Beacons of Love

Beauty and the Beast

Business was booming. Maybe a little too booming.

"Another system crash this morning," Randi lamented as she checked on her overtaxed site. Such was becoming a regular annoyance.

"Don't sweat it." Coco never seemed overly phased by the early struggles. Randi was just glad she and Velvet had offered to help with tech support. Setting up the server in CFVY's room also meant added security against a certain team leader's sabotage attempts. The normally quiet faunus member of Team CFVY nearly knocked Randi out of her seat before she began busily typing away, running some diagnostic tool while she reviewed the traffic data. "Velvet's got ya covered. Besides, being too popular is a good thing. Trust me."

Coco did seem like an expert on such matters.

"I thought we were prepared for this, though." Velvet had assured her countless times that they could handle it, spouting off statistics on data rates and other stuff that flew over Randi's head. "You told me there weren't enough students to overload it."

"There shouldn't be," Velvet mumbled to herself, scanning through the results of her scans. It all looked like gibberish to Randi, but she still watched curiously. Something caught Velvet's eye, causing her to pause, then flipping through some notes she'd made before their launch. "So...I think I found our problem," Velvet grinned sheepishly. "Remember how we sent out your ad to the entire school?"

"Yeah..." Randi wasn't sure where she was going, but it didn't sound good.

"Well...we may have made a tiny mistake."

"What kind of mistake?"

Velvet ducked her head in embarrassment before admitting, "It may have accidentally gone out to all of Vale..."

"What?!?" Lilly's voice thundered, despite being on a completely different floor than the second-year dorm room. Randi winced, aware that returning to her room would not be a joyful experience.

"That would do it," Coco commented, nodding her head in thought. "Most civvies would kill for a chance with one of us. Heck, no rule against Huntsmen and civvies hookin' up. Happens all the time. Just means a bigger target audience."

"A much bigger one," Velvet sighed. "More than three quarters of your members aren't students."

Randi pinched the bridge of her nose as she realized how much work that would mean for her and Honey. Comparing profiles and questionnaires for the hundred or so students she expected to sign up would already be taxing enough. She knew a good deal of her fellow Beaconites, and could get extra information from other students when needed. Now, she had to contend with the masses of random people in Vale. With the influx of tourists and a delay in the Tournament, she had a feeling things were about to get extremely hectic.

"How am I supposed to keep up with all of that?" Randi wondered aloud.

"Maybe you don't have to." Velvet's quiet suggestion captured Randi's full attention. "W-what if we expanded the messaging feature a bit? We could set up an algorithm to match people based on certain criteria and establish a personal chat between the two. That way, you can focus on setting up specific dates while others take care of most of the legwork themselves."

"Online dating has become rather prevalent recently," Yatshuhashi offered over his shoulder as he continued sharpening his colossal blade.

Online dating? Randi didn't really see the appeal, but then again, her dating life was pretty much non-existent. It would alleviate a lot of the burden on us. Arranging a date was more than just picking two names out of a hat. She and Honey carefully analyzed the responses they received, took the time to determine what traits or interests would pair well together, and contacted both parties. Then, they had to coordinate schedules, decide a venue, set up a reservation, verify with everyone, and follow-up on any feedback.