The Rossum Corporation is a nebulous drug conglomerate based in the United States headed by Clive Ambrose. They also fund a science laboratory at Freemont College.
They designed the drugs that made the Dollhouse possible, and are one of the parent organizations of the Dollhouses. The LA Dollhouse is underneath a building with a Rossum sign in the lobby.
In the past, Rossum was targeted by animal-rights activist Caroline Farrell, who broke into the labs at Freemont with her then-boyfriend Leo in order to document Rossum's treatment of its animal subjects. As luck would have it, the two stumbled across the corporation's experiments on humans, which led to them being pursued by the building's security. Leo was killed in the ensuing action, while Farrell was later captured and pressured into signing a contract with the Dollhouse.
In 2009, the labs at Freemont were compromised again after researchers Owen Johnson and Sam Jennings thought to sell the secrets of the N-7316 memory drug to Rossum's Swiss rival Bel Med Tech. Johnson got cold feet and tried to back out, and so Jennings drugged him with the N-7316 unintentionally causing him to commit suicide. Before then, Johnson touched Jennings and another student, transmitting the drug to them and then to others, causing an epidemic of hallucinations, flashbacks and euphoria on the campus.
Later, Senator Daniel Perrin publicly accused Rossum of withholding medical research and conducting illegal human experiments.
In the future, Rossum's ambitions grow out of control. They start offering clients "full body upgrades" into Actives -- the prospect of immortality -- for a 9-figure sum, en route to the future shown in "Epitaph One".
Trivia
The name "Rossum" is likely a reference to Karel Čapek's play R.U.R. or "Rossum's Universal Robots".
External Links
- In-character corporate web site - includes a list of regional branches and a founding date of 1982