Bonus story : More than just colleagues : Part 4 : The Group

The next morning, Aldric woke up a few minutes before his alarm, as he almost always did. After putting away his bedding, he prepared breakfast, checked that his phone had enough charge, then put on his work clothes. As he finished closing his bag, a notification appeared on the screen.

Aldric opened the conversation. No one had written anything since the previous evening. For a few seconds, he looked at the four names displayed in the list of participants: Lucas, Patrick, Karim, and himself.

A new notification appeared.

Lucas: Morning, survivors.

Aldric reread the message. The wording was curious, but the meaning seemed clear. Lucas was checking that everyone was awake after their workday.

Aldric: I confirm that I am alive.

Karim and Patrick reacted to Aldric's message with a laughing face. Lucas, meanwhile, sent a succession of faces with tears.

Lucas: I knew this group was going to be an excellent idea.

Patrick: We're off to a strong start.

Aldric reread his message to identify what had caused such a reaction. He found no particular error. Lucas had greeted the survivors. He had simply confirmed that he still belonged to that category.

When he arrived at the depot, Lucas was already standing in front of the door with Patrick and Karim. As soon as Aldric approached, Lucas burst out laughing.

— I confirm that I am alive. Did you seriously write that?

— Naturally.

Patrick shook his head with a smile.

— Lucas wasn't actually trying to check on our health.

— Yet his message was explicit.

Karim spoke up.

— It was just a way of saying hello.

— Then why use the term "survivors"?

Lucas raised both hands.

— Because we survived the week.

— It has only just begun.

Patrick burst out laughing.

— Don't try to find any logic in it.

— Yet logic is generally useful for understanding a sentence.

Lucas placed a hand on Aldric's shoulder.

— I promise you one thing. With this group, you're going to discover a lot of sentences that make absolutely no sense.

— That seems rather inefficient.

— That's exactly why it's going to be funny.

They prepared the truck. Aldric put his phone into an inside pocket of his jacket. He thought the conversation would naturally stop once everyone was gathered in the same place, but he was wrong.

A few minutes later, while he was checking the protective blankets, his phone vibrated. Lucas had just sent a photograph. It showed Patrick from behind while he was checking the truck's paperwork. A sentence had been added above the image: When the boss finds out we forgot to fill up again.

Patrick looked up from the other side of the depot.

— I can see you, Lucas.

— It wasn't me.

— Your name is written above the photo.

— Modern technology has really destroyed anonymity...

— But we didn't forget to fill up, Aldric said.

Lucas turned toward him.

— That's not important.

— Then why say that we did?

— Because it's a joke.

— A joke based on false information.

Patrick walked past them.

— You're going to have a long day, Aldric.

The first job of the morning took them to a building in the seventeenth arrondissement. During the drive, the group remained silent for almost twenty minutes. Aldric concluded that the conversation was over.

Then his phone vibrated again. This time, Karim had sent a photograph taken from the front of the truck. It showed Lucas asleep against the window. Aldric looked to his right. Lucas did indeed still have his eyes closed.

Karim: Already exhausted? Personal record?

Aldric: He slept for approximately eleven minutes.

Karim: Thank you for the precision.

Lucas opened his eyes.

— Why is my phone vibrating?

He checked the screen.

— Karim!

— What?

— You're taking pictures of me while I'm sleeping? Without permission?

— You were snoring.

Lucas sat up.

— I don't snore.

— Yes, you do. Loudly, Patrick said.

— You too?

Aldric looked at Lucas.

— The sound was mild.

Lucas closed his eyes.

— Thank you, Aldric. That's exactly the support I needed.

The move began shortly afterward. They had to empty a relatively simple apartment, with few heavy pieces of furniture and an elevator large enough for their needs. Patrick assigned the tasks, then everyone got to work. For almost an hour, Aldric completely forgot about the group's existence. Then, while he was carrying a box down to the truck, his phone vibrated again. He waited until he had put down the load before looking.

Lucas had sent a strange image showing a man sitting in front of a mountain of boxes with a desperate expression. A sentence was written at the top: When the client says: "There's just a few things left."

Lucas came out of the building carrying a lamp and found him still looking at his phone.

Stolen novel; please report.

— What are you doing?

— I'm trying to understand.

Aldric showed him the screen.

— Who is this man?

— I have no idea.

— Does he work as a mover?

— Probably not.

— Then why does he represent our situation?

— It's not the person that matters. It's the situation.

— But this situation probably never actually happened.

— That doesn't matter.

— He seems very upset, though.

— I have a feeling explaining memes is going to be even harder than explaining emojis.

— Explaining what?

Lucas smiled.

— We'll get to that later.

The morning continued like that. Every break in the work seemed to become an opportunity for someone to send a message, even though they were sometimes only a few meters apart. Patrick took a photograph of a stack of particularly poorly labeled boxes.

Patrick: Who wants to guess what's inside?

Lucas: A curse.

Karim: Books.

Aldric: The bottom box appears to weigh approximately twenty-five kilograms. It probably contains books.

A few moments later, Patrick opened the box: books and a 23-kilogram package.

Patrick: Aldric and Karim win.

Lucas: I demand a doping test.

Aldric turned toward Lucas, who was standing on the other side of the truck.

— I have not consumed any prohibited substances.

Lucas leaned against the truck door as he laughed.

— I'm begging you, never change.

At noon, they sat down on a few steps in front of the building to eat. Lucas had propped his phone against his bottle to show everyone a video in which a man tried to carry a couch by himself before falling with it.

— That's why we work as a team, Patrick said.

— That's why you need to assess your strength properly, Aldric replied.

— I would've mostly said that you should avoid falling down the stairs.

— That is also preferable.

Karim took a bite of his sandwich.

— Complete analysis.

Lucas sent the video to the group despite the fact that all four men had just watched it together.

— Why did you just send the video? Aldric asked.

— So I can watch it again.

— Do you actually intend to watch it a second time?

— Probably not.

— This method of storage seems inefficient.

Patrick smiled.

— Give it a few weeks. Your phone will be full of things you'll never look at again.

— Then why keep them?

— Nobody knows...

This answer seemed to satisfy Lucas, and the rest of the day became even more animated. Every small mistake resulted in a photograph appearing in the conversation. When Lucas left his gloves on the roof of the truck before spending almost ten minutes looking for them, Patrick took a photograph of the two gloves.

Patrick: Has someone lost something?

Lucas: Those aren't mine.

Karim: They have your name on them.

Aldric: They are also the same size and model as the ones you were wearing this morning.

Lucas: Thanks, Sherlock.

Aldric: Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective. I don't understand the comparison.

This time, Patrick had to stop walking because he was laughing so hard. Lucas rested his forehead against the side of the truck before shaking his head.

— This is magnificent.

During the third move of the day, Karim sent a photograph of a dresser accompanied by a message.

Karim: Lucas said he'd carry it by himself.

Lucas: That's a lie!

Patrick: I was a witness.

Lucas: I have a twin brother and he jokes around a lot...

Aldric: That decision would indeed have been unwise.

Lucas: ALDRIC

Aldric looked up at his coworker.

— Why did you write my name in capital letters?

Lucas came out of the apartment carrying a chair.

— Because I give up.

— That explanation does not answer my question.

Karim burst out laughing behind him while Lucas continued on his way without attempting to provide any further explanation.

By the time the workday ended, the group already contained several dozen messages, photographs of the truck, three videos, several images whose purpose Aldric still did not understand, and a considerable number of small colorful symbols.

Some seemed obvious to him. The thumbs-up expressed approval, the smiling face indicated satisfaction, and the laughing face represented amusement.

Other symbols, however, were much less clear. An eggplant, a goat, a skull, a flame, and even a face whose eyes had been replaced by hearts were among those he had already seen appear in their conversations.

As he left the metro, he closed the group conversation and opened his conversation with Emma.

Aldric: Are you available this evening? I need some information regarding several symbols.

Emma: Several symbols? I'm already worried... Come over if you want.

Aldric went to her place after stopping by his apartment to change. When Emma opened the door, she found him already holding his phone in his hand.

— Good evening.

— Good evening.

— You really have an urgent question about symbols?

— Several.

Emma stepped aside to let him in.

— All right. Now I'm curious.

They sat down in the living room. Aldric opened the conversation and handed her the phone. Emma read the name of the group.

— The Extreme Movers. Was that Lucas's idea?

— Yes.

— I'm starting to get a pretty good sense of him without even meeting him.

She scrolled through the first messages.

Lucas: Morning, survivors.

Aldric: I confirm that I am alive.

Emma burst out laughing.

— You too... Aldric said.

— Sorry.

She tried to regain her composure.

— But did you really reply with that?

— Lucas was addressing the survivors. I confirmed that I was still alive.

Emma placed a hand over her mouth.

— I understand your reasoning.

— Yet everyone reacted the same way you did.

— Because he wasn't actually checking whether you were alive.

— Patrick explained that to me.

Emma continued scrolling. She then came across the message about the boxes, the photograph of Lucas's gloves, and the conversation about Sherlock Holmes. She started laughing again.

— You really explained to him that Sherlock Holmes was fictional.

— That's correct.

— He knows.

— Then why did he call me that?

— He was joking. You made an extremely obvious deduction while giving far too many details. He compared you to a detective.

— So the comparison was ironic.

— Exactly.

Emma continued for a few more moments before reaching the different symbols.

— So this is your question.

Aldric pointed to the thumbs-up.

— This one expresses approval.

— Generally, yes.

— And this one?

He pointed to the laughing face.

— It means something makes you laugh.

— This one seems simple.

— It is.

Aldric then pointed to the skull.

— This one concerns me more. It represents a human skull.

— Yes, but when someone sends that after a joke, it can simply mean, "I'm dying of laughter."

— So the person is not dead.

— No.

— And they don't actually think they're going to die.

— No.

— Why use a representation of death to express amusement?

Emma shrugged.

— Because Internet.

— That explanation comes up often.

— And it often works.

He continued.

— The flame?

— Something really good, impressive, successful... it depends.

— The heart?

— Affection, love, sometimes just that you like something.

Aldric pointed to a face with tears.

— This one is crying.

— Sometimes from sadness. Sometimes from laughter.

— The same symbol?

— Yes.

— That seems unnecessarily ambiguous.

Emma burst out laughing.

— Welcome to emojis.

For almost twenty minutes, she explained the main symbols used in conversations. Aldric occasionally took notes on his phone.

— So there is no fixed meaning.

— For some, there is. But many change depending on the conversation.

— A skull can mean that someone is laughing. Flames can express success. Folded hands can be used to thank someone, pray, or ask for something. Your pictographic communication system is surprisingly complex.

— You talk about emojis as if they were an ancient language.

— They clearly have their own rules.

Emma finally handed his phone back to him.

— The best advice I can give you is to start simple.

— The thumbs-up. The smile. The laugh. Avoid the more complicated ones until you're sure.

— A gradual approach.

— Exactly.

Aldric opened the group. Lucas had just sent a new photograph. It showed an enormous hamburger sitting in front of him.

Lucas: After today, I earned this.

Patrick: You ate two hours ago.

Lucas: An eternity...

Karim sent a laughing face.

— You can reply with an emoji if you want, Emma said.

— Which one?

— You choose.

Aldric looked through the list. He needed to select something simple, a symbol indicating that he had seen the message or, perhaps, some form of approval. His eyes stopped on a small icon, and he tapped it.

— No...

But the message had already been sent. A coffin now appeared beneath the photograph of Lucas's hamburger.

Lucas: ?????

Patrick: Aldric?

Karim: Does he know something we don't...?

Emma covered her face with her hands before bursting out laughing.

— What mistake did I make?

— Why the coffin?

— I thought it represented rest after a difficult day.

Emma immediately started laughing again.

— No!

— Its shape seemed appropriate, though.

A new notification appeared before Emma could give him any further explanation.

Lucas: DO YOU WANT ME DEAD?

— Of course not.

Aldric: I would like to clarify that this symbol constituted neither a threat nor a wish regarding your death. Emma has just explained to me that its interpretation differs from the one I had considered.

Patrick: I'm going to frame this message.

Karim: Whatever you do, don't teach him too quickly.

Lucas: I take back everything I said. This group is the best idea I've ever had.

— I told you to start simple... Emma said.

— I thought I had chosen a simple symbol...

— A thumbs-up. I meant a thumbs-up.

— I understand better now.

— Promise me you won't send another coffin without asking me first.

— I can follow that rule.

Emma showed him how to reply directly to a message, how to add a reaction without writing a new sentence, and how to tell when someone was typing a response. When a photograph of Karim's meal appeared a little later, he simply used a thumbs-up.

— This time, the communication was successful.

— Congratulations.

Aldric was about to put his phone away when a new notification appeared. This time, the message came from Patrick.

Patrick: Would you guys like to come over for dinner on Saturday?

Aldric remained silent while Emma read the message over his shoulder.

— Well.

Lucas: Absolutely.

Karim: I'd be happy to.

— So? Emma asked.

Aldric: Yes. Thank you for the invitation.

He then added a thumbs-up reaction to Patrick's message.