<strong>Prisoner Kate Bartlett<br/>Cellblock CD08</strong><br/><br/>It was a story Kate had heard before. Even if it had only been related to her personally by the 'victcim' once or twice, she had heard similar stories retold to her through other defense attorneys. Kate listened, noting the changing expressions on the girl's face. Either she was a very good actress or... she was indeed exactly what she seemed. Kate didn't say anything as Ella relayed her pityful tale other than to note that "There seems to have been quite a few mistakes made recently".<br/><br/>Maybe this guy Rich was exactly what she had always thought him to be; maybe he was a complete shit. Either way it didn't matter. Telling Ella that maybe the guy wasn't the white knight she thought certainly wouldn't make her feel any better. And maybe, it was just his own fear that had made him keep his mouth shut when he'd had the opportunity to help her out, take the heat on her behalf. Maybe his lawyer had told him that there would be nothing gained. That's what Kate would have told him. Ella had the drugs in her possession; she had the gun in her possession. Had there been no gun, his confession might have gone a long way to helping her, but nothing that he could say would have affected the outcome for her, once they had found the gun.  Had she been Ella's lawyer, the late arrival of the gun into evidence would have been the thing to challenge. Even on the few facts that Ella had relayed, that sounded deeply suspicious. But again, telling Ella what should have happened, telling her what might have been wasn't going to change where she was now and would possibly only make her feel a lot worse.<br/><br/>"Look, you don't know me from Adam. We've had half a conversation and the idea right now that any of us are gonna trust anyone ever again is almost unimaginable. But, from what I've been told... the trick is to *think* your way think your way through this... up here." She lifted her left hand, brought it to her temple and tapped against the side of her head with her forefinger. "Dont get me wrong. Except for a couple of speeding tickets, I've never broken a law in my life and up until today my only experience with the... state's hospitality... has been as a visitor. But one thing I did learn is that you gotta get your head in the right place, otherwise you're gonna drive yourself insane. Dont think about the things you had, about the people you loved, as things that you've lost."  Kate could feel the pricking sensation at the back of her eyes; she clenched her jaw, closed her eyes for a moment and shook her head just a little before looking back at Ella. She forced a smile onto her face. "Either forget about them or...or use them. Somewhere you can escape to... in your head. Close out all this crap and just... take yourself back to something good and warm and decent." Kate suddenly laughed and she felt her eyes glass over but not enough for a tear to fall. "Actually doing it of course might be somewhat more difficult than talking about doing it. And Im not sure that the half dozen or so people who told me that that was the 'trick' ever found themselves in a place like this. But... thinking about what I've lost, and about what should have been... about how this should *never* have been allowed to happen... That's just going to make me feel sorry for myself and it's not going to help." Kate sniffed, stood up, and brought her hands to the bars, gripping them firmly. "They can tell me a million times that I "<em>am the property of Gen-Tech</em>" but if I don't believe it, then its not true. They can tell me again and again that who I am... what I am... that that person doesn't exist any more. That "that's who I *was*... that's what I *was*... but if I refuse to accept that... in my head... they can't make it true." The broad smile appear again and Kate chuckled. "That's the theory anyway. Could be complete bullshit. But... well it seems to be working for my cellmate - she certainly isn't seeing this place in the same way we are... her head is *definitely* somewhere else!" Kate cast a look along the corridor down which Amelia had been led and wondered... for a moment... before stopping herself again. She looked back to Ella and shrugged. "Certainly no harm in trying it, huh?"