Answer:
The machine is a place where human beings live in what appears to be the future.
Explanation:
The days go by repeatedly inside the machine. The only contact people have is through technological devices, since they do not go outside.
Vashti's routine is the same every day, since she wakes up, turns on the lights, goes to the machine and presses different buttons, talks virtually with people and goes back to sleep to repeat everything again the next day.
Let's see the following quote from the text:
"She made the room dark and slept; she awoke and made the room light; she ate and exchanged ideas with her friends, and listened to music and attended lectures; she make the room dark and slept. Above her, beneath her, and around her, the Machine hummed eternally; she did not notice the noise, for she had been born with it in her ears. The earth, carrying her, hummed as it sped through silence, turning her now to the invisible sun, now to the invisible stars. She awoke and made the room light. "
