Chapter 459: The Entertainment Industry Bursting to Life

Joshua woke up finding himself face down into a pillow on what felt like the softest cloud he had ever slept in. It took a few minutes for him to gather the will to turn around and get up, but when he did he found himself in his room with his system alarm going off letting him know that it was already six in the morning which was the time he usually got up during expeditions. For a moment Joshua was thinking about turning back around and going back to sleep, but he was already wide awake since he had apparently fallen asleep the moment he had gotten home the night before.

Stretching a bit Joshua got up from his bed and moved his soar body around a bit after days of none stop being on the move he wasn't surprised that he felt like he had gone through months of drill camp. He made his way to the bathroom to get a shower as everyone else in the house seemed to still be asleep for the time being. He knew that both of his parents were home at the moment since they had welcomed them back after they got back from the expedition. Joshua remembered them being happy to see him and his sister back, but for the most part Joshua was on autopilot during the brief meeting. Amy seemed to still have the energy to tell them about all that happened, but Joshua bid them good night and fell into his bed face first.

Now Joshua planned on actually spending some time with his family now that they had the next few days off and it seemed that everyone didn't have anything specific they had to do for the day so it was as good a time as any. After getting cleaned up and ready for the day ahead Joshua made his way down stairs and headed for the kitchen only to see his mother already looking through the refrigerator for stuff to make breakfast.

"Morning sweetie, I'm guessing you've got enough energy now to actually have a proper talk with us." His mother said with a smirk as she pulled out some bacon and eggs. "Next time you go on an expedition try to take better care of yourself. No need to burn yourselves out."

Joshua smiled at his mother before giving her a quick hug and responding. "I'm doing much better mom. Sorry about last night, I'm one of the few people in our group with a large range sensory ability so I tend to stay on alert more than everyone else. I'll try to keep that in mind next time around. Need any help with breakfast?"

"Sure, why don't you get the oven going while I get everything out of the fridge." His mother said as she grabbed a large container filled with milk and some other things she would need to get things started. "We can talk about your expedition while we're cooking. I love my little sweet heart Amy, but I couldn't understand half of the things she was saying last night in all of her excitement."

"I'll bet. She probably crashed right after so we'll need to make sure whatever we make for breakfast will smell good enough to get her out of bed." Joshua said while grinning as he got a big smile from his mother in return. They both knew Amy's antics better than anybody else so they were used to handling her at this point. While they started getting breakfast set up Joshua told his mother about all of the little things they had experienced during their time exploring the prairie. She was surprised by the size of some of the beast that Joshua was describing and a little worried when he told her about the owl and the snake that they had come across, but for the most part she seemed to enjoy the tale.

After Joshua told her about everything he had been up to she started to tell him about how things had been going at the hospital over the past couple of weeks. His mother seemed excited by the fact that a lot of the people she had working under her were starting to pass their test so that they could contribute more. Of course she was still the best doctor around for the time being, but now she didn't have to stress about having to handle everything herself anymore with the way things were going.

The reason his mother was even off at the moment with some free time was because Grace was able to handle her role for a couple of days now. Grace was ready to run a hospital of her own at this point if she wanted to, but she needed the experience and this was as good an opportunity as any for her to gain some. Joshua knew that Grace wanted to be a field doctor so she wouldn't be in the hospital all the time, but it was good that his mother had some help for now while other members of her hospital gained enough education to fill the role as well.

When the discussion turned towards the garden that Joshua's mother and Grace had been keeping up for the alliance at the moment Joshua had to bring up some of the new plants that he had seen while exploring the prairie. His mother almost forgot about the bacon in the oven with the way her eyes brightened at the topic. Joshua wanted to avoid this discussion until he had both his mother and Grace in the same place at the same time. As long as they were both there he could get the discussion over with in one session while also mainly letting them talk back and forth about it instead of Joshua having to get too involved.

Soon breakfast was done and the smell of bacon, eggs, and pancakes filled the house. It didn't take very long for a sleepy eyed Amy to come stumbling down the stairs while still being in her pajamas. Their mother shooed her off to the bathroom to get cleaned up before she could join them for breakfast. Joshua's father was the next one to come down the stairs, but he looked like he had just come out of the shower. The way his father seemed to have a permanent grin on his face told Joshua that something good must have happened for him to be so excited. Well he and Amy had been away for nearly two weeks so he was certain his parents had some alone time to themselves, but Joshua put that thought aside before it came to its eventual conclusion that he knew he didn't want to think about.

By the time the table was set with everyone's food in the right place his sister had made it to the table looking a little more awake after getting blasted in the face with hot water. The smell of the food on the plate seemed to cause her eyes to brighten up even more before she dived into her plate. Joshua grabbed the remote to turn on the TV across the room to see what was up in the hub city. Instead of seeing a news channel he was surprised to see a cooking show on. It wasn't something out of the normal to see in the morning on TV, but that was before what could be considered an apocalyptic change. The only two channels on broadcast before Joshua had left on the expedition were both news channels and Joshua had even interacted with one of them before.

Joshua quickly started flipping through the channels and noticed that there were at least twenty new channels being broadcasted and each of them seemed unique in their own right. Although they weren't as advanced as they had been in the past, for example there weren't any cartoons or well put together movies on any of them from what Joshua could see, but there were a couple of sitcoms and it seemed like some group was trying their best to create a drama series from some strange reason. It was a bit funny seeing people that looked like they were in their early thirties trying to play the role of grandparents on one of the shows, but they were probably actual grandparents for all Joshua knew.

"Um…dad, mom, what's all of this?" Joshua asked while pointing at the television. Amy turned her head away from her plate for a moment as she looked at the screen and could see the awkward play that involved an actor that was supposed to be older lady singing a delightful song to her grandchildren. Amy seemed just as surprised as Joshua to see something different from news on the TV.

"Oh I guess you two weren't here when the entertainment district was opened up in full. It happened a few days ago." Joshua's father said while pointing at the TV. "Right now that's about the best set up your going to see since anyone in the entertainment field is pretty new to the job, but soon enough a bunch of former actors and directors will probably start to take control of it and get some more interesting things to watch going."

"I think they're already having plans to make movies with some of the explorers doing special effects with magic or acting as stuntmen. It should make some cool action flicks once they've got everything figured out." Joshua's mother said with a small smile. "I've been a bit too busy to go over there and check it out myself, but they've had live action plays in some of the new venues that have opened up and even some smaller concerts as well."

"Looks like we'll finally have something to do besides train when we're back in the hub city." Amy said before ignoring the play and getting back to her food. Joshua wasn't surprised that his sister wasn't all that interested in the play so he turned to see what else his parents had to say on the matter.

"That can't be all they've done so far or else you wouldn't be so excited about it." Joshua said as he looked towards his father who seemed to be grinning even more than before.

"Of course, I could care less about some boring pl…I mean the plays are interesting, but there's something else that has me excited." Joshua didn't even have to turn his head to know that his mother had just glared at his father almost discounting one of her interests. "What's got me excited is that sports are coming back!"

"Wait sports? How's that going to work with everyone having stats that make them near super human?" Joshua asked a bit confused.

"Well explorers won't be allowed in any of the professional sports leagues that will be popping up soon, but everyone else can participate and since there is a cap on just how high your stats can go without being an explorer everyone will be on an equal playing field." His father said with a smug look before he took another bite out of one of his pancakes.

"That's not what your father cares about. He's just happy that now that he's young again he can participate in mixed martial arts tournaments once again." His mother sighed as she explained the real reason his father was so happy.

"Now while you and Amy are out there kicking ass I can do the same here and spread the name of our family's martial arts prowess throughout the world!" Joshua's father said with his fist pumped in the air. Joshua could only smile at his antics, but he was looking forward to seeing what changes had taken place in the hub city.