<p>CompWare is in serious trouble after a promised merger falls through so they do what other businesses have done to bolster their public image: they hire a consulting firm to review and streamline their business practices.</p><p>But there’s something strange about the firm they hire—more specifically the quirky gentleman who arrives to supervise the project: Mr. Patoff tall and thin and wearing a bow tie and with an odd smile that never quite reaches his eyes.</p><p>In his first interactions the consultant asks inappropriate questions and generally seems a nuisance. Over time Patoff gains power to the point where he seems to be running the whole company. He enacts arbitrary and invasive changes to office protocol; he places cameras all over the building causing paranoia among the workers; he calls employees at all hours of the night; and he visits some of their homes and menaces their families. People who defy the consultant get fired … or worse. The employees of CompWare soon realize they’re not just fighting for their jobs: they’re fighting for their lives.</p><p><i>The Consultant</i> is a biting workplace satire with the horrific touches only Bentley Little could provide.</p>