With moving parts, the machine wouldn't have run continuously for twenty years. Something would have broken down. Even without moving parts, the machine wouldn't run forever; the materials themselves would deteriorate sooner or later, or the energy passing through them from the space-time continuum would gradually disintegrate them no matter how strong they were. But for as long as the device operated, he would live without growing old. If it ran a hundred years, he would live a hundred years....
The ruby rolled across the table and fell to the floor.
He rubbed his aching head. He had lived approximately thirty years at ten-minute intervals, but the headache had started and grown in intensity during the last year and it was difficult to recall and appreciate all the things he had done.
The ruby rolled....
How many years had he lived? Fifty? A hundred? He was unable to calculate it any more, and it was even difficult to think about much simpler things. His mind was filled with memories ... millions ... billions ... trillions of endless, countless memories without any sleep to relax his mind ... with no rest at all....
The ruby....
He no longer moved about the apartment, but sat in the chair during every cycle and watched the ruby as it rolled endlessly. Memories were like a crushing, paralyzing weight in his mind ... a weight that grew and grew and....