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SCP-373 Safe ✓ high confidence
SCP-373
Expected annual
$441K
One-time setup
$139K
Annual recurring
$436K
Personnel
5
One-time startup costs are moderate (~$139k) for containment, booth and specialist equipment; recurring annual costs (~$436k) are dominated by personnel (PI, technician, analyst, security, psychologist) and ongoing research/consulting.
🏗️ One-Time Capital Costs Total: $139K
Equipment $25K
[#3, #4, #6, #8, #11] Environmental/humidity controller and archival materials; anti-tamper sensors/access control hardware and integration; high-fidelity audio capture chain; initial secure digital storage hardware; test-safety gear (hearing protection/attenuation hardware).
Cover Story And Legal One Time $25K
[#19] One-time legal/cover-story costs for provenance obfuscation, vendor payments and counsel.
Facilities $24K
[#1, #2] Secure containment locker and dedicated sound-isolated testing booth (locker mounting/archival lining; mid-range studio booth choice).
Incident Response Contingency Fund $20K
[#20] Emergency repairs / rapid-response / special investigation reserve fund.
Initial Research And Lab Setup $17K
[#7, #9, #10] Initial audio/analysis software purchase; curated record procurement; initial conservation/restoration of phonograph.
Background Checks Security Clearances $10K
[#17] Background checks, security clearances, and initial psychological screening for ~5 personnel (fingerprinting, psych evals).
Public Relations Contingency One Time $10K
[#29] Small contingency for staged provenance, buyouts or legal settlements if materials become public.
Training And Sop Development One Time $8K
[#21] Initial SOP development and staff training materials for audio-interaction protocols.
🔄 Annual Recurring Costs Total: $436K/yr
Staff Wages $335K/yr
[#12, #13, #14, #15, #16] Salaries/retainer: Lead researcher (PI) $135,000; Audio technician $65,000; Research assistant/data analyst $50,000; On-call security officer allocation $45,000; Contracted psychologist retainer $40,000.
Research And Monitoring $40K/yr
[#23] Research project funding for experiments, stipends, consumables and classified reports.
External Expert Consulting $20K/yr
[#22] Ad hoc consulting (linguists, audio forensics, cultural specialists) for interpreting altered utterances.
Long Term Archiving $8K/yr
[#30] Part-time DBA/curation labor for indexing, metadata tagging and long-term archival of recordings and transcripts.
Psychological Monitoring $8K/yr
[#18] Ongoing psychological monitoring, periodic re-screening and counseling access for personnel.
Depreciation Capital Replacement Allowance $6K/yr
[#28] Annual set-aside to replace/upgrade recording gear, storage and testing booth over time.
Logistics And Transport $5K/yr
[#25] Secure transfer of records between sites and courier costs for rare acquisitions.
Cover Story And Legal $2K/yr
[#24] Secure documentation, redaction tools, classified filing and physical archival costs.
Facilities Maintenance $2K/yr
[#5, #27] Alarm/sensor monitoring, calibration and sensor replacement; power & utilities for recording/monitoring equipment.
Secure Digital Storage Maintenance $2K/yr
[#8] On-site and off-site encrypted backup maintenance and storage upkeep.
Record Acquisitions $2K/yr
[#9] Ongoing purchases of records, rare pressings and additions to the curated collection.
Refresher Training Per Year $2K/yr
[#21] Annual refresher training and tabletop exercises for SOPs and testing protocols.
Professional Audio Software Licenses $2K/yr
[#7] Annual license renewals and updates for DAW, spectral analysis and forensic audio tools.
Supplies And Consumables $1K/yr
[#26] Record-cleaning supplies, gloves, lubricants, batteries, archival sleeves and other consumables.
Phonograph Spare Parts And Maintenance $1K/yr
[#10] Ongoing spare stylus, tonearm parts, lubricants and conservation maintenance.
⚡ Cost Scenarios
📊 Baseline (baseline) $436K/yr
92.0% probability / year
Normal year with routine testing, maintenance, consulting and staff salaries; no major incidents.
routine_operations scheduled_research no_incidents
🚨 Minor Incident $461K/yr
5.0% probability / year +$25K vs baseline
Localized incident such as accidental damage to equipment or an emotional breach requiring limited emergency response and repairs.
staff_emotional_breakdown localized_equipment_damage minor_containment_violation
🚨 Major Breach $586K/yr
1.0% probability / year +$150K vs baseline
Significant containment breach or destructive incident requiring full repair/restoration, major investigation, legal/PR response and extended downtime.
destructive_mishandling multi-agency_investigation extensive_artifact_repair
🚨 Political Exposure $536K/yr
2.0% probability / year +$100K vs baseline
Leak or public exposure of artifact-related materials triggering PR mitigation, buyouts, legal settlements and expedited provenance obfuscation.
information_leak media_attention acquisition_provenance_dispute
👥 Personnel 5 total
Role Count Notes
Lead Researcher (PI) 1 [#12] Senior researcher responsible for experiment design, approvals and reporting.
Audio Technician / Engineer 1 [#13] Operates capture chain, maintains audio quality and runs recording tests.
Research Assistant / Data Analyst 1 [#14] Transcription, parsing messages, database maintenance and manual analysis of altered output.
Security Officer / On-call MTF Agent 1 [#15] On-site security during tests to enforce SOPs and remove unauthorized personnel (FTE allocation for project).
Contracted Psychologist / Medical Monitoring 1 [#16] Contractor retainer for pre-test screening and post-test counseling (treated as a retained role).
📋 Confidence Notes
Analyst-provided line-item estimates and ranges were explicit and detailed; most major cost drivers (salaries, recurring consulting, storage, booth/equipment) are well-specified, enabling a high-confidence aggregation.
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