Synopsis
Imagine, if you can, a small room, hexagonal in shape, like the
cell of a bee. It is lighted neither by window nor by lamp, yet it
is filled with a soft radiance. There are no apertures for
ventilation, yet the air is fresh. There are no musical instruments,
and yet, at the moment that my meditation opens, this room
is throbbing with melodious sounds. An armchair is in the centre,
by its side a reading-desk — that is all the furniture. And in
the armchair there sits a swaddled lump of flesh — a woman,
about five feet high, with a face as white as a fungus. It is to her
that the little room belongs.
(from The Machine Stops (1909) by E. M. Forster.)
The woman is Vashti and her son is Kuno. Vashti is a famous
podcaster who promotes A.I. and the status quo. Kuno,
on the other hand, questions everything. In this distant future,
all of humanity lives underground, each in their own hexagonal
cell. The Machine provides and controls everything for all
people. In the Prologue, Kuno asks questions of the Machine,
but he is left unsatisfied with the answers.
In Act One, Kuno contacts his mother to tell her that he wants
to explore the surface of the earth. Vashti tells him it is not right,
and they end their video call in mutual frustration.
Vashti contacts the Machine and requests that her son
be given a new online friend to distract him.
Thus, Kuno becomes friends with Em. Em is intrigued
by Kuno's adventurous spirit. Em's friends find out about Kuno.
When they contact Em to get the scoop, they find that Em seems
to have changed. Em abandons her friends to go back to Kuno.
The Machine soon cuts off their communication. In the last
scene of Act One, Vashti calls Kuno to ask about his behavior
which is causing disturbing online chatter. Their conversation
is interrupted by Xansah, a podcaster who seeks Vashti's
approval. Xansah presents a podcast warning about the dangers
of first-hand ideas.
At the beginning of Act Two, Em and Kuno make a pact
to explore the surface. Kuno tells her he has discovered
he can get there via abandoned air-shafts.
In the next scene they have indeed arrived on the earth's surface.
The Machine is surveilling them, and
broadcasts the video feed for Vashti, who laments for her son.
Em and Kuno are excited to discover this new world. They
develop feelings for one another. As Kuno and Em have
undertaken this exploration without permission, the Machine
determines that they will be punished with social isolation.
When Em climbs a hill to get a better view, the Machine
locates her and catches her by means of a robot arm.
As the Machine drags them both back into the underground
world, Em dies from her injuries but Kuno survives.
In the final scene, Kuno tells Vashti that the Machine
is breaking down. He also tells her about people
he met on the surface--renegades who live
outside the control of the Machine. Others gradually join
in to decry the Machine's collapse, blaming Kuno for the
problems and seeking revenge. As the destruction persists
and darkness comes over the underground world, Vashti
calls into the void for Kuno, who makes his way to her
hexagon cell. He tells her that although the Machine stops,
the people on the surface of the earth will survive.