((Some of this stuff is important,
especially for Empiricist.))
Firstly, the blast was magical. People were burned far worse than a conventional explosive could have. In addition to that, the shrapnel was from the paraphernalia caught in the blast, there weren't any additional sources of shrapnel that a bomb may have.
Secondly, the blast was caused by a single type of magic. That magic signature was scatter everywhere whilst the other two were not. Presumably the one that scattered was the one that caused the blast and scattered with it.
Thirdly, the blast was magically limited. There was a killzone and an severe injury zone. But that was it. People either died, got badly injured, or escaped with no real injury. The sudden jump from grievous, life-threatening wounds down to bruises and slight cuts was a clear indicator. Even the ground indicated that, there was a sudden decrease in damage to the ground. Something contained it and it definitely wasn't part of the explosion otherwise it would have been more effective. The man and the woman mitigated the blast.
...Wait a minute, the man Kyle is chasing IS that man!
Out of these points, the only bit of data Will hadn't guessed was the last. He begins following, albeit at a more leisurely pace.
"Also, good job Kyle."
"Indeed. And far fewer of us than you might suspect are surprised by that."Will hopes he didn't screw up and make it sound like plenty of them would be surprised.
"Oh sure, feign ignorance. Tie him tightly Kyle, lets bring him in, show him the footage, and if he still denies things, leave him to Marie for a bit. Then he'll sing."
"Twelve percent chance some kind of shapeshifting and/or body-changing magic was used. Separate six point four percent chance of mind control. Estimates, of course. Still, no reason to jump to conclusions, eh?"
"Now now, I can just break his hands and knees. Quicker and easier."
The man stares at Kyle in horror. "Wh-what? Ar-aren't you s-supposed to b-be some s-sort of hero? Y-you c-can't j-just break s-someone's h-hands can you?"
"Not without his powered armor or something. Regardless, he shouldn't."
Kyle shrugs and prods the man onward with his pistol.
"Yes. That is definitely the biggest threat offered by our group at this time."
"Hmpf. Fucking great. And we have no way to check if you are telling a li-"
"So much faith."Will attempts to determine how much of the man's statements, both before Hai's stab and after, were truthful, and which ones were.
<Bismuth basicaly explained it. The security footage shows three things: The man who had the bomb inside his suitcase, where the explosion originated from, died a split second before the bomb went off, due to an unknown cause. There was this man here, who did some weird ass magic motions just before the bomb went off..and appearantly contained it, if he is not lying. Also there was a woman (enter description here), who also did some gestures.>
<Bomb? No bomb. No shrapnel, except stuff carried by the victims of course, and differences in damage done happened too fast, too infrequency. Magic, mark my words...thoughts...whatever. Pretty damn certain.>
Kyle walks over to the woman.
"Why did you do regarding the magic bomb?"
So does Will. Hard to analyze lies if you're not there in person.
"What. He means what."
"That explosion was distinctly magical. You and the man were the only people other than the one who caused it to use magic in the area. So, I'm asking what you did."
"What man? *sigh* If you really must know, I tried to block it."
You might have guessed, but...Will is trying to determine if the woman is ever lying, as he did with the man.
"Please explain further. I need to find out why a dead man's briefcase suddenly went supernova and this isn't helping."
She sighs and conjures something. "Objects like that to block it."
The pattern moves downwards diagonally before being desummoned.
"Neat. Can you alter the algorithms? Or do 3D?"
"This blast was atomic in nature. But why so small... It should be bigger. A lot bigger..." Yomiko further examines the spot the briefcase was before it exploded.
<Those scorch marks are exactly as much an indicator of an atomic blast as a mushroom cloud--ie, not at all. Both are merely associated with powerful, hot explosions.>
"Although I'm not entirely sure who came to that conclusion."
<Hai thought it was the case when she saw the footage, I confirmed it.>
"I know its magic. It's magic based on nuclear fusion. Look. See the shadow mark left from the man next to the epicenter? It required a lot of heat to do that."
"Should I point out that the Hiroshima bomb was fission or that you don't need nuclear reactions for that much heat, especially when magic is factored into the equation?"
"Now, the man dying...THAT I have a theory on. He was most likely just a shell-probably already dead in reality- and whatever was operating him simply used him to deliver the bomb and then got the hell out of dodge."
"Damn good shell, then. He looked as alive as a man on that kind of film can look."
"And? The guy is obviously a professional. That means that I shoot anyone saying they did it for being liars and unfunny."
Will rolls his eyes.
"Defense of the century."
"Have you considered that the perp may have teleported air to throw us off?"
"Don't be absurd, you can't teleport air. Not without some ridiculous specialized ability. Something like that, though? Very possible."
"Besides, do you have a better idea?"
"At the moment, the evidence points towards that. We should continue investigating, but we must keep the likely possibilities in mind--if only so we know what we should try and support, or disprove."
<Wait what. You just now mentioned this to me?>
<Are you fucking deaf?!? There was a bomb! It exploded! I felt it despite being immersed in the server's VR! And we've been talking about it on the bracelets for like half an hour! I thought you were just busy or something, not fucking deaf!>
"FUKKEN NOPE!"
Neferis places her arm on Angerus's, "Please?"
"NOPE, THIS IS FOR HIS OWN FUCKING GOOD!"
"Afraid I have to respectfully disagree, Angus."
"HES KINDA SHIT LORD, YOU SHOULD SEND HIM TO FUCKING THERAPY! I WORKED FUCKING WONDERS FOR KHARN!"
"...Despite the rest of his statement, Kyle, his advice is sound. If given alongside terrible reasons."
"I would understand being put to work if I wasn't around to help but then I am becoming more and more aware that I am a bad person."
Important RP Stuff! Pay attention, kj!"Kyle, there are no heroes and no villains, no good people and no bad. Only people who do good or bad things."
Will reviews the evidence. Which is kinda a cue to go over all the important stuff we learned and all the stuff we're working on finding out.