diff --git a/deps/ox/src/ox/mc/intops.hpp b/deps/ox/src/ox/mc/intops.hpp
index a141971a..5d37b7ab 100644
--- a/deps/ox/src/ox/mc/intops.hpp
+++ b/deps/ox/src/ox/mc/intops.hpp
@@ -13,20 +13,23 @@
 
 namespace ox::mc {
 
+template<typename T>
+static constexpr auto Bits = sizeof(T) << 3;
+
 /**
  * Returns highest bit other than possible signed bit.
  * Bit numbering starts at 0.
  */
 template<typename I>
-[[nodiscard]] constexpr auto highestBit(I val) noexcept {
-	constexpr auto Bits = sizeof(I) * 8;
+[[nodiscard]] constexpr std::size_t highestBit(I val) noexcept {
+	auto shiftStart = sizeof(I) * 8 - 1;
 	// find most significant non-sign indicator bit
-	std::size_t highestBit = Bits;
+	std::size_t highestBit = 0;
 	// start at one bit lower if signed
 	if constexpr(ox::is_signed<I>) {
-		--highestBit;
+		--shiftStart;
 	}
-	for (int i = Bits - 1; i > -1; --i) {
+	for (int i = shiftStart; i > -1; --i) {
 		const auto bitValue = (val >> i) & 1;
 		if (bitValue) {
 			highestBit = i;
@@ -36,11 +39,12 @@ template<typename I>
 	return highestBit;
 }
 
+static_assert(highestBit(int8_t(0b10000000)) == 0);
 static_assert(highestBit(1) == 0);
 static_assert(highestBit(2) == 1);
 static_assert(highestBit(4) == 2);
 static_assert(highestBit(8) == 3);
-static_assert(highestBit(1 << 31) == 31);
+static_assert(highestBit(uint64_t(1) << 31) == 31);
 static_assert(highestBit(uint64_t(1) << 63) == 63);
 
 struct McInt {
@@ -50,28 +54,31 @@ struct McInt {
 };
 
 template<typename I>
-McInt encodeInteger(I val) noexcept {
+[[nodiscard]] McInt encodeInteger(I input) noexcept {
 	McInt out;
+	// move input to uint64_t to allow consistent bit manipulation, and to avoid
+	// overflow concerns
+	uint64_t val = *reinterpret_cast<Uint<Bits<I>>*>(&input);
 	if (val) {
 		// bits needed to represent number factoring in space possibly
 		// needed for signed bit
 		const auto bits = highestBit(val) + 1 + (ox::is_signed<I> ? 1 : 0);
 		// bytes needed to store value
 		std::size_t bytes = bits / 8 + (bits % 8 != 0);
-		auto bitsAvailable = bytes * 8;
+		const auto bitsAvailable = bytes * 8; // bits available to integer value
+		const auto bitsNeeded = bits + bytes;
 		// factor in bits needed for bytesIndicator (does not affect bytesIndicator)
 		// bits for integer + bits neded to represent bytes > bits available
-		if (bits + bytes > bitsAvailable && bytes != 9) {
+		if (bitsNeeded > bitsAvailable && bytes != 9) {
 			++bytes;
-			bitsAvailable = bytes * 8;
 		}
-		const auto bytesIndicator = onMask<uint8_t>(bytes - 1); // << (7 - bytes);
+		const auto bytesIndicator = onMask<uint8_t>(bytes - 1);
 
 		// move sign bit
 		if constexpr(ox::is_signed<I>) {
 			if (val < 0) {
-				val ^= int64_t(1) << (sizeof(I) * 8 - 1);
-				val |= int64_t(1) << (bitsAvailable - 1);
+				*reinterpret_cast<uint64_t*>(&val) ^= uint64_t(1) << (sizeof(I) * 8 - 1);
+				*reinterpret_cast<uint64_t*>(&val) |= uint64_t(1) << (bitsAvailable - 1);
 			}
 		}
 		// ensure we are copying from little endian represenstation
diff --git a/deps/ox/src/ox/mc/test/tests.cpp b/deps/ox/src/ox/mc/test/tests.cpp
index 6cb80611..c75800f6 100644
--- a/deps/ox/src/ox/mc/test/tests.cpp
+++ b/deps/ox/src/ox/mc/test/tests.cpp
@@ -142,11 +142,12 @@ std::map<std::string, ox::Error(*)()> tests = {
 
 				constexpr auto check = [](McInt val, std::vector<uint8_t> &&expected) {
 					if (val.length != expected.size()) {
+						std::cout << "val.length: " << val.length << ", expected: " << expected.size() << '\n';
 						return OxError(1);
 					}
 					for (std::size_t i = 0; i < expected.size(); i++) {
 						if (expected[i] != val.data[i]) {
-							std::cout << static_cast<uint32_t>(val.data[i]) << '\n';
+							std::cout << i << ": " << static_cast<uint32_t>(val.data[i]) << '\n';
 							return OxError(1);
 						}
 					}
@@ -165,14 +166,23 @@ std::map<std::string, ox::Error(*)()> tests = {
 					return OxError(0);
 				};
 
-				oxAssert(check(encodeInteger(int64_t(1)), {0b0010}), "Encode 1 fail");
-				oxAssert(check(encodeInteger(int64_t(2)), {0b0100}), "Encode 2 fail");
-				oxAssert(check(encodeInteger(int64_t(3)), {0b0110}), "Encode 3 fail");
-				oxAssert(check(encodeInteger(int64_t(4)), {0b1000}), "Encode 4 fail");
-				oxAssert(check(encodeInteger(int64_t(128)), {0b0001, 0b10}), "Encode 128 fail");
-				oxAssert(check(encodeInteger(int64_t(129)), {0b0101, 0b10}), "Encode 129 fail");
-				oxAssert(check(encodeInteger(int64_t(130)), {0b1001, 0b10}), "Encode 130 fail");
-				oxAssert(check(encodeInteger(int64_t(131)), {0b1101, 0b10}), "Encode 131 fail");
+				oxAssert(check(encodeInteger(int64_t(1)), {0b00000010}), "Encode 1 fail");
+				oxAssert(check(encodeInteger(int64_t(2)), {0b00000100}), "Encode 2 fail");
+				oxAssert(check(encodeInteger(int64_t(3)), {0b00000110}), "Encode 3 fail");
+				oxAssert(check(encodeInteger(int64_t(4)), {0b00001000}), "Encode 4 fail");
+				oxAssert(check(encodeInteger(int64_t(128)), {0b00000001, 0b10}), "Encode 128 fail");
+				oxAssert(check(encodeInteger(int64_t(129)), {0b00000101, 0b10}), "Encode 129 fail");
+				oxAssert(check(encodeInteger(int64_t(130)), {0b00001001, 0b10}), "Encode 130 fail");
+				oxAssert(check(encodeInteger(int64_t(131)), {0b00001101, 0b10}), "Encode 131 fail");
+
+				oxAssert(check(encodeInteger(int64_t(-1)), {255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255}), "Encode -1 fail");
+				oxAssert(check(encodeInteger(int64_t(-2)), {255, 254, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255}), "Encode -2 fail");
+				oxAssert(check(encodeInteger(int64_t(-3)), {255, 253, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255}), "Encode -3 fail");
+				oxAssert(check(encodeInteger(int64_t(-4)), {255, 252, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255}), "Encode -4 fail");
+				oxAssert(check(encodeInteger(int64_t(-128)), {255, 128, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255}), "Encode -128 fail");
+				oxAssert(check(encodeInteger(int64_t(-129)), {255, 127, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255}), "Encode -129 fail");
+				oxAssert(check(encodeInteger(int64_t(-130)), {255, 126, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255}), "Encode -130 fail");
+				oxAssert(check(encodeInteger(int64_t(-131)), {255, 125, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255}), "Encode -131 fail");
 
 				oxAssert(check(encodeInteger(uint64_t(1)), {0b0010}), "Encode 1 fail");
 				oxAssert(check(encodeInteger(uint64_t(2)), {0b0100}), "Encode 2 fail");
diff --git a/deps/ox/src/ox/mc/write.hpp b/deps/ox/src/ox/mc/write.hpp
index 7904e4f6..94f2eea2 100644
--- a/deps/ox/src/ox/mc/write.hpp
+++ b/deps/ox/src/ox/mc/write.hpp
@@ -142,7 +142,6 @@ Error MetalClawWriter::appendInteger(I val) {
 	if (val) {
 		if (m_buffIt + sizeof(I) < m_buffLen) {
 			LittleEndian<I> leVal = val;
-			mc::encodeInteger(val);
 			// bits needed to represent number factoring in space possibly needed
 			// for signed bit
 			const auto bits = mc::highestBit(val) + (ox::is_signed<I> ? 1 : 0) / 8;