There is even more to it than that. Also remember this is 1909. I think this classifies as a deeply mysterious story. It's almost inconceivable for that time period.

-people a depicted as grey aliens (no teeth, large eyes, no hair). Lesson the Greys are a future version of us.

The air is poisoned and ruined cities. People live in underground bunkers...1909...nuclear war was unimaginable then. This was still the age of steam ships and coal power trains. Even respirators would have been low on the public imagination.

The air ships with metal blinds sound more like UFOs than blimps.

The white worms.

People are the blood cells of the machine which runs on their thoughts social media data harvesting of ai.

China invaded Australia. This story was 8 years or so after the Boxer Rebellion so that would have sounded like say Iraq invading the USA in the context of its time.

The story suggests this is a cyclical process of a bifurcated human race.

The blimp crashing into the steel evokes 9/11, 91+1 years later...

The constellation orion.

Etc etc.

There is a central commitee