The Machine Stops characters

Appears from the start

A respected lecturer who lives alone in an underground room and communicates through the global mechanical system that supplies every material and social need. She is comfortable with mediated experience, avoids direct contact, and treats the Machine's routines as the foundation of civilized life.

Appears from the start

Vashti's son, who lives on the opposite side of the world. Dissatisfied with life inside the Machine, he values direct speech, physical strength, open air, and first-hand experience, and insists that his mother travel to meet him in person.

Appears from the start

The vast system that houses humanity underground, transports people, mediates their conversations, and provides food, air, music, medicine, and information. Although built as a tool, it has become the organizing authority of human life, and its users increasingly treat its manual and procedures as sacred.