( Don't they say the quiet ones who don't look like they'd be into that kind of thing are the exact ones who are? She's not in the headspace to make the joke.

Instead, Elise gingerly fingers the area around it, void of any markings even though it's irritating the piss out of her regardless. )

Maybe it's like the alien abductions they talk about on movies...this is an alien world, so it's pretty likely. The people that did it...that's what I really want to know. The government doesn't seem to like them either, so they're out of the question.