Hol

We arrived at the headquarters of Stirem Inc. Phantasm spoke to the security guard, introducing himself as an old client who was interested in meeting the new manager. Which was true, although I wasn't sure they would believe him in his new form. The guard checked Phantasm's information and confirmed that he had done business with them in the past. However, he still didn't allow us to go through, saying that the new boss didn't have the time for this. That ticked me off, so I stormed up to the guard and shoved the contents of my coat pocket at him.
“Look, pal, it's important that we have a talk with the new guy, so arrange a meeting or something!” I snapped. “Don't just turn us away like a pack of strays!”
The man just gawked at me for a moment, before looking down at the wad of cash I had just handed him. He just stood there, stunned, for a few seconds, before scrambling for his walkie talkie clumsily. As he did, Phantasm leaned over to me and whispered something.
“He who fights monsters is doomed to join their ranks,” he said.
“The hell does that mean?” I hissed at him.
Finally, the guard unhooked his radio and composed himself. He turned in on and spoke into it.
“Mr. Malkator,” he said.
Phantasm froze, and an expression that was one part surprise and one part anger corrupted his face.
“There's a couple people here to see you,” the guard said.
“Yes, I know,” came a young,  confident voice from the other end. “Go ahead and let Mr. Kallaway and Miss Rose in. Oh, and when's the last time you took the Mrs. out for a nice meal?”
“I-it's been about two months, sir,” the guard said, a little flustered.
“Well, you might want to consider treating her a little,” the voice said. “After all, you can more than afford to with the bribe the young lady just gave you.”
My eyes darted around quickly. I couldn't see a single camera or window close enough for anyone to have seen that. Were they well hidden or something? The guard seemed just as shocked as I was, but he shrugged it off and allowed us through. Phantasm entered first, at a fast pace, and I had some trouble keeping up with him as he stormed through the hallways. I guess he alreasdy new where the boss's office was. After all, he was friends with the last manager.
“Do you know this Malkator guy?” I asked him as we hurried along.
He didn't speak for a few seconds but when he did, all that came from his mouth was “I'm starting to wish you had brought your sword.”
I agreed. If I'd had my sword, and its emotion suppressing capabilities, I wouldn't have felt that chill of fear when he said that.
We finally made it to the office and entered. There was a man sitting at the desk, dressed in a business suit, with short, mousy brown hair. He was in his late teens or early twenties, and had emerald colored eyes.
“Hello, Carlton,” he said, in a completely calm manner. There was something off about his voice, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. “And hello to you as well, Diana. It's nice to meet you both.”
Without speaking, Phantasm drew a dagger from his coat pocket and moved forward, but before he had even gone two feet, the man at the desk was gone, and was suddenly positioned by the back wall leaning lazily against it, with a handgun in his hand, aimed straight at Phantasm.
“Now now,” he said. “Before we get into violence, allow me to introduce myself.”
“I know who you are,” Phantasm growled, eying the gun cautiously. “Benjamin Malkator.”
Malkator laughed at that, letting his gun droop a little.
“No, no,” he chuckled. “That's my father's name.”
Phantasm lowered his knife, shocked. As he did, the man vanished, reappearing by a nearby window, looking out it. His gun hung loosely at his side.
“My name is Hol,” he said. His voiced seemed off again, but I still wasn't sure what the deal was.
Without any kind of warning, another Phantasm appeared and swung his knife at Hol. I know Phantasm didn't teleport, because he was still right beside me. He had replicated himself. As the clone swung his knife, it passed through Hol without leaving a mark. Hol vanished again, and then he was back by the back wall, aiming his gun at the clone. He pulled the trigger, putting a bullet right through the clones head. The clone exploded in gold sparks, and was gone. Phantasm slouched a bit, seemingly in pain. Can he feel his clone's deaths?
“Now now,” Hol said. “There's no need to be so brash.”
There were suddenly a dozen Phantasms standing in the room, each gripping a knife and posed in a fighting stance.
“How many bullets you got?” the real Phantasm asked, I'm guessing as a challenge.
Then, a bunch of Hol replicas appeared. One for each Phantasm, and myself. They each stood by one of the clone, and the real Phantasm and myself, with their guns trained on our heads.
“How many clones you got?” the real Hol replied, lifting his gun in our direction.
Phantasm hesitated, realizing he was beat. His clones vanished, as his Hol's.
“Good,” Hol said. “Now that we've reached a stalemate, we can speak as civilized human beings.”
“How did you take this place over?” Phantasm demanded.
“The Archive pulled some string,” Hol said. “They believe they can make good use of the technology here, and perhaps improve upon it. Speaking of which...”
Hol approached his desk and reached into a drawer, removing a small, Japanese scythe I think it's called a kama or something. He tossed it over to Phantasm, who caught it by the handle. As he did, its color shifted to a bright gold.
“What the?” I asked.
“It's designed just like your old guns,” Hol said. “It will shift forms as you do. Now, is there anything else you'd like to asked of me? Perhaps on the Backer's behalf?”
“Well...,” I started, having a few questions in mind I wanted to ask, but Phantasm interrupted me.
“We've nothing more to say to the likes of you, Vision scum,” he said.
He then turned on his heel and left. I hesitated for a bit before following him out. It wasn't until we were outside again that he spoke.
“They cloned him,” he said. “They fucking cloned him!”
“Um, I'm sorry for being in the dark here, but who's Benjamin Malkator?” I asked.
Phantasm remained quite for a few more seconds before responding with “Someone who fought monster.”
“Fascinating!” Came another voice. I recognized it as the Backer's voice. Phantasm and I stopped in our tracks and turned to the side to see him watching us.
“Backer?” I asked.
“So,” the Backer said. “Hol Malkator is a clone of the original Ben Malkator. I suspected as much, but I commend you for confirming it for me.”
“So you're the Backer,” Phantasm said. “You bear a striking resemblance to-”
“I'm aware of who I look like,” the Backer said. “Don't think too much into it. Anyway, I thank you both for your assistance. I will speak to yo both soon.”
Before I could say anything to him, he was gone.
“Damn it!” I said. “I had questions for him!”
Phantasm shrugged and continued walking. I followed after him.
“You said he resembled someone,” I said. “Who?”
“No one of significance,” he replied.
So yeah, we're back at Milla's now. I have no idea what our next move is.