Josef Severn

Josef Severn, also known as the "builder," is an engineer who built the consciousness collector used by the Singularity Church of the MachineGod for its "Ascension" ritual but was excommunicated from the Church. He is one of Adam Jensen's neighbors at the Zeleň Apartments, where he resides in unit #41.

Biography
Severn became a follower of Allison Stanek, also known as the "Mother," when she told him that she needed him to build something the consciousness collector. While Severn was not already augmented, he cut off his arms for the Church, amputating himself from the "flesh-flawed" so that he could build for Allison.

After building the consciousness collector, Severn had doubts about the functionality of the device. While still committed to Allison and the Ascension, Severn felt that something didn't add up when he reviewed his latest calculations, and wanted additional time to test the device. Allison denied his request and accused Severn of kowtowing to the "doubts of the flesh-flawed." Thus, Allison excommunicated Severn from the church for having a "crisis of faith." Severn considered his treatment to be unfair and that he was only having a crisis of science, rather than a crisis of faith. Severn wrote to senior church member Erik Simmons to raise his objection, but found that he has already been blocked with communicating with the church by email.

Later, on the day of the Ascension ritual, Severn can be seen in his apartment unconscious in the morning and deceased in the evening just before the ritual, seemingly having committed suicide.

Trivia

 * "Joseph Severn" is the name of a character in Dan Simmons' science fiction novel series "Hyperion." The phrase "The Void which Binds" is a term for the quantum level of spacetime in these novels. This phrase is prominent on the wall which Josef Severn's corpse is kneeling in front of (#41). The novels contain many themes related to man-machine links and their philosophical implications.