Dave stood in the empty playground, his white and pastel orange suit bright against the gray morning. He needed to find the right people for his team, but how could he tell who would really be kind to animals? Who would make real promises and mean them? The playground was full of kids, but Dave didn't know which ones belonged with him. Then he remembered the device in his backpack. A small white walkie-talkie with orange trim that glowed when it pointed at the right people. Dave had found it near the edge of the field yesterday, tucked behind a rock like someone left it just for him. He pulled it out now and held it in both hands. The metal felt cool and smooth. He pointed it at a boy kicking dirt at pigeons. Nothing happened. He pointed it at a girl laughing with her friends by the swings. Still dark. Then he swept it across the playground and stopped when a soft orange light began to glow from the buttons. There, near the water fountain, stood a girl in a blue dress with flowers on it. She was breaking her cookie into pieces and feeding the sparrows. Dave's heart jumped. He ran across the playground and marked the spot with a bright orange cone from his backpack. The device had worked. He knew where to build his base now, and he knew his first teammate was close. Tomorrow he would bring his supplies and build a small headquarters right here, with hearts on the walls and a welcome sign on the door. The team was finally starting.

Dave arrived at the playground early the next morning, his backpack heavy with supplies for the headquarters. He had drawn plans last night on notebook paper — a welcome station, a snack corner, and a training area where his team could practice with animals. The orange cone still marked the spot near the fountain. He was setting down his first board when he heard footsteps behind him. The girl from yesterday stood there, holding a paper bag. Up close, Dave could see cookie crumbs on her fingers and a shy smile on her face. She looked at his suit, then at the boards, then back at him. 'Hi Dave, do you remember me? I'm your distant cousin, we met at the wedding between my brother and your aunt do you remember me my name is Sophia.' Dave froze. He didn't remember any wedding. He didn't remember her. But she knew his name, and she was standing right where the device had glowed yesterday. His first possible teammate wasn't a stranger at all — she was family. That should have made it easier. Instead, his chest felt tight. 'I saw you yesterday with the cone,' Sophia said. She held out the bag. 'I brought extra cookies. For the birds. Or for you, if you want.' Dave stared at the bag. This was the moment he'd been waiting for. His first recruit. But now he had to actually ask her. He had to explain the team and the rules and the promise, and what if she said no? What if even family didn't want to stay? He took a breath and pulled out his own snack bag from his backpack. 'Do you like animals?' he asked. Sophia nodded. 'I feed the sparrows every day.' 'And do you make real promises? Not finger-cross ones?' 'Real ones,' she said. Dave felt something loosen in his chest. He handed her a granola bar from his bag, the gesture he'd planned for his first teammate. 'I'm building a headquarters here. For a superhero team. We'll train together every day, and everyone has to be kind to animals. Do you want to join?' Sophia took the granola bar. She looked at the boards, then at the cone, then at Dave's hopeful face. 'What do I have to promise?' 'That you'll come back,' Dave said. The words came out quieter than he meant them to. 'That you won't leave.' Sophia was quiet for a long moment. Then she broke her cookie in half and gave one piece to Dave. 'I promise,' she said. 'A real one.' Dave felt his whole body relax. He had his first teammate. The headquarters wasn't built yet, but it didn't matter. Sophia helped him carry the boards to the spot by the fountain, and together they started laying them out. She asked questions about the training area and suggested they add a feeding station for the animals. Dave pulled out his notebook and wrote her name at the top of a new page: Team Members. When they finished marking out the space, Sophia sat down on one of the boards and pulled out her cookie bag again. 'Do you really not remember the wedding?' she asked. Dave shook his head, feeling guilty. 'That's okay,' Sophia said. 'We can start over. I'm Sophia. I like animals and I keep my promises.' Dave smiled. 'I'm Dave. I control animals and I'm building a team.' 'Not just building,' Sophia said, looking at the marked-out space. 'You started it.' Dave looked at her, then at the boards, then at the notebook with her name written in it. She was right. The team wasn't just a plan anymore. It was real. He wasn't alone. But then Sophia pointed across the playground. 'Is that for us?' she asked. Dave turned and saw a pink cottage he'd never noticed before, tucked beyond the trees at the edge of the field. White trim lined the windows and pink flowers grew thick around the porch steps. It looked like something from a storybook, warm and safe. Near the playground entrance stood an archway made of climbing vines and morning glory flowers in purple, pink, and coral. Someone had built it overnight. 'I don't know,' Dave said. He walked toward the archway with Sophia following close behind. As they got closer, he saw a small table underneath it with two chairs and a plate of cookies. A note sat on top: 'Welcome to your team. Love, Aunt Marie.' Sophia gasped. 'That's my mom,' she said. 'She must have come early and set this up.' Dave picked up the note, his hands shaking a little. He hadn't told anyone about the headquarters except Sophia yesterday, and he hadn't even talked to her. But somehow Sophia's mom knew. Somehow she'd built this beautiful archway and brought cookies and made it feel like the team was real before Dave even had a chance to doubt it. 'She wants you to have a good place to meet,' Sophia said softly. 'She told me last night that you've always been kind to everyone, even when you were really little. She said if you're building something, she wants to help.' Dave looked at the archway, then at the cottage in the distance, then at Sophia standing beside him with cookie crumbs still on her dress. His chest felt full and tight at the same time. He'd been so scared that no one would join, that he'd be alone forever. But he wasn't alone. Sophia was here. Her mom believed in him. The headquarters was becoming real, and it wasn't just his anymore — it was theirs. But that meant something else too. It meant people were watching now. It meant expectations. What if he couldn't make the team as good as they hoped? What if more people came and he didn't know how to lead them? Sophia sat down at the table under the archway and patted the chair next to her. 'Come on,' she said. 'Let's eat cookies and figure out what to do next.' Dave sat down slowly. The morning sun came through the flowers and made patterns on the table. Sophia pushed the plate toward him and took a cookie for herself. A blue macaw landed on the back of her chair, tilting its head at them both. 'That's Rio,' Sophia said, breaking off a piece of cookie for the bird. 'He follows me everywhere. Is that okay for the team?' Dave watched the macaw take the cookie gently from Sophia's fingers. 'That's perfect,' he said. Sophia grinned. 'Then we're really doing this. You, me, Rio, and whoever else comes. We'll train every day like you said. And we'll be kind to every animal we meet.' Dave