she was a half-elf didn't mean she was anything like them. She knew there was virtually no way Alita could be thinking of them, but it was another automatic reaction born from years of hating what she was.

Trying to sound calm again, she went on, "It is entirely possible her body is different. Unlikely, if she's telling the truth about it feeling the same, but something like being forced into a new body might well have changed her physiology."