Severance

Do you remember the last thing that you said to me?

"She's alive."

Have you finished Cold Harbor?

What is this place?

Uh, it's a cabin for giving birth.

Why am I here? Why are you here?

Cold Harbor.

Have you finished it?

No.

Then she's still alive.

We can save her.

Who?

Ms. Casey.

Gemma.

There's a hallway down there. It's different than the others.

It's long and black and hidden.

From Irving's drawings.

What?

With an elevator going down.

We know where it is.

What a funny speech you gave at the party.

I was cross with you after.

I threw a tin of candies.

God, you're fucking weird.

I do not love my daughter.

I used to see Kier in her,

but he left her as she grew.

You sound like a great dad.

I sired others in the shadows.

But he wasn't in them either.

Until I saw him again.

In you.

You and your family created hell, and you're going to burn in it.

There he is.

Tomorrow is a special day.

Hey!

Why did you come here?

What do you want from me?

So... wait, when I finish Cold Harbor,

they do a test, and then th-they kill her?

Once that file is done, you'll need to quickly get to the black hallway,

then down to the testing floor.

They'll not let you leave MDR till that file is complete.

Okay, but how do I find her once I'm down there?

Oh. No, you won't.

- I won't? - No.

Your chip is only attuned to your floor.

Once you get down to testing, you'll be your outie again.

And then he'll find Gemma and take her up to the severed floor.

Where you will guide her to the exit stairwell.

Right. Okay.

Mark...

...I know this is a fucking lot, man.

But if we can prove that she is alive,

if we can prove that they fucking kidnapped her,

it will end them.

Well, what happens to us?

What do you mean?

Well, if L-Lumon ends, then what happens to every innie on the severed floor?

Yeah. Um...

Oh.

- You want me to give my life? - No.

The lives of everyone down there?

No, it's not that simple.

Just to save one person you happen to care about?

It doesn't have to end your life.

Really?

Right. Um...

There's somebody else who wants to talk to you, actually.

Um...

Okay, just hit the play.

Watch it.

Record your response, then step outside.

We'll just be downstairs, okay?

Okay.

Hey... uh, I'm...

Well, I guess you know who I am. Uh...

...I think you've spoken with Devon and Mrs. Sel...

Uh, Ms. Cobel.

Um... So y...

...you know what it is that we're asking.

But the first thing I need to say to you

is that I am so sorry.

You know, I created you as a-a prisoner and as an escape.

Lumon told me you'd be happy, that innies are content,

and because I took their word for it,

you've been living a nightmare for two years.

It's horrific what they've done to you.

And part of the reason I'm here is to make it right.

And I hope, uh, now with all we have in common,

that you'll give me that chance.

Uh, hi.

Wow, this is, uh... I never expected to actually speak to you.

Holy shit.

Um, let alone get an apology, so, uh...

Thank you.

Um, you know, "nightmare" is the wrong word, actually.

'Cause w-we find ways to make it work, to...

to feel whole,

which is why what you're asking scares me.

You know, because... ...whatever this life is...

...it's all we have,

and we don't want it to end.

Can you understand that?

Of course I can.

It's such a good point.

I'd say the same thing in-in your position, however,

Lumon doesn't have to be your whole life.

Now, you may have been seeing flashes lately.

Images from my world out here.

I've been seeing yours too.

It's a process called "reintegration."

It's a way to recouple memories so we can be one person.

I started this because I see now how unfair this all is to you,

and once my wife is free, I swear I will finish the process.

'Cause this life, our life...

belongs to both of us.

And I wanna share it with you.

Uh, okay.

But... ...what would that mean exactly?

That y-y-you get the right side, and I get the-the left? Or...

Is it like a top-bottom situation?

- No. - I'm honestly trying to understand.

No, no, it wouldn't be like a top-bottom situation.

It's, like, both of us. Like, one person combined.

Like, my memories and yours, and my trauma and yours,

but, like, you know, the good stuff too.

Okay, but...

I mean, you've been alive for, what, 20 times longer,

so whoever this new hybrid person is,

it seems like he'd be way more you than me.

I just don't think that's how it works.

Okay. How does it work?

Look...

I mourned Gemma for two years.

I lost my job, my teaching job...

because I fucking started showing up drunk.

You know, I hid all of her stuff in my basement...

'cause it was easier pretending that she never existed.

And I thought I was protecting you from that pain.

Oh, hey, uh, Ms. Cobel told me you-you like someone down there?

Helena Eagan, right?

I think her innie name's "Heleny"?

Honestly, I love that you had that experience.

So, now... ...you could imagine,

like, what you and Heleny have

but multiply, like, thousands of days

of, like, joy, and arguments, and passion,

then you can see why I have to get my wife back.

I have to have her back.

It's Helly, actually. Helly.

It's the person I'm in love with,

which you'd know if you'd ever taken an interest in my life.

Before tonight, when you need something.

She's the person I'll lose if I do what you say

'cause you know as well as I do that her outie won't, like, reintegrate,

assuming that's even real.

Assuming every word outta your mouth isn't a lie.

Wha...

Whoa. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to...

Dude, I'm just trying to save my wife, okay?

I mean, I can't abandon her, and if you help me,

I won't abandon you. I promise.

You know what I think? I think the second you get your wife back,

you forget I ever existed.

I think that I disappear along with every innie down there.

What do you want from me?

We are in this together.

Can't you just trust me?

No.

Devon!

He's a fucking child. He won't listen.

Let me speak to him.

I mentioned reintegration, he basically called bullshit.

Well, he's not wrong, right?

Let me speak to him.

Alone.

Okay. Yeah.

Okay.

The numbers are your wife.

The MDR numbers.

From your console.

They're a doorway into the mind of your outie's wife, Gemma Scout.

I don't understand.

What do you see every day when you look at them?

What... we feel things.

What do you feel?

Mmm, different things. Sometimes sadness...

Woe.

Frolic.

Malice.

Dread.

So you're saying... the...

the clusters are...

Her tempers.

The building blocks of her mind.

What am I building?

Every file you've completed...

is a new consciousness for her.

A new innie.