Jason thought back to the anomalous bearskin from before. "If you can cause the things I see around me in this obscene hovel, then surely you can return my father to life?" he asked.
The device laughed. Think of that: a glowing thing of shifting tiles LAUGHED.
"The aging Marchase knew not what strange powers he drew forth with his strange designs. As you can see, even in his madness he could not accept it. But yes, if you wish me to resurrect that fool, then it will be no great effort on my part. Perhaps you are a fool, too. He will be just as he was before he fashioned that wretched noose."
"Must he be JUST as he was? At such an unseemly moment? You offered to change my own age, after all. Is his beyond your reach?"
"Perhaps you are not such a fool, Son of Arling. Have you envisioned your own uses for my power already?"
"I have cared for that man night and day for years. He became more feeble and less sane with each passing day, and having squandered our fortune on these perverse contraptions of his, he had none left but myself to meet his needs."
"Ah, I see," said the Machine. "So you wish for him to return to a younger more capable state. Yes, I can do this."
"Marvelous," said Jason. "He will be the one to care for me for once."
"Oh?" said the Machine. "I was not expecting this. You also wish to return to your own former state? You wish to be a child once more?"