Macrodata Refinement

"The work is mysterious and important." -Mark S.

Macrodata Refinement (commonly abbreviated as MDR) is one of Lumon Industries' Severed departments. MDR divisions are known to exist on the Severed Floors of multiple Lumon facilities, including Lumon Branch 501, Branch 5X, and at least one Lumon location outside of the USA.

The Lumon Branch 501 MDR team is currently made up of three employees, the department head Mark S. and junior refiners Dylan G. and Helly R.. Senior Refiner Irving B. was a part of the team until his termination following an incident during an ORTBO. They are supervised by Seth Milchick and Eustice Huang, with Harmony Cobel formerly acting as primary supervisor prior to her termination.

Background[]

MDR uses blue ID tags, and follows a "business formal" dress code. There is one Department Chief at a time who has a role in supervising the other team members and orienting new employees.

The handbook is provided to new employees to help them orient to their new job. A version of the MDR handbook was leaked to the Topeka Star by Margaret "Peg" Kincaid who was a severed employee of Lumon in MDR in Topeka.

Purpose[]

The purpose of the work performed by MDR is a complete mystery to the Refiners themselves. Their core task is to assess files which each contain four sets of numbers labeled "WO," "FC," "DR," and "MA", and sort numbers from each set into five bins. The numbers are arranged in seemingly-infinite grids, and exhibit both fluctuating size changes and slight movement about their designated point in the grid. Certain spatially-associated clusters of numbers in each set elicit an emotional response in the assessor, allowing them to identify which numbers need to be sorted: WO numbers elicit melancholy or despair; FC numbers elicit joy, gaiety, and ecstasy; DR numbers (also known as "Category 1" numbers) elicit fear, anxiety, or apprehension; and MA numbers elicit rage or a desire to do harm. The goal of the Refiners is to make each of the five bins have equal amounts of the types of numbers.

As revealed in the Season 2 Finale episode "Cold Harbor", the numbers contained in some or all of the Branch 501 MDR files in some way represent the mind or neural state of Gemma Scout, Mark S.' wife, who was until recently being kept against her will on the Branch 501 Testing Floor. Each file represents a new Severed "Innie" persona for Gemma, and the act of sorting the numbers serves to compile the mind of the new Innie by allocating Gemma's Four Tempers - Woe, Frolic, Dread, and Malice - in the requisite amounts to create a personality tailored for a specific testing scenario. Upon completion of a file, the corresponding Innie is then activated in one of the many testing rooms on the Testing Floor, where they are then repeatedly subjected to a specific mundane but unpleasant scenario.

Not all of the Branch 501 MDR files appear to be associated with Gemma's Innies, as there are several files which do not appear in the list of 25 completed by Mark; it remains unclear what the other files are used for. According to The Lexington Letter, when Peggy Kincaid's Innie completed an MDR file at her Lumon workplace in Topeka, a truck belonging to Lumon's rival company Dorner Therapeutics exploded in New York mere minutes afterward. This seems to suggest that there is some variability in the specific nature and purpose of MDR files across different Lumon facilities.

It currently remains unexplained as to why Refiners feel certain emotions when looking at the number sets, as well as why Mark S. is essential to the completion of the 25 files associated with Gemma's Innies. It appears that Mark may have some special aptitude or ability stemming from his connection to Gemma, as he was noted to have completed his first file, Allentown, in record time upon first joining MDR; however, this "freshman fluke" was not replicated in subsequent files.

Rewards[]

Rewards are provided for completing certain amounts of the files

10% complete - Pencil Eraser
25% complete - Finger Trap
75% complete - Music/Dance Experience
100% complete - Caricature Portrait
A refiner who presents exemplary work may be designated as "Refiner of the Quarter" by the Department Chief and receives a waffle party.

A Waffle Party starts with a trip to the Perpetuity Wing in which the recipient goes into Kier Eagan's bedroom in his home. In the bedroom, there is a table with a meal of waffles and syrup. Upon completion of the meal, writing on the plate tells the recipient to go to Kier's bed. On Kier's bed is a mask modeled after Kier's face and a cat o' nine tails. The recipient dons the mask. When the mask is worn and the recipient is sitting on the bed, the recipient watches a sensual/erotic dance performed by four dancers masked and dressed to look like the Four Tempers.

Files[]

The files assessed by MDR appear to all be named after real-world locations. Most are also associated with a number.^[1] These files are each available for a limited time, after which they "expire."

Branch 501 - Numbered Files[]

1 - Allentown
- This file was the subject of Mark's "Freshman Fluke," for which he received his crystal head desk ornament. It also shares a name with a room on the Testing Floor in which one of Gemma's Innies is repeatedly forced to write many thank-you cards for unwanted Christmas gifts.
2- Trinity
3 - Todos Santos
4 - Astoria
5 - Lucknow
6 - St. Pierre
7 - Coleman
8 - Waynesboro
9 - Cork
10 - Molde
11 - Cairns
- This file shares a name with a room on the Testing Floor. Dr. Mauer says that it was one of the six rooms Gemma visited that day, although we did not get to see what happens there.
12 - Bodo
13 - Zurich
14 - Culpepper
15 - Bellingham
16 - Billings
17 - Yakima
18 - Loveland
19 - Merida
20 - Sopchoppy
21 - Vilnius
22 - Rhodes
23 - Wellington
- This file shares a name with a room on the Testing Floor where one of Gemma's Innies undergoes repeated dental examinations.
24 - Dranesville
- This file was completed by Mark S. prior to starting the Cold Harbor file. In the Season 2 Finale episode "Cold Harbor", the name of the file is shown alongside a clip of one of Gemma's Innies undergoing testing in a Testing Floor room simulating a turbulent airplane flight.
25 - Cold Harbor
- This file shares a name with a recently-labeled room on the Testing Floor, the purpose of which appeared to be to test whether its respective Innie experienced any negative emotions when asked to disassemble a crib. This seems to have been intended as a test of whether Severance could shield a person from painful emotions when faced with a trigger that brings up past traumas; Gemma experienced a miscarriage when she and Mark were trying to have children, and her difficulties while attempting to start a family were a source of great personal pain, as well as placing stress on her and Mark's marriage.

Branch 501 - Other Files[]

Chicxulub
Cielo
Siena
- Helly R. began work on this file when she first joined MDR. It also shares its name with a room on the Testing Floor, although it does not appear in the list of files seemingly associated with the rooms used to test Gemma's Innies.
Sunset Blvd
Sunset Park
Tan An
Timins
Tumwater
- This file was started by Dylan G. around 11 weeks prior to Helly R. joining the Branch 501 MDR team, and was completed by him several days later, earning him a Waffle Party. It also shares its name with a room on the Testing Floor, although it does not appear in the list of files seemingly associated with the rooms used to test Gemma's Innies.

Warrnambool

Topeka Branch[]

Lexington
- This file was completed by Refiner Peggy K. at a Topeka-based Lumon facility; shortly after its completion, a truck belonging to Dorner Therapeutics exploded in New York.

While most of these locations directly correspond to real towns in the United States, there are some exceptions. One is a street name in Los Angeles (Sunset Boulevard), two are locations in Mexico (Chicxulub and Todos Santos), two are locations in Norway (Bodo and Molde), one is a location in Lithuania (Vilnius), and one could refer to a location in either Mexico or the Philippines (Merida).

The Lumon Branch 501 building's Testing Floor contains a series of rooms labeled with the names of many of the MDR files.^[2] 25 of the rooms appear to be specifically designated for testing Gemma's multiple Innie personas, with the most recently-labeled room being the "Cold Harbor" room. It currently remains unclear what other rooms such as Siena and Tumwater are used for.

Rules[]

There are many rules that are important to follow in MDR. These include:

Regular hand washing at least 10 times a day
No maps
Staggered entrance and exit of the employees
Only two tokens for snacks per day

Employees[]

Carol D. - Refiner at Branch 501 (formerly; retired)
Dario R. - Refiner at unnamed overseas Lumon facility (formerly; briefly worked in Branch 501 MDR)
Dylan G. - Senior Refiner at Branch 501
Gwendolyn Y. - Refiner at Branch 5X (formerly; briefly worked in Branch 501 MDR)
Helly R. - Junior Refiner at Branch 501
Irving B. - Senior Refiner at Branch 501 (formerly; terminated)
Mark S. - Head of Branch 501 MDR Team
Mark W. - Refiner at Branch 5X (formerly; briefly worked in Branch 501 MDR)
Petey K. - Refiner at Branch 501 (formerly; Outie deceased)
Peggy K. - Refiner at Topeka Branch