Bitwise unpacking using signed data
char c1 = -119;
char c2 = 26;

// pack
int packed = (unsigned char)c1 | (c2 << 8);
// unpack
c1 = packed >> 0;
c2 = packed >> 8;

// printf(c1, c2) -> Unpacked data: -119 | 26

char c0 = -42;
char c1 = -119;
char c2 = 26;

// pack
int packed = (unsigned char)c0 | (unsigned char)(c1 << 8) | (c2 << 16);
// unpack
c0 = packed >> 0;
c1 = packed >> 8;
c2 = packed >> 16;

// printf -> Unpacked data: -42 | 0 | 26

int packed = (unsigned char)c0 | ((unsigned char)c1 << 8) | (c2 << 16);

(unsigned char)(c1 << 8)

int32_t packed = ((uint8_t)c0) | (((uint8_t)c1)<<8) | (((uint8_t)c2) << 16);