"Even 'robots' -" The word (along with the entire class of prejudices and expectations that go along with it) is foreign and strange to her and the air quotes are unmistakable even if she's never going to be someone who emphasizes them with a gesture - "can learn."

At which point she pauses and considers him again. Looks him over. (She has to look up at him slightly, in fact.) Thinks about this, but doesn't (yet) say what she's thinking.

"... but there's no substituting for eggs."