"Fine.", Overseer McNamara declared. "For the people."

"Did you really have to do that to that man?", Old Man Stockton interrupted.

"I don't believe that particular synth is what someone should mean by 'man'.", the General replied. "For those that should be considered...Well, George Washington had to free America before Abraham Lincoln could free the slaves."

Roxxy raised her hand. "That isn't focused audio of a lot of zonks on the head."

"Maybe not.", the General acknowledged. "But we have to set what rights in the Commonwealth are before we can begin to decide who has them."

"And as to that."

She had tricked the room into being quiet by approaching her original seat in silence. The spell stuck when all the others took their seats.

"As you know, I was a lawyer.", the General reminded. "Now, I still am."

And with that she started passing out papers to the delegates.

"I want to ensure that everyone's rights are respected in the Commonwealth. Some sociologists might say that government is to do what the private citizenry can't. But in a government for the people, I think that the government only exists to protect rights.", she explained.

"So first off...

"The Right to Minutemen Protection: Every Commonwealth citizen, identified and identifying as such, shall have access to the protections offered by the Minutemen. As this right is non-exclusionary, all citizens have the ability to aid the Minutemen in bolstering its protective capabilities from personal service to material support to whatever in kind as productive."

"Wait, what?", Geneva interrupted.

The General nodded her head. "Instead of a constitution that states all the powers that government has over people, I would like to see and defend one that ensures the rights of the people. So stating government functions as rights people have will guarantee that the only thing we can do is defend them.

"Unless Diamond City has a desire to grasp power over the other communities here?"

The clean room suited representative turned head to face the blonde.

"Um...no?", she replied. "No reason."

"Glad we can all agree that none of us are trying to take over.", the General stated. "So everyone here is in favor of making sure everyone has Minutemen protection? Say aye or raise your right hand."

Kessler looked at the other delegates. Zeke was still whispering to Roxxy, representative of the Atom Cats, as she raised her right and called out "Aye.". Hancock, Mayor of Goodneighbor, though sullen, called out "Aye." Overseer McNamara of Vault 81 called out "Aye.". Geneva, now acting Mayor of Diamond City, rushed to have her raised right hand recognized but didn't want to continue to call attention to herself with vocalizing. The Institute representative had...her...its (?) right hand raised the entire time. Kessler glanced to Old Man Stockton and nodded. Stockton, representative of Bunker Hill, then raised his hand and stated "Aye."

The General nodded. "Everyone that doesn't want the citizens of the Commonwealth to be protected say nay." No one did.

"The right is adopted. See people, we can work together to ensure each others' freedoms. Now all I need you to do is sign in this space here, next to the right printed here..."

After everyone in the room managed to prove themselves literate without falling in to a not quite blind panic by signing the paper she passed. When it was returned she looked it over. "Good job, people. On any journey, the first step is the hardest and already have our first right signed."

"On to the second. The Right to Autonomy: While each undersigned community's residents are citizens of the Commonwealth, each undersigned are independent communities within. Every community of the Commonwealth has the right to decide its residents, it's local laws and enforcement, and economy without undue interference."

"Really?", McNamara exclaimed. "Because that helps my people so much. Most of us don't know much about the surface and those who dwell here. If I went back and told my people that everyone wanted in, we might have to pull out completely."

"Actually, this is a caveat to protect against the Institute.", the General informed. "You've seen how effectively the Institute...has behaved before. We're here to ensure peace. Therefore, this holds the Institute to not interfere with anyone else."

"Can I ratify that now?", Geneva interjected. "Piper's going to blab about what just happened before I get to talk to anyone. I really need that to keep Diamond City from...well, riots in the streets."

"But what about ghouls?", Hancock pointed out. "If any community can kick out who it wants to, then what keeps them from kicking out people because of the smoothness of their skin?"

"I don't care, I want the Institute to keep its synths to itself.", Geneva countered.

"Same here.", Kessler said.

The General turned to Hancock. "Think of it this way. What if the Slog were a community that signs on later. Would you want a bunch of people who were the ones that forced them out of Diamond City to be able to just move in vote against anything anyone else wanted? We're not living in a metropolis where we have to keep checks and balances just to not create an underclass. Communities know each other."

"I disagree too.", Roxxy declared. "If someone wants to move, they should be able to."

"So if someone thought machinery, such as power armor, was a frivolous and shouldn't exist then you wouldn't mind them moving to the Atom Cats garage.", the General concluded.

"We didn't say all that.", Zeke objected.

"So no matter who was trying to become an Atom Cat, you'd want to vet them first.", the General observed. "Make sure they cut the mustard."

"Well...", Roxxy looked to Zeke. "Sure. But that doesn't mean they couldn't come."

"And nothing about this right says they can't. The Atom Cats could let whomever they want into their community, whenever they choose.", the General assured.

"Yeah, we can't have any squares bending us out of shape.", Zeke agreed.

"So all in favor raise your right hand or say 'aye'.", the General barely finished before she had unanimous 'aye's chorusing.

"Thank you. Moving on-", the General continued after a signature next to the right.

"Right of Communal Defense: Minutemen will declare roads for safe passage and protect from all areas of danger by the best means available."

Hancock looked at her. "I'm not that put out of it. Isn't that the same as number one?"

"Not really.", the Institute representative said in a clearly feminine voice. "The Right to Minutemen Protection establishes that citizens of the Commonwealth are indeed people with rights. This holds the government accountable to those people. It also prevents any one of our communities, including us at the Institute, from claiming Commonwealth holdings for ourselves."

"Oh.", the delegates stated in unison. "Aye."