Poindextercheez

You're correct, this is a convoluted bug that's happening. I did the quest for hogarth to get automech parts, but he didnt give me any writ of conscription. I tried to go back and speak to the woman guarding the bridge, but she and everyone else around her immediately turned hostile after saying "our scouts saw you" - which as far as I can tell will happen if you cross over onto the northern island without speaking to her first. To recap, I cannot complete "for whom the bridge tolls" nor can I complete "the brain benders of auntie's choice" - after speaking to two citizens in Westport, they said they'd go to fairfield if I could convince Hogarth, but I cannot speak to Hogarth after doing the quest for him to get the automech parts, so I tried to sabotage the speaker, generator, and water supply, but even after doing that he still just repeats the same line without letting me actually speak to him. So now my only option is to try to sneak into the Vox, or shoot my way in.