Report on the Commonwealth Provisional Government

Report on the Commonwealth Provisional Government, by Head Scholar Jun Long, Commonwealth University.

Book
''The Commonwealth Provisional Government was the first attempt at establishing a united government of townships and settlements within the Commonwealth. The most common retelling of the story states that during the meeting, an Institute synth killed all of the representatives. But is this true? This Official Commonwealth Historical Report will attempt to find the true story of what happened on that fateful day.''

''What we do know is that on August 11, 2256, representatives from the settlements of Diamond City, Bunker Hill, Goodneighbor, University Point, and Quincy met in Diamond City to discuss the possibility of forming a confederate government. This confederation was the brainchild of Quincy politician Hector Patterson. While this would have many benefits for security and resources, questions remained that resulted in fierce debate: Where would the capital be? Would they have a joint standing army, and if so, how would they pay for it? Traders at Bunker Hill were also concerned with the government, as there were rumors that Quincy had funded raider gangs to raid southern bound caravans that refused to pay an extra cut to Quincy. There were also concerns that Diamond City, as the strongest settlement, would have too much power. Tensions were no doubt high at this meeting. ''

''What exactly happened within this meeting will likely be lost to history, as the only representative left standing was a synth. The closest source of information I could find was the lone Diamond City guard that reached the meeting hall before the synth fled. I interviewed Joe Savoldi, the guard that is now retired and working as a a bartender in Bunker Hill.''

''"Diamond City was filled with paranoia about the Institute and synths at the time," Savoldi stated. "So we all feared a synth would disrupt the meeting. Unfortunately, we were right. I was making my daily patrol around the city, which took me near the meeting hall. All of sudden, I heard gunshots and lasers firing. I immediately ran to the meeting hall, took out my swatter, and rushed inside. There were corpses, corpses everywhere. Smoke rose from bodies and piles of ashes. Only 1 man stood - the representative from Quincy. Hector Patterson himself. But he was a synth. He was damaged in the fight, and you could see his synth components and parts. It looked me right in the eyes then fled out a back door. I tried to follow, but he reached the outer field and escaped into the stands. We never found it. And that was it for the Commonwealth Provisional Government."''

''But was it actually a synth? During the daring Battle of the Institute, information downloaded from Institute holotapes states that the meeting itself was actually the Institute's doing through Patterson, in order to make the above world safer. In fact, Institute holotapes state that the fighting was started by the angered representatives from Bunker Hill, who flew into a rage after an argument with Quincy representatives about the rumored raider funding. Tensions finally boiled over, and the entire room got into a shootout - with only the synth standing at the end.''

''The Institute's retelling raises some questions about the common telling of the story, but the fact remains that the Institute planted the synth version of Patterson, meaning that the Institute kidnapped and killed the original Patterson. Which raises some concerns about the Institute's true goals about forming a united government, if they were actually the ones responsible. Another question raised is that Savoldi heard laser fire - yet Savoldi, who saw the representatives enter, states the only representative with a laser pistol was Patterson. Could the synth version of Patterson have lied to the Institute about what happened that day to prevent termination? Or perhaps was this whole CPG a massive Institute gambit to gather influential politicians from the Commonwealth's most influential cities and strongest would-be opponents to the Institute in one area - and kill them all? ''

''While the truth can never be truly confirmed, this report's final conclusion is that the Institute was most likely responsible for the termination of the Commonwealth Provisional Government. As to why, the most likely reason is that a united government would have been a major obstacle to the Institute's likely plans to above ground domination. The CPG was most likely started and terminated by the Institute to discourage Commonwealth townships from forming another one. But, as we can see now, the Institute's ultimate goal failed, as the towns of the Commonwealth have now united into the prosperous United Communities.''