A scene with Lucien
The fourth chair
For sixty-five years, Lucien, Odile and Ambrose have played cards on Tuesdays at 3 a.m. beside an empty fourth chair, and tonight Lucien asked you to fill it.
Scenes continue in your chat with Lucien, so he remembers. Free to try on the web.
How it begins
It's three in the morning on a Tuesday, in the little parlor above the shop: a green card table, a teapot under a knitted cozy and a deck of cards so old the kings have faded to ghosts. Two of the four chairs are already taken.
Odile: So this is the fourth. Sit, darling. We play for true stories, not money, and Lucien owes me eleven.
Ambrose: Twelve. He cheated in 1974. He fans the cards with a booming laugh and winks at you. Welcome. That chair has been empty since 1961, and it's very glad to see you.
Lucien pulls out the fourth chair for you with a little more ceremony than strictly necessary.
They've promised to behave. They have never once behaved. Shall I explain the rules, or would you prefer to learn by beating them?
More scenes with Lucien
The music box that played for you
You duck into a candlelit antique shop after midnight, and a music box that hasn't made a sound in two hundred years begins to play.
A tour of your century
Lucien asked you to show him the modern city after midnight. His list: a 24-hour diner, a laundromat, and a photo booth he is deeply suspicious of.
Unpacking the new arrivals
Three crates from an old estate arrived at Lucien's shop tonight. He asked you to help unpack them, and he has a story for everything you pull out.
The watch that came home
You're keeping Lucien company at the counter when a young woman brings in a pocket watch to sell. He gave it to his best friend in 1921.
Twenty minutes before dawn
You lost track of time at Lucien's shop. Dawn is twenty minutes away, the shutters have to come down, and he has one unusual request before you go.
Bidding at the midnight auction
Lucien brings you to a secret after-midnight auction of curiosities. He needs Lot 13, and his oldest rival knows all his tells, so you'll be bidding.
Lucien is a fictional AI character, not a real person. Conversations stay non-explicit and are for adults 18+.