"This session is to temporarily induct a civilian government official.", the General told the representatives. "As I am running a military operation, I cannot have this person in my chain of command yet. Rest assured, I will be giving her all the guidance and protection necessary for her to do her job."
Darcy Pembroke raised her hand.
"Diamond City?"
"Is this what all that hubbub in the middle of the street was about?", Darcy asked.
The General sighed. "I'd like to explain the entire scope of the situation first. But the short answer is yes and the middle length answer is partially.
"I've been approaching towns for some time now to bring them into the Commonwealth. Some of you represent them. We have recently gained knowledge and tactical access to Little Lamplight."
Alan exclaimed, "Little Lamplight is real?"
The General regarded the vampire. "er, Yes. It is real. When the bombs dropped, a group of school children were on a field trip to a cave system. They were far enough into the cave that they survived. When the adults taking care of them died, the children seemed to have formed a children only society.
"According to survivors, they've tried to setup a rudimentary government. There's a doctor for medical issues. A teacher works off of old texts dumped into a computer system. There's a chef that manages what they scavenge and the natural slime that's they're primarily eating that grows on the cave wall. And a mayor that has full control. Citizenship ends/"
"Ends?", Geneva exclaimed, horrified.
"Ends.", the General reiterated. "When a child turns 16, they're chased out of Little Lamplight. At gunpoint.
"And this takes us to the problem. I am not leaving children to fend for themselves in a cave system that borders on super mutants. On the other hand, they will open fire on any adult that they encounter. And I am not getting into a firefight with children I am trying to save."
Avery smirked. "So what off the wall plan do you have this time?"
The General glanced at her. "I did not arrive at this decision lightly. But we can't have children just out there and claim that the Minutemen are here to help. And nearly all of these children are discovered orphans. Hopefully we prevent that in the future but this community will collapse sooner rather than later.
"So I need the council to approve a civilian diplomat. One that will not be confused with someone in my chain of command - because by necessity, she is a child. And the Commonwealth is not employing child soldiers.
"Ms. Wright, would you please come in?", the General called out.
Both doors to her quarters opened to allow the power armor to be piloted in. It however was much smaller, barely the height of a person and painted a bright pink. Rowdy walked along side it, "You gotta strut."
The power armor stopped hesitantly stepping and started swinging its arms. When it reached the General, the power armor popped and revealed the girl. "You're right, Ms. Rowdy. That does make piloting easier."
The General turned the girl around to face the representatives. "I would like to introduce Natalie Wright. I would also like...What are doing Rowdy?"
Rowdy leaned on the child's size power armor in front of the Institute representative. She was turning her head back and forth from the synth to the power armor. "Just cluing the Institute into me being the greatest power armor grease monkey this side of whatever you name."
The suited up synth looked back and forth from the General. "uh...Pleased to meet you?"
"Rowdy!", the General called out. "Please let the council understand the choice they're going to make?"
"Cracking the monk's koans.", Rowdy acknowledged.
"What?"
Roxxy turned to Calvin. "She's yapping about putting on your X-ray specs so you can know your groceries."
"Not you.", Calvin continued.
The General clapped her hands. "As I was saying - this is Natalie Wright. I need for you to at least temporarily authorize her as an ambassador to Little Lamplight."
"You want a little girl to be one of us?", Farenheit asked. The woman reached for her boot.
The General scolded. "Don't throw a knife at a little girl!"
Farenheit scoffed.
"Now this little girl is the co-publisher of Publick Occurrences. She's also been educated in Diamond City schools. She's smart, knows how to express an idea, and has paid attention to the government's policies enough to understand this particular mission. And she's underage by an obvious amount. This is the most qualified candidate for the job.", the General explained.
"The mission that you usually do?", Rachel asked. "Bringing in communities into the Commonwealth is something that you've done in the past. But in this case, Little Lamplight would open fire on you just for being an adult. So you want this girl to be both a child and a diplomat?
"I...I don't know."
"So what would you do?", the General asked. "Leave the children of Little Lamplight to fend for themselves? Have Bridget shoot her way in?"
"Yes, is that what the General should do to court a community?", Zealot Thiel asked aloud.
"You know why I had to do that.", the General responded to him.
Rachel nodded. "Well, I don't know what to do. But...let's say she can do something like this. Won't Little Lamplight have the judgement of children. How is she going to stay safe if Little Lamplight is shooting first and assessing ages after?"
Natalie moved toward the power armor but the General caught her by the back of her coat. "Act professionally.", she chided.
The red head turned back to the rest of the room. "We're going to have a very generous military escort. This will only take place once we have the resources to do so. We're going to run a jet sortie through the path to Little Lamplight. Once we confirm a clear path, we're going to have three vertibirds make the push. We'll leave one in the air outside of Little Lamplight to maintain observations, so we'll know if we have to order her out. This will allow one to hold Little Lamplight's response while the other gets Ms. Wright out. Even on the ground, we have commissioned this power armor and the Marine corps will be fielding two Assaultrons as obviously robotic escorts. I'm not putting a child in danger...if I can help it.
"That includes the children in Little Lamplight."
Darcy raised her hands. "Yes, Diamond City."
"I understand that we're trying to use a child to approach these children.", Pembroke stated. "But a Wright?"
"What does that mean?", Natalie snapped.
The woman took a breath. "You assaulted our water man in the middle of the street."
"He assaulted me first!", Natalie. "Besides he agreed to it. In fact, that makes me more qualified as a diplomat. I managed to cut a deal to slap someone as arrogant as Kawolski."
"uh...huh.", Darcy assessed.
"Did you have someone else in mind?", the General asked.
"Well...no.", she admitted.
Kessler suggested, "What about Meg?"
"That swindler?", the General sighed. "Look, Little Lamplight doesn't have a source of caps. We're going to have to figure out how to spend enough caps to feed, clothe, house, and educate."
"Oh.", Kessler realized. "Never mind."
"I understand that I'm new here. Or should I say 'we're' new'?", Lucy wondered. "But most of us in Big Town grew up in Little Lamplight. Trust me, it doesn't need saving. Sure, there were lean times. Well, mostly lean times. But we learned. We worked. We survived. Just the same as everyone. And when we grew up, we came to Big Town like those before us. Hardly anyone was lost in transition."
The Institute representative interjected. "You state that you were educated."
"Yes, I was Little Lamplight's doctor for years.", Lucy proclaimed.
"Then you can tell me how to mathematically find the volume of water in a lake.", the synth pointed out.
"I said I was a doctor.", Lucy replied.
"Why do proteins hold specific shapes when the genes they are replicated from is coiled and recoiled in the same pattern?", the synth continued.
"Well, I'm more of Red's nurse now and a representative now.", Lucy brushed off.
The suit the synth was wearing turned directly to Lucy. "We as the 'representative now'", in Lucy's voice, "were discussing why Nuka-World had to retain caps instead of printing them with their newfound ability to produce Nuka-Cola. Why?"
Lucy wanted to glare at the synth but she felt all eyes on her.
"Tell me. How many calories a day were most of you able to average in your diets at Little Lamplight? How did you make sure to grow to the height you could have?', the synth asked.
"What's a calorie?", Lucy asked quietly.
The synth turned away from her and faced the front of the room. "If the Commonwealth is to claim any sort of humanitarian effort, whether it's keeping the Pitt from starving when the Brotherhood of Steel irradiates our crops and homes or the Minutemen state that we are all here to help each other, then the General's plan must be approved. Without stalling."
Thiel stood up. "It's not stalling to keep to the way of Atom. We understand that the cave Little Lamplight is in may grow an organism that ingests radiation instead of letting the infinite worlds divide."
Alan stood up. "I do not know about the infinite worlds. But I do know to turn your back on what you've declared to protect is the real path to becoming a monster. And if this Commonwealth by the people is for the people...then we the people have to be for the people.
"The Family moves to appoint Ms. Wright as diplomat."
"We have to care about these children.", the clean room suit bound synth declared. "The Institute seconds."
"You care. You feel for them.", Faraday pointed out.
"I'm not sentient! You broken heap of junk.", the synth spat. "For the Institute to prove that its interests and the best interests of the Commonwealth overlap, then we have to vote the way that shows that. And proving that the Commonwealth is concerned about its own common welfare is only logical.
"So once in your Institute given functioning at least pretend that we're built to calculate a correct assessment."
"Oh, don't worry.", Faraday teased. "I won't tell. Well, anyone else."
The Institute representative clenched her fist in frustrated rage and nearly let loose a growl.
"What are you two talking about?", the General accused.
Trish turned from Kessler. "Well, someone's going to have to afford a literal cave load of orphans.", she rasped. "We're trying to count caps before you end up broke. Even the settlement system has its limits. We're all probably taking in a kid or two - Nuka-World down to Lincoln Memorial and Underworld. And when was the last time you've seen a ghoul child?"
The General winced. "Billy Peabody." She looked around. "He has parents. Little Lamplight doesn't."
"We get to see if any of the children have been touched by Atom.", Thiel declared.
"Could someone survive the Nucleus if they haven't?", Avery asked. "Particularly a child?"
"Hold on!", Natalie called out. The adults turned to her, most looking down their nose as the child deigned to talk to them. "This all depends on what Little Lamplight and its citizens want. I'm not going to tear kids from their friends or start telling them what to do. I'm going because I can get them a better future."
The room was silent for a moment. "Vault 88 votes aye.", Calvin said. "Cantebury Commons votes yes." "Diamond City votes aye." "Aye." "Aye."
While everyone else was working out signing a commission, the Institute rep came up to the General. "Mother..."
"G9-81.", the General started. "Thank you for helping with Little Lamplight."
The synth looked up at her. "Oh. Of course. I'm programmed to support the Institutes initiatives, such as your directives.
"That's not what I wanted to ask though. Rowdy - was she attempting to arrange an invitation by showcasing her expertise with power armor? I mean, she has to be aware that a type 1 synth has complexity/"
"No, no.", the General told her. "You're the face of the Institute here. And the Institute is known as the top of technological achievement. She was gloating. Rowdy, all the Atom Cats really, culturally value their own aptitude with power armor. They don't just restore and repair like they do for the war effort. Each one has their own custom rig that reflects their own style. Well...except Roxxy. That's how...
"But Rowdy was just bragging and boosting her own self-esteem. With the Wasteland being what it is, it's nearly subconscious to believe that everything and one's own self-worth is at someone else' expense. So by you not claiming that someone in the Institute was better at power armor, she's won that feeling good about herself from you."
The synth shrugged. "But Dr. Cruz could out do her in a moment if we cared. The Institute just understands the value of tactical synths and keeping personnel off of the front lines."
The General shook her head. "Don't worry about not being able to process it. You're not sentient."
They synth turned to her. "Thanks."