Near the beginning of the story, Kuno is speaking with Vashti via the Machine and foreshadows the technological crisis to come, as seen in the following passage:
“[W]hy do you not come to me instead?
“Because I cannot leave this place.”
“Why?”
“Because, any moment, something tremendous may happen.”
“Have you been on the surface of the earth yet?”
“Not yet.”
“Then what is it?”
“I will not tell you through the Machine.”
[…]
“Something tremendous might happen.” What did that mean? The nonsense of a youthful man, no doubt, but she must go.
Here Kuno says that he cannot visit his mother because “something tremendous may happen” and that he “will not tell [her] through the Machine” to what he is referring. He is right, of course, as something tremendous does happen—the Machine malfunctions and their entire society collapses, killing them with it. Of course, at this point, Vashti has no idea that this is a possibility and consoles herself by concluding that Kuno’s mysterious language is just “the nonsense of a youthful man.”
This moment of foreshadowing highlights how Kuno is able to see the truth about the dangers and limitations of the Machine while Vashti chooses to live in denial. Vashti puts her faith in the Machine and Kuno puts his faith in humanity and the natural world. Of course, by the end of the story, as their society collapses, Vashti is finally able to face the truth in Kuno’s words.
