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"The Last Question" begins with an omniscient narrator revealing that on May 21, 2061, humanity asks the final question it will ever pose for the very first time. Humanity is on the cusp of mass scientific and technological advancement, with the narrator indicating that humans have just "stepped into the light." Alexander Adell and Bertram Lupov are two technicians who attend to the supercomputer, Multivac. The men have extensive knowledge of the device, but Multivac is so complex that no "single human could possibly have a firm grasp of the whole." Because Multivac has expanded beyond the limits of human understanding, it is largely self-regulating, and the two men's maintenance of the machine is somewhat superficial. Still, they feed Multivac data and interpret its answers to humanity's queries. 

Multivac has helped humanity reach the Moon along with distant planets such as Venus and Mars, but in the process of space exploration, Earth has exploited and depleted much of its resources. However, with help from Multivac, on May 14th, 2061, Earth becomes completely powered by solar emissions. Adell and Lupov share in the glory of Multivac's great achievement before finally sneaking off for some quiet and decompression. Adell marvels at solar power's infinite supply of energy but Lupov, a contrarian at times, counters that solar power is not inexhaustible. It can only exist as long as the Sun is alive and, although the Sun’s lifespan is billions of years, it will not last forever. Adell argues that the Sun will last at least for his and Lupov's lifetimes, but Lupov responds that non-sustainable energy sources, such as coal and uranium, would have done the same. 

Lupov wonders what humanity will do when the Sun inevitably dies, while Adell suggests that when that time comes, humanity could harness energy from a new Sun. However, Adell concedes that when the Sun dies, other potential Suns will be gone too. Lupov agrees, arguing that "it all had a beginning in the original cosmic explosion…and it'll all have an end when all the stars run down." He contends that entropy must increase to maximum, and everything in the universe will inevitably decline and reach its end. Adell suggests the universe could be built up again but Lupov adamantly disagrees. To settle their debate, the two men each dare the other to pose the question to Multivav. Though drunk, Adell is able to enter the question into Multivac's system, inquiring, "How can the net amount of entropy of the universe be massively decreased?" Multivac falls silent for a prolonged period of time before eventually responding with "INSUFFICIENT DATA FOR MEANINGFUL ANSWER." The men do not think much of the incident, and when they wake the next morning, hungover from the night before, they have already forgotten their conversation and Multivac's insubstantial response.

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