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How can we stay connected without losing control of our time and attention?
Genre: Dystopian Science Fiction
Text Structure: Narrative
Main Reading Skill: Analyze Plot Development
Vashti lived alone in a small underground room with no windows. Yet she did not feel isolated. A screen connected her to thousands of people, while the Machine provided almost everything she needed—food, music, information, and fresh air. People had become dependent on it for nearly every part of daily life. They rarely travelled or met face-to-face. The Machine had made such things seem unnecessary.
One day, a light flashed on Vashti’s wall. Her son Kuno was calling.
“I want you to come and see me,” he said.
“But I can see you now,” Vashti replied, looking at his image.
“I need to speak to you in person.”
Vashti was reluctant to travel, but something in Kuno’s voice troubled her. Finally, she agreed.
The journey made her uneasy. From the airship, she avoided looking at the Earth below. Human beings had moved underground long ago, leaving the natural world for the safety and comfort of the Machine.
When Vashti reached Kuno’s room, he told her something shocking.
“I have been outside.”
Going to the Earth’s surface without permission was forbidden.
Kuno explained that he was tired of experiencing everything through technology. His contact with mountains, oceans, and the sky was always mediated by screens, images, and recordings. He wanted to experience the real world himself.
Secretly, Kuno had found an old tunnel and climbed toward the surface. His body, unused to physical effort, struggled with every step. At last, he reached the open air. There was no ceiling above him. Wind touched his face, and he pressed his hands against the earth. For the first time, the world felt completely real.
Vashti shook her head.
“The Machine gives us everything we need.”
“The danger,” Kuno replied, “is that we have forgotten how to live without it.”
Vashti chose to dismiss his warning and returned home.
Then small problems appeared. Music sounded strange. Beds stopped working. The air seemed less fresh. People reported each malfunction, expecting a quick repair, but the problems grew more frequent.
One day, Vashti’s screen suddenly went dark.
Voices vanished in the middle of conversations. Lights flickered and died. The familiar hum of the Machine weakened, and the air grew warm and heavy. Fear spread through the underground rooms.
In the darkness, Kuno’s warning returned to Vashti.
Soon, food systems failed. People called desperately for help, but no one knew how to repair the technology controlling their lives. The world they trusted began to collapse around them.
Now Vashti could see the consequences of complete dependence.
Amid the noise and confusion, she found Kuno. For once, there was no screen between them.
“I did not understand,” she whispered.
Kuno reminded her that the natural world above them still endured. The Machine was failing, but the sky, wind, and land remained.
Vashti looked at her son—not at his image, but at his face. Technology had connected them across great distances, yet only now did she understand what their society had lost.
Above them, beyond the broken Machine, the Earth remained.