"It has changed a friend of mine and I wish to restore him to his proper form. I was not in the room when the artifact changed him, so I do not know what he did that activated it."

Thrawn doesn't want to scare Glenn by telling him that he's supposed to be an adult of several hundred years, and that orb simply reverted him back to being a child.

"I have a bed you can sleep in." If Thrawn gets tired, he can use the couch.