Ocean Eyes

Chapter - 11

*The week after the weekend camp trip*

"Oh, Mew. I'm glad I ran into you." Professor Itthipat smiled up at Mew in the University courtyard. "I won't be around today to oversee practice."

"Is everything alright?" Mew asked in concern.

"Everything's fine. There's just a sudden faculty meeting I have to attend." Professor Itthipat said. "Feel free to conduct the club meeting without me. I suggest you go over how everyone is faring after the training camp. Practice will continue as usual next week."

Mew nodded his head, "I understand. Thanks for the heads-up, Professor. I'll let everyone know to meet up at the club room and not the pool."

Professor Itthipat nodded with a smile, "Good call. Don't hesitate to reach out to me afterward if you need help."

"I will. Thank you, again." Mew replied. They parted ways, and Mew headed to his next class.

Mew's classes ended early, and he was able to get to the meeting room before everyone else. Looking around, he felt a sense of accomplishment warm his chest. 'Just a few months ago, I thought I'd never see this room again.. Now, I have an active club, and we're even entering tournaments.' Mew got lost in his thoughts.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything." A familiar voice startled Mew from his thoughts.

"Oh! Tul!" Mew smiled. 'How long has he been there?'

"If you're not busy, can I get your opinion on something before the others arrive?" Tul asked, taking the seat beside Mew.

"Sure! Is it another invention?" Mew asked, looking up at Tul.

Tul chuckled, "It is. You know me so well." He reached into his bag and pulled out a small, colourful toy.  "I've been working on this little guy for the past few weeks."

Mew frowned observing the object, "It looks like a kid's toy."

Tul nodded with a smile, "It is, kind of. I modified it with a few new features." He flipped it over to show where he's installed a small camera. "I was inspired by the equipment we saw at Siam. Specially, the recording devices they have to help monitor posture and technique. We don't have anything like that, but I managed to retrofit a camera into this floating toy. It can hold about fifteen minutes of footage. We can use this to better assess ourselves while we do laps and improve our times. What do you think?"

Mew grinned brightly, "I can't believe you thought of something like this from just one visit to a rival school! You might honestly be some sort of genius."

Tul smiled shyly, "I'm nothing like that, Mew. If I were a genius, I would have figured out how to recreate what the other school has."

Mew shook his head, "It's still impressive that you managed to fit a camera into such a tiny toy. Fifteen minutes isn't a lot. But it's definitely something we can work with. Not to mention you did this in your spare time. And that's on top of all your school work! You're... really amazing, you know?"

Tul chuckled, "If I was as amazing as you say I am, I wouldn't have a laundry list of things to fix. I've tested it a few times, and the balance isn't right. It tends to learn to the right unless the water is very still."

Mew nodded, "I can imagine that's not helpful when the intention is to get accurate footage."

"From the preliminary tests, the footage I am able to gather isn't very clear either." Tul replied. "It's also not completely waterproof yet. As of right now, it's far from being useful to anyone." He said in a dull voice.