"Everyone freeze!", the General shouted. As she stood up and walked to the delegates, she continued. "Both the Pitt and the Lincoln Memorial are out of order." She pointed at Faraday. "Shut up." She pointed at the Institute representative who had risen. "You will find yourself back in your seat or you will find yourself in pieces being shipped back eternally to an Institute that no caravan hand can find."

"You and you.", she commanded the two representatives behind the motion. The General pointed at the ground in front of her. "Right here. Right now."

Both came up to the General. But Alejandra started talking first. "When the Lincoln Memorial was taken into the Commonwealth, it was with promises of freedom from Brotherhood of Steel oppression. You, you personally General, assured us that the Minutemen worked for the civilians in the Commonwealth as public servants."

The General fixed her with a glare. "Does the Lincoln Memorial acknowledge that they were out of order?"

"General, I/"

"You will answer yes or no.", the General carefully explained. "Does the Lincoln Memorial acknowledge that they were out of order in taking this council off of itinerary and away from previously drawn up business?"

"Well, yes/"

The General raised her hand. When Torres was cut off, she slowly closed her fingers to her thumb mimicking a shut mouth.

She turned to Milly. "And does the Pitt ack/"

"Yes, ma'am.", the representative nodded.

The General glared at each of them in turn. "Back to your seats."

She spun on her heel and walked to the wall the seated delegates were facing. She leaned against that wall and folded her arms. "At least we still don't need a sargeant at arms." Only the Institute representative and Whitaker had the education to laugh. Well, Faraday did not have the inclination.

The General explained. "We already know this isn't some raider gang and whoever survives gets what they want, at least in the right now. And we all know that because we all, no matter what Faraday may think of other communities of the Commonwealth, are better people in that.

"Because of that, you two tried to surprise everyone with a vote against slavery and try to paint anyone who didn't vote for it as pro-slaver. Let's even forget the political reality of the special circumstances of Acadia and the Institute for the moment. You didn't even put this up for debate. So all the flaws in what you did could have made it into the binding document of our government if you were in order."

Alejandra stood up again. "There's no flaws in protecting people from slavery. Don't hide behind whatever the Institute and Acadia have going on. You just don't want to deal with stopping your expansion in light of the Brotherhood of Steel trying to kill everybody. Well, freedom isn't going to wait. So just because you want to include criminals like the Gunners and the Triggerman as a bribe for not warring against you, doesn't mean we're going to wait either."

Trish waved her hands. "Hey, we ain't never put no collar on nobody.", she objected.

The General uncrossed her arms. "Your first flaw was the word 'person' when our government has no precedent or expressed definition of what that means. Does that mean you can keep Trish on a leash as long as your community's skins are smooth? The late Mayor Hancock, representative of Goodneighbor, who helped found the council you're seated on and my friend went feral saving his constituents from the Rains. What if Faranheit hadn't put him down but caged him, hoping that she could bargain with the Institute for some cure that doesn't exist? You'd have me kill her for not killing him? Faraday's not even sentient. Oh - you didn't mean it like that? Well, maybe if you shared it with someone that had completed their G.O.A.T., then Whitaker could have spotted that for you. Or Trish. Or Faraday. Or the Institute. Or the other members of a shared civilian government!

"What about trials? Your new right didn't mention anything about that. So you want people turning in dead bodies to whomever they want to trouble with them and walking away because they said "Minutemen must of shot them for being slavers.". No explanation, no record, nothing. That we already have a right that garauntees communities to set their own laws, which may include evidence based trials to keep from harming the innocent was completely ignored - because you would have me lead troops into such a community and shoot up the place regardless of what facts we may be unaware of?

"You didn't define 'captor' either. Trish may not have ever collared anyone but we're all very certain she's pushed a lot of MENTATS on clear addicts in her day. Have you ever huffed JET? Where did you get it? Some other citizen of Lincoln Memorial? You want me to murder them too? Oh! But you said captors, plural. So any single kidnapper could do whatever he wants with a child until it grows too old or too starved for his purposes and that's just fine with you. What if that same child was to throw a tantrum about how they don't want to learn how to read and the parents keep that child in the house. You don't mind the orphan either, huh? Or us, not you, making orphans.

"Sit down and shut up until someone smarter than you asks you a question."

Torres crossed her arms and stewed in her chair.

"As for the rest of you. She is right that the council runs the government, not the Minutemen. As long as it's not a breach of the Constitution that we all agreed on when signing up to be the Commonwealth, a matter should be decided by the people. Granted, I was a lawyer before the bombs and had a pre-war globally renowned education. And I see more than enough reason why not to do this. However, the motion was made and another community seconded it.

"Vault 81?"

"Huh?", Witacker asked.

"On the motion to accept the seventh right of the Constitution being, and I quote, "Any person held against their will will be freed from their captors and their captors will be executed by the Minutemen.". Aye or nay. Yes or no?"

"Oh.", he realized. "um, Not like that. Unfortunately, no."

"Look alive, people. If you're going to have comments during the vote, we'll never get the vote done. Due to the communities acting out of order, that was ruined as well."

"Diamond City?"

"Nay.", Darcy replied.

"Goodneighbor?"

"No.", Faranheit said.

"Bunker Hill?"

"Yay.", Kessler voted. "Anything to protect a caravan."

The General nodded and shrugged.

"Atom Cats Garage?"

Roxxy swayed in her chair. "Ghouls cut the mustard.", she croaked. "Nay."

"The Institute?"

"Nay. I'm sorry.", the suit encased representative replied.

"I thought you weren't sentient enough to feel sorrow.", Faraday teased.

"Order! Vault 114?"

"Nay.", Trish rasped.

"Far Harbour?"

"Nay.", Avery replied.

"Acadia?"

"Yay!", Faraday yelled.

"The Nucleus?"

"Nay.", Thiel said.

"Ark & Dove Cathedral?"

Jimson sat motionless and silent. Then, "Is there anything besides yes or no? Like a refusal to vote or an opting out?"

The General blinked. "There's 'abstain'. It means you are not using your vote, even after the vote is closed."

The man nodded. "Nay."

"Hubologist's Camp?"

"Nay. Not like this.", Rolanda admitted.

"The Pitt?"

Milly nodded. "Ghouls, synths...didn't you have a super mutant that served as a Sheriff? We didn't think this through. Nay."

"The Republic of Rosie?"

"Nay.", voted Rachael.

"Canterbury Commons?"

"I disagree with Bunker Hill.", Derek stated. He turned in his seat to Kessler, "We are going to revisit this though.

"Nay."

"Lincoln Memorial?"

"Yay!", Torres spat.

"Underworld?"

Quinn could have been a corpse for a moment. "Abstain. Will revist.", he croaked.

"With a full house, motion fails.", the General announced. "er...13 to 3."

"Now can get back to business?", she asked.

Torres stood up again. "So that's just it. You're going to let Paradise Falls in just as easily as Canterbury Commons?"

The General fixed her stare on her once again. "Paradise Falls is currently operational?"

"Yes!", she shouted emphatically.

"Despite the Brotherhood of Steel having operational oversight of the territory."

"Yes!", she yelled. Other delegates from the Capitol Wastes nodded.

The General strode up to her. "You're going to mark exactly where this abomination is on my Pip-Boy.", she instructed. Alejandra pointed out exactly where Paradise Falls was on the map of the Capitol Wastes. The General looked into her eyes, even if they were hidden by WRAP AROUND GOGGLES. "I can't promise a lack of collateral damage."

"Can you promise freedom?", the other woman challenged.

"Or death. But mostly death."

Torres reached out her hand. The General shook it. She walked back to the front of the room but stopped next to the Institute delegate. The red head placed a hand on the surface suit. "I want a way to disable a slave collar."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Now?", the General asked again. "Can we get back to scheduled business?"