So I wrote this down over the course of the day in my notebook--probably as a result of some blinding inspiration--in an effort to work on the planning of the details of the the story. It makes sense in context, and while it's about the end of the book, I don't think it would give anything away to post it here, so here we go:
When they fix it they keep the rubber chicken but if it fucked with, say the water, the people in the future.
Welcome to living in my head.