The Severance chip is the technology at the heart of the Severance Procedure, enabling the spatial separation of memories within its recipient.

An incision is made in the scalp at the crown of the head, allowing the technician to drill a quarter-inch hole in the employee's skull so as to insert the chute through which the Severance chip is inserted into the area of the brain close to the amygdala. The patient is awake during the entirety of this painless procedure, but then is sedated, dressed in Severance-compliant clothing if they are not already, and delivered to the Waking Chamber.

Before insertion, the chip comes in sterile packaging similar to a soft contact lens. (Fan prop created by Discord user Bagus_M#4586)

Senator Arteta is currently fighting on the Senate floor trying to prevent the severance procedure from becoming illegal. It is not clear if he is promoting a bill to legalize it and it is currently illegal, or if it is currently legal and there are senators looking to ban its use. Either way, the senator's wife, Arlene Arteta has been severed and took advantage of the chip to switch off her memory during her labor and birth of their third child.

THEORY Since she is not a Lumon employee, it is unclear where the severed threshold would be for someone out in the world. Is it at the gates of the Damona Birth Retreat or is it a switch controllable by Lumon. Or a privately held switch?