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SCP-4688 Artifact ~ medium confidence
SCP-4688
Expected annual
$1.3M
One-time setup
$990K
Annual recurring
$1.3M
Personnel
12
One-time setup costs are moderate (~$1.0M including recommended contingencies) dominated by containment/shielding build and large reserved contingencies; recurring annual costs are dominated by personnel (security, research, medical) and ongoing R&D/monitoring (~$1.29M/yr).
🏗️ One-Time Capital Costs Total: $990K
High Severity Contingency $625K
[#27] Standing contingency reserve recommended for high-severity incidents (legal/medical/long-term response).
Incident Response Reserve $150K
[#12] Recommended contingency/reserve for rapid-response activation and short-term emergency costs.
Facilities $120K
[#2, #3] Test chamber construction and RF/EM shielding (item #2) plus one-way observation glazing/physical observation setup (item #3).
Equipment $48K
[#1, #4, #9, #18, #19] Reinforced Faraday-lined locker (#1), Faraday-lined transport case & handling kit (#4), initial PPE and specialized handling tools (#9 initial), non-networked monitoring hardware setup (#18 setup), and initial physical record/storage hardware (#19 initial).
Initial Research And Lab Setup $40K
[#15, #24] Forensic/materials analysis and initial characterization (#15) plus optional/necessary neurophysiological equipment (EEG system) and collaborator-access setup (#24).
Sop And Signage Setup $6K
[#10] Containment signage, lockout/permit systems and hardcopy SOP documentation (setup costs).
Wiring Removal Disposal Initial $1K
[#17] Initial disposal/storage cost for removed wiring/contaminants (per-incident estimate applied as initial budget).
🔄 Annual Recurring Costs Total: $1.3M/yr
Staff Wages $1.0M/yr
[#6, #7, #8, #19] Security staffing (6 FTE guards, benefits) (#6), research staffing including Project Head, researchers, technician (+ benefits) (#7), medical support clinician salary/coverage (#8), and recurring data-handling/record transcription staff time from #19.
Research And Monitoring $135K/yr
[#14, #16, #18, #26] Annual testing session operational costs aggregated (#14), ongoing sample processing per new instance (#16), media/storage rotation for non-networked monitoring (#18 recurring), and ongoing memetic/mitigation R&D program (#26).
Cover Story And Legal $62K/yr
[#22] Legal retainer, cover story/public affairs budget and related contingency to manage exposure risk.
Liability And Insurance $38K/yr
[#23] Allocation for site-level liability/insurance and occupational health compliance attributable to handling SCP-4688.
Logistics And Transport $14K/yr
[#5] Secure transport operations estimate (per-trip costs aggregated to an annual expected number of transfers).
Psychological Screening And Counselling $12K/yr
[#13] Annual budget for baseline psychological screening and post-exposure counseling episodes.
Training And Drills $8K/yr
[#11] Annual training, emergency-response drills and refresher courses for personnel.
Replacement Procurement For New Instances $6K/yr
[#25] Annual budget to catalogue, outfit, and store newly recovered helmets (assumes a modest expected recovery rate aggregated annually).
Facilities Maintenance $4K/yr
[#21] Annual inspections, shielding integrity checks, gasket replacement, grounding checks and lock servicing.
Energy And Environmental Control $2K/yr
[#20] Incremental HVAC and environmental control costs for sealed/shielded testing and storage spaces.
Supplies And Consumables $500/yr
[#9] Annual replacements and consumables for PPE and specialized handling tools (replacement budget).
⚡ Cost Scenarios
📊 Baseline (baseline) $1.3M/yr
94.5% probability / year
Normal uneventful year with routine testing, maintenance, and staffing at expected levels.
routine_testing no_incidents standard_recovery_rate
🚨 Minor Incident $1.4M/yr
5.0% probability / year +$75K vs baseline
Small containment/medical incident requiring rapid-response activation, overtime, limited temporary detention/cleanup and limited legal/PR work.
small_breach_or_influence_event staff_overtime limited_medical_treatment
🚨 Major Breach $2.8M/yr
0.5% probability / year +$1.5M vs baseline
Significant containment breach or mass-influence event requiring extensive medical treatment, long-term legal response, large-scale containment operations and use of major contingency funds.
mass_influence_event multi-agency_response prolonged_medical_and_legal_costs
👥 Personnel 12 total
Role Count Notes
Security Officer / MTF Agent 6 [#6] Dedicated multi-shift coverage (6 FTE) for 24/7 security of containment unit.
Project Head / Executive Staff 1 [#7] Lead investigator overseeing testing and containment protocols.
Research Scientist 2 [#7] Two research staff for experiments and documentation.
Research Technician 1 [#7] Technician for experiment setup, sample handling and equipment operation.
Medical Officer 1 [#8] On-call clinician/medical support for handling/testing and emergency response.
Administrative Staff 1 [#19] Part-time/administrative support for secure physical record-keeping and transcription (recurring staff time from #19).
📋 Confidence Notes
Many line items have explicit ranges and clear mappings (medium confidence) but several annualized figures require assumptions (number of tests/transfers, new-instance recovery rate, chosen midpoints) and contingency reserves are discretionary, so uncertainty remains.
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