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Eric is the after-hours caretaker at a local library in Los Angeles, and a friend of Cameron's. He is disabled due to the degenerative effects of Ewing's Sarcoma, a type of cancer.

Relationship with Cameron[]

"You have no idea what it's like to have something inside of you, something's that's damaged."
- Eric.
Selfmademan4

Cameron does some research after-hours at a library with her friend Eric

Cameron Eric

Cameron and Eric

In "Self Made Man" it is revealed that Cameron has been harboring a close friendship with a paraplegic called Eric, who works the night shift at a local library. She apparently visits him every night and routinely brings him a bag of donuts each time, in payment for after hours access to the archives and facilities. Her reason for visiting the library is ambiguous, though it is implied that she is simply expanding her database as she researches medieval warfare and weaponry. Cameron is a welcome visitor who has been in contact with Eric for many weeks, discussing various topics and spending hours researching as well as refining her human mannerisms (which explains her sudden increase in human emulation in previous episodes).

Cameron also confides details about her personal life, though she mixes the facts to avoid revealing the true nature of her existence. For example; she tells Eric about her trip to Mexico to visit a "friend", only for her "friend" to be "already gone when we got there" (referring to Cromartie's disappearance from his grave site). She also discusses John's relationship with Riley, telling Eric about the robbery incident. Cameron is seen to genuinely enjoy Eric's company and claims to have read Othello simply because he asked her to. It is unclear if she is purposely testing her infiltration abilities on him or if her behaviour (awkward smiles, thoughtfulness, intrigue) is actually her own personality given a chance to show.

In addition to her ulterior motives, Cameron clearly values his company and shows genuine concern in regards to his wellbeing. When he accidentally falls out of his wheelchair whilst trying to get her to put away some restricted files, Cameron immediately offers him her hand to help him back up. She later apologizes for the incident and calls him her friend, admitting that she doesn't actually have any of her own. When Eric is unable to follow her up to the video archives due to there being no wheelchair access, Cameron decidedly picks him up and carries him up the stairs. She also allows him to fire her Glock 17 into two phone books and gives him the bullet as a souvenir.

Cameron 211

Cameron shows her concern

During the course of her visit in "Self Made Man", Cameron observes his loss of weight and muscle strength, commenting several times on him not eating the donuts she brought him. She later performs a CAT scan on him, revealing that he has a tumor on his right arm and possibly his lungs (despite telling Sarah in "Gnothi Seauton" that she lacked this scanning ability). Eric is upset by her blunt warning and debunks her belief that he has cancer again. Cameron advises him to see his doctor about the tumor, as it is still in its early stages and can be removed. Eric criticizes her behavior and attributes her lack of friends to her social flaws.

He asks her to leave and Cameron gathers her belongings but hovers hesitantly over him for a long moment, before walking away reluctantly, looking over her shoulder at him in a sullen manner before leaving the library. She returns to the library the following night and discovers that Eric has been replaced (possibly temporarily) by a woman, who informs Cameron that Eric is absent for personal reasons. Cameron shows no sign of being upset about this and offers the woman a bag of donuts, repeating her ingratiation of Eric with the new night worker. It is unknown what happened to Eric, though it is very likely that he followed her advice and visited his doctor.

Eric's Illness[]

When Cameron returns from her battle with Myron Stark, she informs Eric that his cancer is back. Despite his protests, Cameron does not relent in her diagnosis. She urges him to see his doctor. The next night, when Cameron shows up for their nightly meetings, she is greeted by an unknown young woman who informs Cameron that she was called to fill in for Eric. Cameron appears only slightly daunted, and offers her the donuts instead. At this point it is unknown why Eric didn't show up for work, but considering the revelation that he was discovered to have cancer again, he may have needed to go to a hospital if he followed Cameron's advice and saw a doctor.

Behind the Scenes[]

Eric was portrayed by Billy Lush.

Appearances[]

Quotes[]

Cameron: You're a very happy person.
Eric: I am?
Cameron: I don't know that many happy people.
Eric: Well, I guess that's my own little survivor story. Of course, having bone cancer was like being the Titanic and the iceberg.

Cameron: (Cameron does a physical analysis on Eric) Your cancer is back. You have a secondary tumor in the long bone of your arm and possibly your lungs.
Eric: Are you joking?
Cameron: No.
Eric: Then you're crazy. You don't know what you're talking about.
Cameron: (unfazed) Ewing's Sarcoma, first identified in the 1920s
Eric: (cuts her off) I know what it is! Okay? I'm the one in here! (continues to rant) No wonder you don't have any friends. You can't just do things like that. You can't just show up whenever you need something. You can't carry a gun around and freak people out and walk into the bathroom when a guy is taking a leak and ask him if he's gonna kill himself. And you can't just blurt things out like "You have cancer", especially to someone who's already had it. You have no clue, do you? You have no idea what it's like to have something inside of you, something's that's damaged.
Cameron: It's like a bomb... waiting to go off.

Notes[]

  • Cameron appears to have met Eric many weeks before the events in "Self Made Man", and given her increased interpersonal behavior, it is possible that she met him at least as far back as "Mr. Ferguson is Ill Today". She may even have met him long before then, though this would be inconsistent with her heightened mannerism capabilities.
  • Eric is the only other person that Cameron has shown genuine affection for, other than John and perhaps Chola. Though she lives with Sarah and spends a lot of time with Derek, Cameron's relationships with them are tenuous at best, whereas she has an actual friendly relationship with Eric. She describes him as being her only friend, and shares potentially compromising information with him despite there being no operational need to do so.
  • Cameron's blank reaction to Eric's disappearance would suggest that she never really cared about him, but she may have determined that he had simply followed her instructions and has undergone a new cycle of cancer therapy (hence his absence).

References[]

  1. Actor Billy Lush was 26 during filming.
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