SCP-3261 — SCP-3261 | Cost Breakdown

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SCP-3261 Safe ~ medium confidence

SCP-3261

Expected annual

$429K

One-time setup

$266K

Annual recurring

$422K

Personnel

First-year setup (one-time) costs are dominated by procurement of secure containment, monitoring equipment, conservation, and a contingency reserve; recurring costs are dominated by staff wages and ongoing research/medical/support services.

🏗️ One-Time Capital Costs Total: $266K

Contingency Reserve $150K

[#26] Reserve for expanded containment, specialized memetic countermeasures, or major anomalous escalation.

Equipment $29K

[#2, #8, #9, #15, #16] Conservation-grade enclosures; access-control hardware/biometric installation; CCTV system; digitization hardware; audio/video/physiological recording equipment.

Legal And Cultural Liaison $28K

[#21] One-time legal retainer / cultural liaison fees and initial diplomatic/heritage review budget.

Facilities $22K

[#1, #10] Secure containment locker purchase/installation and testing-room soundproofing/modifications (locker with humidity control and tamper sensors; soundproofed observation room and safe furnishings).

Initial Research And Lab Setup $21K

[#3, #14] Initial instrument stabilization/conservation and forensic/provenance lab analyses (paper/ink dating, historian fees).

Access Protocol Development $10K

[#13] One-time development of SOPs, memetic-awareness materials, and initial staff training program development.

Incident Response Kit $3K

[#20] Initial purchase of non-lethal restraint systems, sedatives/antagonists, monitoring kits, and containment supplies.

Archival Valuation $3K

[#22] One-time valuation and accounting setup for archival asset and potential write-offs.

🔄 Annual Recurring Costs Total: $422K/yr

Staff Wages $250K/yr

[#5, #6, #7] Salaries and benefits: assigned curator/primary researcher (~$110k), research assistant/technician (~$50k), allocated security staffing coverage (~$90k).

Research And Monitoring $85K/yr

[#17] Ongoing laboratory studies (neurocognitive experiments, controlled observer studies), ethics oversight, and imaging facility time.

Medical Coverage And Emergency Supplies $35K/yr

[#11] On-call medic coverage for tests, emergency pharmaceuticals, consumables, and allocated med-team salary portion.

Annual Security Audit And Memetic Assessment $6K/yr

[#23] Periodic external/internal security and memetic-risk audits to validate containment procedures.

Logistics And Transport $6K/yr

[#19] Secure, climate-controlled transport and escorted transfers to testing rooms or external specialists.

Cover Story And Legal $6K/yr

[#21] Ongoing legal consultations, cultural liaison fees, and cover-story / diplomatic mitigation budget.

Psychological Screening And Counseling $6K/yr

[#12] Pre-test psychological screening and post-test counseling / therapy budget.

Test Subject Compensation $6K/yr

[#18] Compensation, recruitment, and background checks for controlled test subjects (koto players/volunteers).

Data Storage And Secure Documentation $4K/yr

[#15, #24] Secure encrypted archival storage for digitized scans, restricted metadata, test logs, and long-term case documentation (includes digitization storage costs).

Access Protocol Training $4K/yr

[#13] Annual refresher training for staff on handling SOPs and memetic awareness.

Facilities Maintenance $3K/yr

[#4] Site overhead allocation for dedicated locker space (power for humidity control, monitoring).

Archival Insurance And Reserve $3K/yr

[#22] Annual insurance premium or reserve fund contribution for potential loss/damage.

Cctv Storage And Maintenance $2K/yr

[#9] Video storage, retention, and camera/system maintenance for handling/testing areas.

Access Control Maintenance $1K/yr

[#8] Maintenance and licensing for biometric readers, badging, and audit log systems.

Recording Equipment Maintenance $1K/yr

[#16] Calibration and consumables for microphones, contact pickups, EEG/ECG equipment, and sensors.

Incident Response Replenishment $1K/yr

[#20] Annual replenishment of medical supplies, replacement restraints, and emergency kit consumables.

Instrument Conservation And Maintenance $1K/yr

[#3] Recurring conservator/luthier inspections, re-stringing, humidity adjustments, and minor repairs.

Supplies And Consumables $1K/yr

[#25] Gloves, masks, archival tape, replacement strings, papier repair supplies and similar consumables.

⚡ Cost Scenarios

📊 Baseline (baseline) $422K/yr

88.0% probability / year

Routine year with no major incidents; normal testing and conservation activity.

normal tests routine maintenance no incidents

🚨 Minor Incident $442K/yr

8.0% probability / year +$20K vs baseline

Small-scale containment incident or medical episode during testing requiring investigation, extra medical care, and minor repairs.

interrupted performance minor injury/distress limited damage

🚨 Major Breach $542K/yr

2.0% probability / year +$120K vs baseline

Attempted removal, damage requiring major conservation/repair or replacement, or significant cultural/legal exposure requiring extensive legal/diplomatic response.

unauthorized removal significant physical damage public/cultural exposure

🚨 Research Breakthrough Requiring Scale Up $572K/yr

2.0% probability / year +$150K vs baseline

Discovery that SCP-3261 effects merit expanded fMRI/longitudinal studies or larger anthropological programs, dramatically increasing annual research costs.

successful memetic/neuro findings demand for large-imaging studies external collaboration requirements

👥 Personnel 3 total

Role	Count	Notes
Site Curator / Research Scientist	1	[#5] Full-time assigned curator/primary researcher responsible for access permissioning, cataloging, and coordinating tests.
Research Assistant / Technician	1	[#6] Handles day-to-day access control, logging, instrument handling during tests, and simple analyses.
Security Officer / MTF Agent	1	[#7] Allocated security staffing coverage (FTE-equivalent) to enforce two-person integrity during handling and test windows.

📋 Confidence Notes

Analyst notes provide detailed line-item ranges enabling mid-point estimates; outstanding uncertainty exists around frequency of incidents, depth of future research (fMRI), and contingency utilization, so confidence is medium.

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