Page "R.U.R." Paragraph 24
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Helena, the daughter of the president of a major industrial power, arrives at the island factory of Rossum's Universal Robots.
It started in 1920 when a man named Rossum came to the island to study marine biology and accidentally discovered a chemical that behaved exactly like protoplasm, except that it did not mind being knocked around.
His nephew came to see him, and the two argued nonstop, largely because Old Rossum only wanted to create animals to prove that not only was God not necessary but there was no God at all, and Young Rossum only wanted to make millions.
Eventually, Young Rossum locked his uncle in a laboratory to play with his monsters and mutants, while Young Rossum built factories and cranked out Robots by the thousands.
By the time the play is set ( in the 1950s or 1960s, presumably ), Robots are cheap and available all over the world.
Robots are now absolutely necessary because they allow products to be made at a fifth the previous cost.
Helena meets Fabry, Dr. Gall, Alquist, Busman, and Hallemeier, and reveals she is a representative of the League of Humanity, a human rights organization that wishes to " free " the Robots.
The managers of the factory find this a ridiculous proposition, viewing the Robots as any other major appliance.
One of the things Helena requests is that the Robots get paid so that they can buy things they like, but the Robots do not like anything.
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