I might be wrong, but isn't this when Washu was 
explaining that Ryoohki is made up of 
the "masses" (those floating globs in the tank in 
Washu's lab; they later assimilate with Ryoohki 
to create her human form)...Washu was holding 
Ryoohki at the time, so I think it's her hand 
that is the layer missing.  From the OVA.