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 unsatisfied with the answers.
In Act One, Kuno contacts his mother to tell her something important--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 asks 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 has changed. Em abandons her friends to go back to talking with 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 that warns everyone about the dangers of first-hand ideas.
In Act Two, Em and Kuno make a pact to explore the surface. Kuno tells her he has discovered a way to get there. 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 be discovering this new world. They are also developing feelings for one another. As Kuno and Em have undertaken this exploration without permission, the Machine explains, 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 but Kuno survives. In the final scene, Kuno tells Vashti that the Machine is breaking down, and 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, Vashti calls into the darkness 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.
