Yes...for a price.

5+4-1 Sharp = 8. you choose: they're either busy and can't help, or they can help but you owe them a favor.

Fate Roll: Does Phuong choose to have him help? Very Likely, CF 6.

Result: 64 (Yes)

"Come in!" a male voice calls. Phuong pushes open the door and enters.

Dr. Rupert Heath, a tall, slender man with salt-and-pepper hair and twinkling blue eyes behind wire-framed glasses, sits behind his desk. He's in his shirtsleeves, his brown sport coat hanging on a coat rack nearby, and he leans back with a smile as Phuong enters. "Ah! Ms. Marie." His cultured British accent makes her name sound plummy and warm.

"Dr. Heath." Phuong smiles and shuts the door behind her, and as soon as it's closed her smile drops. "Teacher. Did you see the photos I sent?"

"I did, yes. Quite disturbing, eh? Something is rotten in the state of Meadowfield, to be sure. You and the Hero are taking care of it?"

"Yes. Er. We will."

Heath's eyes narrow. "Well, what do you need from me, girl?"

Phuong swallows. "One of my local contacts brought me a piece of the fungus growing from the dead woman's body." She takes the baggie out of her pocket and places it on the desk across from him as she sits down in the chair for students. It's noticeably lower than his, and she squirms slightly. "I...I was looking at it to see what I could figure out about the monster, but I don't think I have the right...equipment."

"Hrm." Heath frowns and picks the baggie up, squinting at the little sliver of fungus inside. "Have you taken a look at it through an occultospectrometer?"

"I - no." Phuong bites back, I don't have one, the Beloved haven't sent me one yet. "I just have a few simple tools."

"Tsk, tsk." Heath shakes his head. "I thought we trained you to be resourceful, girl."

"I - I am!"

"You've never been great at lateral thinking, Phuong." Heath shakes his head sadly. "Too rule-bound. Sometimes, a field agent of the Beloved has to get creative. I know you have a hand magnifier, at least, right?" Phuong swallows, nods. "So why not enchant that to work as an occ-spec? You could've used Thurmgood's Matrix to power the device, at least for long enough to get the information you're looking for. Or, hell, consider Ptolemy's Spatiotemporal Fold - why even bother with a device when you could just use that to get a vision of the moment of the fungus's creation?"

"I..." Phuong flushes slightly and drops her eyes. "I guess I don't jump straight to the occult. It's always risky, after all."

"Hmph. For most people, yes, but you're a gifted occultist, Phuong. And frankly you're far better at that than you are at most mundane analyses. You ought to know by now to play to your strengths."

"I'm sorry, Teacher."

Heath sighs, a look of disappointment clear on his face. "Well, I can do some examination of my own. I'll let you know what I find. But frankly I expected better of you, Phuong. You're a full member of the Beloved now, you need to start solving these problems on your own."

"Yes, Teacher." Phuong grits her teeth slightly as she nods her head, anger and shame mingling in her chest. "Thank you, teacher." She stands to go.

"Hold on a minute."