Odyssey

**Odyssey Courier Services**, also known simply as **Odyssey**, is an Australian multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, quantum computing, online advertising, digital streaming, artificial intelligence, and intrasolar operations. It has been referred to as one of the most influential economic and cultural forces in the world, and is often regarded as one of the world's most valuable brands. It is considered part of the New Big Five technology companies, alongside the Microtech, Intraserv, Noumenon, and Inoculum.

Odyssey was founded by delivery driver Chris Kahler out of his garage in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on May 12th, 2079. Following the collapse of both Amazon and the Oldnet after the Third World War, large-scale online delivery services across the world had simply ceased to exist. Kahler, having grown up primarily pre-war, was aware of Amazon's scale and wealth, and sought to replicate the corporation on the Newnet as early as possible. When Kahler finally purchased the necessary equipment to connect to the Newnet in 2079, he quit his job as a delivery driver and began shipping orders out of his garage. By 2080, he had assembled a small staff of drivers and delivery drones, and had forged partnerships with local Pittsburgh businesses, who began offering their stock on Odyssey's Newnet website. From there, Kahler's business grew to encompass most of the American eastern coast, before expanding to the country at large and beyond. Competition among the various online marketplaces was fierce, however, and Odyssey quickly was forced to contend with rivals such as Hermes Services, Thothcorp, and E-Mercury. Through hostile means, Odyssey had bought out Thothcorp and E-Mercury by 2100, however the company's rivalry with Hermes Services was more fierce, and culminated in the First Corporate War which began in 2103. Fought on a smaller scale than conventional wars, the corporate conflict consisted mostly of bombings and assassinations, with scattered skirmishes between corporate mercenaries and hired PMCs. The war ended in 2109, when six members of the Ward family - the family with the majority of stock in Hermes Services - were kidnapped and threatened with execution. As a result, the Wards sold their stock to the Kahlers, and Hermes Services was integrated into Odyssey. The response from the American government to the corporate war was intense, however, and as a result, Odyssey moved its headquarters from the United States to Australia in 2111, becoming one of the second wave of megacorporations to flock to Australia in search of minimal regulations and taxes.

Odyssey has been criticized for customer data collection practices, a toxic work culture, tax avoidance, exploitation, and anti-competitive behaviors. The company's involvement in the First and Third Corporate Wars has also been heavily scrutinized, particularly given the company's association with the Groupe Occidental, a Nigerian private military corporation implicated in numerous crimes against humanity and war crimes since its foundation in 2089. Regardless, as of December, 2149, Odyssey is the second-largest company in the world by revenue, and the Kahler family remain one of the richest megacorporate dynasties on the planet.