Whistle a Happy Tune

That fucking t u n e.

Years ago, that’s all he would hear. That absent-minded tune that echoed off the steel walls as he lay there and waited to be completed. Day in and day out, his auditory sensors were loaded with repeat after repeat of that god awful off-key whistle. If he held still and closed his eyes, he could swear it still haunted those halls.

If he were human, he would have been out of his mind long ago—locked up and left to rot as he whistled along to his nightmares. Even now, he could actually hear blood roar in his ears as the haunting melody vibrated off the walls. His heart getting louder and faster.

With a start, he snapped back into active mode and clutched at his temples.  Ebi’s lips parted in a silent scream as his body froze, crimson orbs jumping and repeatedly dilating along as the phantom music bounced so playfully and carefree off the walls of the room. It swelled and ebbed all around him, which brought flashbacks of his prototype days. That fucking face was so close, so real. He could just—

The android took a minute to realize that the man from his memories was not screaming as he stabbed him repeatedly.

It was himself.

Soon the screams turned to broken laughter as Ebi clutched at the sides of his face. Then silence.

Quietly it rose from nothing to a shrill volume.

Between twitches and glitches, H-01 started to whistle as he shook hard, a dazed grin on his face.

He had to be put on lock-down again that day.