Apple TV+’s Severance presents viewers with the unsettling concept of the Severed Floor at Lumon Industries, where employees’ work memories are separated from their personal lives thanks to a surgically implanted chip. Each department within this sterile environment serves a specific function in Lumon’s mysterious operations. However, the true nature of their work often remains hidden from both the employees and viewers alike. Furthermore, the company’s compartmentalized structure intentionally keeps employees isolated, preventing them from understanding the full scope of their collective work and the ethical implications that would arise if they discovered the truth. That’s part of what makes the show so enticing, with Severance becoming Apple TV+’s viewed series as fans return every week to grab new pieces of the puzzle.
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Season 2 of Severance substantially expanded our understanding of what happens behind those white corridors, revealing disturbing connections between seemingly unrelated departments and painting a clearer picture of Lumon’s true agenda. From data processing to wellness programs, each workspace is designed to reinforce corporate mythology while advancing Lumon’s experimental goals. Let’s review all we know about the departments Severance has already visited.
Macrodata Refinement (MDR)
Macrodata Refinement, where Mark Scout (Adam Scott) and his team work, appears to be a simple data processing department at first glance. Employees sit at computer terminals arranged in a cross formation, sorting mysterious numbers into digital bins based on how the figures make them “feel.” The work seems nonsensical, with the refiners grouping numbers into categories without understanding their significance or purpose. Season 2 reveals the disturbing truth behind MDR’s work: the files they process directly correspond to rooms on the Testing Floor where human subjects undergo psychological experimentation.
When an MDR employee sorts numbers from files like “Wellington,” “Dranesville,” or “Allentown,” they’re actually creating or modifying artificial personalities that will be activated in test subjects on the Testing Floor. This means Mark has been unknowingly participating in his wife Gemma’s (Dichen Lachman) torture, as each completed file shapes a new traumatic experience one of her innies must endure.
Testing Floor
The Testing Floor, located below the main Severed Floor, reveals the true purpose of Lumon’s Severed Floor. This department houses human test subjects who undergo extreme psychological experimentation. The facility consists of a sterile environment with a hallway leading to various rooms named identically to the files processed by MDR. When test subjects like Gemma enter these rooms, their severance chips activate unique, room-specific personalities. Each personality exists solely within its designated environment and experiences a specifically designed form of stress or discomfort.
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In Wellington, Gemma becomes a dental patient undergoing endless procedures. In Allentown, she writes Christmas thank-you notes until her hand cramps. Another room simulates a turbulent airplane ride, trapping her in perpetual fear. These agonizing experiences are meticulously designed to test the limits of the severance chip by determining how much trauma each artificial personality can endure before the barriers between consciousnesses begin to fail. Mr. Drummond (Ólafur Darri Ólafsson) and Dr. Mauer (Robby Benson) monitor these tests, tracking whether “the severance barriers are holding” under various stressors.
Optics and Design (O&D)
Optics and Design was initially presented as a small department responsible for storing, maintaining, and rotating Lumon’s extensive collection of artwork — paintings said to represent the teaching of Lumon’s founder, Kier. However, the department harbors a significant secret. Behind a door within O&D lies a vast workspace containing rows of machines operated by dozens of employees. These workers manufacture various objects, including hatchets and watering cans, though their exact purpose remains unclear in for O&D workers.
Season 2 of Severance reveals that the objects created in Optics and Design are sent down to the Testing Floor, meaning that this department supplies the test rooms with everything needed to recreate the agonizing experiences that human subjects must undergo. In addition, O&D also manufactures unique cards whose purpose we still don’t fully understand. During a flashback scene in Season 2 of Severance, Gemma solves a test sent to her by email, identifying a series of cards. That means O&D is also connected to Lumon’s activities outside the Severed Floor.
Mammalians Nurturable
Mammalians Nurturable is an oddly whimsical department where baby goats are raised in tiny pens under the care of Lumon employees. The pens are connected to a room covered in grassy hills, where the workers of Mammalians Nurturable mingle with their animals. In the second season finale, Severance reveals the goats are being raised for ritual sacrifice. When test subjects on the Testing Floor complete their purpose, they are killed in a ceremony that involves sacrificing a goat. Mr. Drummond explains that the animal must be entombed with the test subject to guide their spirit to Kier. This confirms Mammalians Nurturable serves a quasi-religious function connected to Lumon’s cult-like practices.
Choreography and Merriment
Introduced in the Severance Season 2 finale, Choreography and Merriment comprise a group of Lumon workers that function as a marching band. They play songs in rhythmic perfection while executing complex choreographies as an amusing reward for Mark S. after he completes the Cold Harbor file. Since this department is entirely dedicated to song and dance, they might also be behind the elaborate “waffle party” sequence, which combines food rewards with choreographed performances by masked figures representing Kier Eagan’s four tempers (woe, frolic, dread, and malice).
Administration
Administration serves as the command center for operations on the severed floor, housing both the Manager’s office and the Deputy Manager’s desk. Together, the Manager and Deputy Manager work to keep departments separate and innies subservient and compliant. The goal of Administration is to keep innies working to advance the experiments on the Testing Floor.
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Security Office
The Security Office functions as the technological control center for the entire severed floor, monitoring and managing both the physical space and the severance system itself. Access to this department requires a black security badge, highlighting its sensitive nature within Lumon’s hierarchy. This restricted area contains numerous visual security monitors displaying feeds from cameras throughout the facility, alongside specialized equipment used to interface with employees’ severance chips. The equipment housed here includes controls for the “Overtime Contingency,” a protocol that can temporarily awaken innie consciousnesses while employees are absent from the Severed Floor. In Season 2 of Severance, the Security Office room has been refurbished into the Outie Family Visitation Center, meaning the security equipment has been relocated somewhere else.
Perpetuity Wing
The Perpetuity Wing serves as a museum celebrating Lumon’s history and the legacy of its founder, Kier Eagan. Accessed via a staircase from the main Severed Floor, this subterranean area contains three main exhibits: a hall displaying current and former CEOs, pictures of smiles supposedly belonging to people Lumon helped, and a full-size replica of Kier Eagan’s house. The replica house contains artifacts from Eagan’s life, including his embroidered slippers, shaving kit, and early Lumon products, all displayed with reverence typically reserved for religious relics. The Perpetuity Wing also serves as the location for the coveted “waffle party,” where top MDR performers are rewarded with food and a special dance presentation.
Wellness Center
The Wellness Center provides a space where severed employees receive individualized sessions designed to reinforce their connection to Lumon while offering controlled emotional release. Initially run by Ms. Casey, the department has a comfortable waiting area and a distinctive treatment room accessed through doors marked “Enter” and “Exit.” While the Wellness sessions are said to be private, the therapy room contains a hidden camera that records both the Wellness Director and the employee, allowing the Administration to monitor these supposedly therapeutic interactions. After Ms. Casey is sent back to the Testing Floor at the end of the first season, the Wellness Center is deactivated, with its doors entirely barred.
