I am still missing check-ins for the following tributes:

Toren Kollath
Bellona Peirce
Gear Griswald
Astrid Balan
Haruhi Maki
Adella Kerrick
Corbyn Reid
Amelia Williams
Charles Thomson
Zilla Odbody
Darra Delaney
Twill Chintz
Claodis Omicron
Lily Baudilair
Red Bellmont
Acacia Hazeldine
Clair Ivory

Please see the author's note at the end of Chapter 15 for the check-in question. You can submit it to me either through PM or on Discord.

Trigger warning: a little bit of deadnaming referring to Argen.

Taurus Blackman, 41
Head Gamemaker

Once he shut the door, Taurus dumped and armful of papers on the conference table unceremoniously. Sterling raised an eyebrow, but did not comment. Had it been anyone else, he would've given them a nice verbal lashing about respect and formality.

Taurus, on the other hand, usually didn't care about that kind of thing. It was a long day and after running twenty-four background checks, there was a lot to unpack.

"Who do you to start with?" Taurus asked, straightening up his papers. "We do have a lot to consider."
"Start in district order." Sterling fixed up his tie.

"Right. So the first one I have here is Stravos Brodie. Normal family life, mediocre grades, and he's the grandson of Jackson Brodie, who apparently had mob connections in District 1. Anyways, that group was responsible for all the bar fights that led to gambling rings being declared illegal, but we do have reports of Stravos being seen in them."

Sterling just pressed two fingers against his forehead. "Well, I certainly didn't expect this. I'll have to have a talk with Mayor Glissner and see if we can take a look at shutting those rings down for good. I will not have the district tainted by them. As for his district partner?"

"Elise Starbright's parents and relatives were very open Loyalists and we believe this may have led to her mother being targeted and murdered by rebels. She's apparently very into theatre and acting, not much else to report. Thankfully, no other incidents targeting her based off her support for the Capitol."

"And they were both reaped, correct?" Sterling asked. "District 1 hasn't had a volunteer since Leonidas Argyris two years ago."
"Yes sir, both were Reaped. As for District 2, on the other hand..."

Taurus quickly flipped through his papers. "Toren Kollath. His family had rebellious connections, though were killed by Peacekeepers. Adopted by a neutral family, was enrolled in Claymore Reagans's Peacekeeper training academy. No apparent connected for the boy he volunteered to take the place of and I can't find a motive either."
"Keep an eye on him." Sterling's voice was firm. "As for the girl?"

"No indication was to where or not Bellona Peirce's parents were rebellious or Loyalist, but both were killed during a rebel raid in District 2. Her brother apparently was killed by untreated bacterial infection. She too is also enrolled in Reagan's Academy, though not a volunteer. Supposedly, she has expressed anti-Capitol sentiments, so I want to keep watch over her as well."

"Damn shame," Sterling sighed and Taurus had to agree. "We've given 2 so much. We can't have a Victor badmouthing us like this, especially with so much tension in the country already, so do what you need to do. I trust you to handle this properly, Taurus."
"Considering Honouria, I don't think 2 will be that upset," Taurus mused.

"How about District 3?"
"This is interesting. Gear Griswald is the only son of Oyl Griswald who was a prominent rebel leader and suspected to have been executed, although no traces of his body has ever been found. No incidents or anything of the sort involving Gear. High grades, lives with uncle and mother...that's about it."

Taurus pushed Gear's file aside. "His district partner is Astrid Balan. Father was killed in a factory fire ten years ago, and she has been out of school since the age of 13. There have been several incidents involving Peacekeepers and a public lashing recently. Nothing related to rebel activity, but I'm surprised that in 3 of all places...well, they've always been very competitive when it comes to education."

"Just make sure she isn't constantly acting out," Sterling advised. "How about District 4?"

"We have Haruhi Maki. Nothing too suspicious. Average grades, no family drama, though he does take spearfishing classes. Very involved in the fishing community of Four."
"How about the girl?"

"Adella Kerrick's father owns a trinket store; he's known for collecting beached items, refurnishing them, and selling them. As for her mother, Leona Kerrick went missing nearly nine years ago. No rebellious connections, no motives, witness, or suspects. Very strange case."

Sterling rubbed his chin. "Can you investigate this further?"
"I will try my best, sir."

Next was District 5. Taurus quickly read over Amelia Williams's profile. "Okay, now this is interesting. Her father has apparently not been in the picture at all, and her mother's had employment at a lot of strange places. She currently works in a power plant, and Amelia has taken up a part-time shift alongside her three years ago. And it says her she was diagnosed as bipolar at the age of 11."

"Really?" Sterling asked. "Is that even..."
"I suppose so, sir. No recorded medications or anything that she's taking for it, but it's up to her mentor if he wants to convince us to provide something. As for Corbyn Reid, not too much to say. Still in school, not employment, decent grades."

"How about District 6?"

"Charles Thomson is the son of a very well-known chemist in District 6. His report good is pretty interesting and he apparently is very interested in toxicology. There was a history of chemists in 6 developing chemical weapons to use against Peacekeepers and several labs shut down because of it, though his family does not appear to be connected to them at all."

"We can't take any risks. Run a further investigation to be sure."

"Of course," Taurus sighed. "And as for Zilla Odbody, her father was killed in a car accident eleven months ago. The driver has been charged and 's also at the top of all her classes, so these are some very high grades."

Sterling rubbed his chin again. "Let's discuss District 7. The girl, Miss. Delaney. She is related to a previous tribute, correct?"
"Yes sir. Her younger brother Jonah was reaped at the age of 13 for the 6th Hunger Games. She dropped out of school by the age of 15 and has worked as a lumberjack since. No further incidents."

"Well, we've got that going for us. You said you found some interesting information about the boy?"

"Veles Dragomir's parents perished in a severe flooding District 7 experienced a while back. He's been associated with a thieve guild located in 7 that the authorities have a hard time dealing with. His sister was murdered two years ago. Nobody has ever been suspected or charged."

"Well, they're not rebellious, but I prefer to have a Victor that doesn't have a life with crimes. Please keep an eye on both of them, should they act out."

"Will do." Taurus was starting to feel a little exhausted at this point. "I'm guessing we're moving onto District 8 now."
"Proceed."

"First up, we have Claodis Omicron. All family members were listed as casualties in 8: her parents and three siblings. She lives in the district community home now, but has been reported often sneaking off to beg for money in a rather creative way. Ventriloquism."

"Well, as long as she isn't causing any harm by it, it's not a problem. And the boy?"
"Twill Chintz also has no surviving family members. He's been reported spending a lot of time with a lot of older women or people with wealthy backgrounds. My guess is that he's a sugar baby of some sorts."

"Again, no harm, not a problem. Let's move on to District 9, where we've got a volunteer. What did you find about her?"

"About Lily Baudilair?" Taurus asked. "Well, we didn't find anything concerning, if that's what you mean. We're not entirely sure why she volunteered, but she does have a history of reckless behaviour, usually prompted on by someone."
"You think her volunteering might just be a simple dare?" Sterling scoffed.

"Well, it's still a possibility. And I wouldn't be too surprised. As for Cleveland Garfield, he's the eldest of...woah...ten kids. His parents had him as teenagers. He dropped out of school two years ago and currently has a job working in the district fields."

Taurus shuffled his papers. "We do have an interesting case for District 10. A young woman by the name of Alexis DeAquilla was Reaped. However, we did some digging, and as it turned out Alexis is actually transgender, identifies as a male and goes by the name of Argen. Unfortunately, no legal records exist yet."

"Yes, I was noticing that at the District 10 Reaping. There was a young insisting on that name. Is there any connection?"
"Not biologically. Maybe a friend of some sort. Anyways, Argen no longer lives with his family. Sir, I understand that given the issues we had after Miss. McArvin was Reaped two years ago..."

"Please exercise caution, Taurus." Sterling's voice broke slightly. "We can't have anymore riots breaking out."

"Right. As for Red Bellmont, his parents appear to have rebel ties, however they seem to have disowned most of them by now. He's the oldest of four kids, still in school, no active rebel activity. How would you like to approach this?"

Sterling was quiet for a few minutes. "Let it go. If his family chooses not to associate with rebels, then we won't punish them. Still keep a watch on him though."
Another tribute to keep watch for, but Taurus nodded anyways.

"From District 11, we have Weller Worthen. He had a history as a rebel child soldier, and was released by Peacekeepers since it was assumed he was brainwashed by another commander. We think he might have several mental issues that have yet to be diagnosed. No surviving family, never been to school."

"Well, this is an interesting case. It doesn't look good for us from any angle."
"I'm afraid it doesn't, sir. I'll leave the decision up to you."

Taurus gently pushed Weller's files aside. "And next up is Acacia Hazeldine. Her mother was killed a few years ago in a workplace accident after several safety conditions weren't met, if you remember that. You got rid of the mayor because of it. Her father hasn't been in a job since then, but she and her siblings are still in school, at least. Her twin brother works a part-time shift in the district orchards."

"And now we're down to our last District. Anything I should be aware of?"

"Stryker's files here say to use ey/eir/em pronouns. I hoped I said those right. Anyways, family has a long history of working in the mines. Eir mother also has a history of mood swings, but I don't believe they are violent enough to warrant Peacekeeper intervention."

"And the final tribute?"

"That will be Clair Ivory. Also says here to use they/them pronouns. They haven't had contact with their family in a while, not entirely sure why. It seems like they have been abandoned for some reason. Should we investigate it?"

"If you want, you can."

"Right." Taurus messily shoveled all his papers into a pile. "Anything else you'd like to discuss, sir?"
"No. Let's just take care of everything we mentioned and you need to get back to your arena, don't you?"

"Further investigations, more throughout background checks. Got it."
"Am I stressing you out old friend?"

Taurus shook his head. "Not the least bit. You are stressing me out by not letting me get to all the work you dumped onto my shoulders. Good day, President Snow."

Sterling just chuckled as Taurus slammed the door behind him.

A very wordy info-dump Reaping recap! Did you learn any new information about the tributes that surprised you? Are you surprised that some tributes volunteered, or that some tributes didn't? What do you no think of Sterling and Taurus?

Finally, we're getting into the exciting stuff now! Next up will be the train rides with Stravos, Adella, Darra, and Claodis. Stay tuned for that!

-Vr