Page "The Machine Stops" Paragraph 3

During this time, Kuno is transferred to a cell near Vashti's.

He comes to believe that the Machine is breaking down, and tells her cryptically, " The Machine stops.

" Vashti continues with her life, but eventually defects begin to appear in the Machine.

At first, humans accept the deteriorations as the whim of the Machine, to which they are now wholly subservient.

But the situation continues to deteriorate, as the knowledge of how to repair the Machine has been lost.

Finally the Machine apocalyptically collapses, bringing ' civilization ' down with it.

Kuno comes to Vashti's ruined cell, however, and before they perish they realize that Man and his connection to the natural world are what truly matter, and that it will fall to the surface-dwellers who still exist to rebuild the human race and to prevent the mistake of the Machine from being repeated.