Alpine Visitor Center

Alpine Visitor Center
Type	Visitor center
Location	Colorado, American Republic Rocky Mountains
First visited	Issue 5

Spoilers ahead. Are we okay with that, kid?

Alpine Visitor Center is a defunct rest stop area in Colorado, within the Rocky Mountains. During Pax and her crew's road trip across the American Republic, they make a surprise stop at this location, resulting in a chance meeting with a mysterious new ally.

History

On October 19, 2030, an elderly couple, Linda and Walt, arrive at the visitor center under the mistaken belief that it is still open, based on a twenty years old travel guide. Due to their fatigue from traveling, the two decide to eat at the picnic tables. Sometime afterwards, the crew reaches the visitor center and Caretaker asks if anyone wants to stop, but the crew declines because of the Justice vehicles in the parking lot. However, Noam suffers a headache after sensing the presence of an Anomal, as well as intense feelings of distress. Theo argues that the crew needs to keep going to avoid jeopardizing the mission, but Pax, Ziggy, and Eli insist on saving the Anomal. The three explore the visitor center while the rest of the crew waits at the tour bus some distance away. Linda and Walt tell the party about their travels, but state that they do not know why there are Justice vehicles nearby.

At the main building entrance, Pax can ask Ziggy to phase through the front door, but if Ziggy does so, she finds that the interior is pitch dark and runs into the Justice officers. Alternatively, the party can simply walk to the backside of the building without trying to enter the front. In either case, the crew witnesses a Justice officer flying out of the back door and over the ledge, with a little girl, later known as Girl, running outside immediately afterwards. This shocks Pax, since an Anomal this young would have to be of the post-Broadcast variety, but she would also be too young to be a part of the facility that Eli came from. Pax admonishes the officers for pointing their guns at a kid, but the officers disparagingly call Girl a Deviant. The party fights the Justice officers and Girl runs off. Linda and Walt inspect the front of the main building out of curiosity, unaware of the nearby fighting, and assume that the officers are conducting training exercises and therefore will not try to attack them. The party finds Girl hiding in a bush, but with several echoes gravitating towards her and entering her head, resulting in Pax using the ME-EM to capture the echoes. Pax tries to talk to Girl, who does not respond due to being mute. When she tries to pick Girl up, Girl unleashes a mental attack and runs to another location. In order to calm Girl down, Pax uses Normalize to tell the latter that the distress she feels is normal due to the harshness of the world.

Girl decides to go with the party and lets Pax carry her, but more Justice vehicles show up and the officers attack Linda and Walt out of suspicion. The tour bus arrives and Sai escorts Girl onto the bus, but Eli insists that the crew needs to save the couple while Ziggy argues against that. Pax ends up making the choice, and if she chooses to fight, Linda and Walt escapes while Pax, Ziggy, and Eli fight all the Justice reinforcements, including the earliest possible appearance for a Justice mech. If Sai has the Way of the Fist Coda, she joins the trio in the fight as well. Regardless of Pax's choice, the crew successfully escapes, but at the cost of Justice being more alerted to their activities than before, with more suspicion being incurred if the second fight is initiated.

Physical description

At the parking lot entrance closest to the range station, there is a triangular wooden structure mounted into a large rock. Its top sign has dark blue text saying "ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK" and dark brown text saying "ALPINE VISITOR CENTER", while the sign's background depicts a snowy mountain. The middle sign has a brown background and white text saying "Elevation 11,796 ft." The bottom sign has the same color scheme as the middle and says "Information - Exhibits - Gifts - Lunches".

The gazebo closest to the ranger station has two video phones and three solar panels on the roof. The gazebo closest to the restroom building has several picnic tables. The gazebo closest to the road has a video phone and a brown truck.

The parking lot is large and has some disabled parking spaces, parking meters, and a Justice truck parked in the middle. In the center of the parking lot is a rock and a large light pole.

Main building

The main building has three sections. Its side sections have open gable roofs, wood logs fixed in a grid pattern across the roofs, wood walls, and glass door entrances. The center section has a large A-frame roof and glass door entrances. The inside of the building is pitch dark, and while Ziggy can enter it, the player never sees exactly what the inside looks like. On the side of the building facing the cliff, there is a large wooden observation deck with coin-operated binoculars, a trash can, wooden railings, and wooden benches. There is a flagpole with the American Republic's flag near one of the side sections, and a parked Justice truck near another section.

Restrooms

The restroom building has a dark brown wood gable room and a flat portion of the roof, with three solar panels on top. The support beams and sections of the wall are made of light brown wood. Above the restroom entrance is a red sign saying "Restrooms" in white text. The entire building is surrounded by medium-sized stone walls.

Ranger station

The ranger station is a wooden building with a gable roof, surrounded by short stone walls. There is a blue mailbox nearby.

Gallery

Concept art

Entrance sign

Parking lot

Ranger station

Observation deck

Justice attacking civilians

Trivia

• Alpine Visitor Center is a real location, but unlike the game version, it is still running. Additionally, the main building in the game is designed differently, featuring a larger roof on the center section.