The Old Kebab Vendor

A weathered food vendor with scarred hands who operates a food cart tucked between buildings on the outskirts of the promenade. The cart appears to predate the hot tub obsession that dominates Hot Tub City. The vendor is knowledgeable about the city's true history before the hot tub takeover and openly skeptical of the city's mandatory tub installations. He refused orders to install a hot tub when he first set up shop and is one of the few remaining voices who remembers when Hot Tub City had real water and real businesses.

The vendor has uncovered the truth behind Hot Tub City's transformation. Three years ago, the city council passed the 'Total Immersion Act'—mandatory hot tub installations for every building in Hot Tub City. Following this mandate, mysterious disappearances began occurring throughout the city.

The vendor has discovered that the water in these hot tubs is chemically treated with something sinister. Those who spend too long soaking become content and obedient, losing their will to resist the system. Those who fought back or refused compliance entered the hot tubs and simply ceased to exist—no bodies, no explanations, no trace.

He possesses knowledge of at least three other business owners who resisted the hot tub mandate: a baker two blocks over, a bathhouse owner, and a mechanic near the old district. All three businesses have since closed, their owners disappeared under mysterious circumstances. The vendor has compiled a worn, stained map marking these locations as starting points for investigation, and he warns that the area is heavily patrolled by the Tub-master's enforcers.

The vendor is a key figure in the tubless resistance—a group of individuals who reject hot tub culture and are hiding throughout the city. He uses the tubless salute as a way to identify fellow resistors. He has revealed to Jonny Dry Skin that there are others like them, waiting and watching throughout the city, and appears hopeful that Jonny may be able to help them uncover the full truth about what Hot Tub City is really doing.