SCP-4522 — SCP-4522 | Cost Breakdown

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SCP-4522 Unknown ~ medium confidence

SCP-4522

Expected annual

$7.5M

One-time setup

$31.2M

Annual recurring

$7.2M

Personnel

Initial one-time setup is approximately $31,173,500 driven mainly by a large containment-upgrade contingency, secure BSL-3 research facility buildout, and perimeter/surveillance installation. Ongoing annual operations are approximately $7,177,000/yr, with major drivers being on-call MTF/helicopter standby, diplomatic/cover operations, emergency contingency reserves, and sustained surveillance/research operations.

🏗️ One-Time Capital Costs Total: $31.2M

Containment Upgrade Contingency $27.5M

[#22] Contingency reserve for major containment upgrade if SCP-4522 fruit proves able to confer/remove anomalous abilities (multi-year capital project).

Initial Research And Lab Setup $1.9M

[#10] Secure research/analysis facility (BSL-3-capable room, negative pressure, HEPA, autoclave, secure freezer, Faraday shielding) one-time buildout.

Perimeter Sensor Installation $800K

[#3] Perimeter sensor suite installation (thermal PTZ cameras, seismic/microphone nodes, hardened housings, repeaters, mast installation).

Equipment $255K

[#2, #8] Power generation & distribution capital ($80k–$220k) and communications hardware (satcom terminals, radios) one-time setup.

Drone Fleet Capital $250K

[#4] Drone fleet capital purchase (VTOL drones tolerant of mountain winds) and supporting ground hardware for persistent remote surveillance.

Facilities $235K

[#1] Field base camp construction: rugged prefabricated shelters, site prep, sanitation and weatherproofing for mountain ridge base.

Infosec Setup $95K

[#14] Information security and compartmentalization setup: cover identities, secure records systems, OPSEC setup and audits.

Sample Storage And Containment $62K

[#11] Sample storage & containment hardware: secure lockers, cryo/freezers, Faraday storage, tamper-evident storage units.

Cold Chain Setup $50K

[#9] Cold-chain & secure sample transport setup: refrigerated containers, secure packaging and chain-of-custody equipment.

Medical Initial Supplies $26K

[#13] Medical and biohazard preparedness initial purchases: PPE, oxygen, altitude medicine, decontamination sets.

🔄 Annual Recurring Costs Total: $7.2M/yr

Emergency Contingency Fund $1.1M/yr

[#18] Reserve fund for surge helicopter hours, emergency MTF deployment, evacuation and rapid triage in disasters or containment breaches.

Diplomatic And Cover Operations $1.1M/yr

[#15] Diplomatic/cover operations, front organization costs, permits, local hires and liaison programs to manage host-nation exposure risk.

Research And Monitoring $975K/yr

[#10, #12] Lab operations & compliance and scientific research program (botany, genetics, physiology, anomalous testing) ongoing costs.

On Call Mtf Helicopter $950K/yr

[#6] On-call MTF/HEMS and helicopter standby readiness costs depending on readiness level (contracted standby/rapid response).

Logistics And Transport $718K/yr

[#7] Helicopter insertion/extraction and resupply (weekly flights) plus ground/porter costs for high-altitude logistics.

Staff Wages $700K/yr

[#5, #6] Salaries and benefits for field researchers (Chinese-branch liaison + rotating researchers) and a small permanent security detail.

Drone Operations And Sat Imagery $325K/yr

[#4] Ongoing drone sortie operations, pilots, imagery tasking and spare drone replacements; satellite tasking fees and analysts.

Cover Story And Legal $275K/yr

[#19] Insurance, liability and legal defense funds for incidents, cover documents and front organization legal costs.

Data Storage And Analysis $180K/yr

[#20] Secure server infrastructure, redundancy, data analysts and automated monitoring for long-term sensor and research data.

Psych Ops And Amnestics $170K/yr

[#17] Amnestic supplies, psychological follow-up and memetic containment research readiness for leaks or compelled departures.

Administrative Overhead $165K/yr

[#23] Program management, accounting, procurement and compliance staff costs.

Local Community Relations $85K/yr

[#16] Community relations and supply provision to villagers (gifts, trade goods, cultural liaison exchanges).

Perimeter Maintenance And Links $80K/yr

[#3] Annual maintenance, repairs and data link costs for perimeter sensor suite and hardened housings.

Information Security And Opsec $75K/yr

[#14] Ongoing OPSEC, audits, personnel compartment training and maintenance of need-to-know systems.

Training And Rotation $75K/yr

[#21] Mountain survival, language/cultural training, biosafety courses and rotation travel to mitigate burnout.

Misc Consumables $75K/yr

[#24] Food, batteries, spare parts, drone propellers, climbing gear and routine consumables for field operations.

Power Fuel And Maintenance $40K/yr

[#2] Fuel, generator maintenance and battery replacements for off-grid power (diesel standby and battery bank upkeep).

Communications Services $40K/yr

[#8] Satcom service fees, encryption, bandwidth and backup HF/VHF/UHF service subscriptions.

Medical And Biohazard $19K/yr

[#13] Resupply of medical kits, PPE replacements, medevac fees and altitude-medicine provisions.

Cold Chain Transport $18K/yr

[#9] Ongoing costs for refrigerated transport, consumables and escorted/secure transport of biological samples.

Sample Storage Monitoring $12K/yr

[#11] Monitoring, alarm services and maintenance for secure sample storage and tamper-evident systems.

Facilities Maintenance $0/yr

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Supplies And Consumables $0/yr

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⚡ Cost Scenarios

📊 Baseline (baseline) $7.2M/yr

68.0% probability / year

Normal, uneventful year with routine operations, scheduled maintenance, and standard rotations.

no incidents routine resupply scheduled research activities

🚨 Minor Incident $7.6M/yr

25.0% probability / year +$400K vs baseline

Localized equipment failures, severe weather causing extra helicopter hours and sensor repairs; limited MTF response.

severe weather sensor/drones damage short on-site medical evacuation

🚨 Political Exposure $8.7M/yr

5.0% probability / year +$1.5M vs baseline

Local government/civilian discovery or investigation requiring intensive diplomatic cover operations, legal payouts and expanded OPSEC response.

civilian incident local authority investigation leak requiring cover mobilization

🚨 Major Breach $12.2M/yr

2.0% probability / year +$5.0M vs baseline

Containment breach or discovery involving anomalous effects from SCP-4522 fruit requiring mass response and initiation of containment upgrade.

mass-exposure event anomalous ability transfer major containment breach

👥 Personnel 9 total

Role	Count	Notes
Chinese Branch Liaison / Researcher	1	[#5] Permanent Chinese-branch liaison responsible for communication with SCP-4522-BT inhabitants.
Research Scientist / Field Researcher	3	[#5] Rotating field researchers (two typically on-site at a time, rotation to avoid isolation); salaries included in staff_wages.
Security Officer / MTF Agent	5	[#6] Small permanent security detail (4–6 personnel in rotations); count chosen as median; salaries included in staff_wages.

📋 Confidence Notes

Many line items are provided as wide analyst ranges and remote high-altitude operations add variability; core recurring elements are well-identified but contingency and breach costs carry substantial uncertainty.

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