So I sat down to write a recap of this week’s episode of Severance when I ran into a dilemma. Apple TV+, I mean “Lumon Industries,” released an in-browser game that lets you become a macrodata refiner like the characters on the show. Which, at first, I thought was dumb. But then I saw my numbers going up and well, I just kept going. And going.
You can play yourself over at lumon-industries.com. There your computer will turn into a workstation from the MDR department on the severed floor at Lumon Industries in Kier. Which sounds super weird if you haven’t watched Severance but, if you have, you know what we mean.
Using your mouse and trackpad, you can highlight numbers and refine them into groups. Is there any method to this madness? Apparently there is. If you choose the wrong set of numbers, the screen will tell you so. Soon, you begin to see how it works though. Certain numbers just start to stand out (because they get larger than the rest). So you lasso them and poof! Refined.
At 30% I was about to stop but then, I was like, “What happens at 100%?” So I kept going. And going. And at 75% the screen turned into a Mr. Milchick-approved dance party. And then, at 100%—well, I don’t want to spoil it. Suffice to say, it’s not super exciting, but it’s also kind of fun.
The real reason I played though was to see if there was any insight at all into what macrodata refining is. What is it accomplishing? Why are some numbers more important than others? Who decides what goes where? Why is “Cold Harbor” so freaking important? Unfortunately, this Severance mobile game did not provide any of those answers. We assume, eventually, the show will. But that didn’t stop me from channeling my inner innie and doing some refining this morning. How far did you get?
Oh, and praise Kier.
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