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SCP-5829 Unknown ~ medium confidence
SCP-5829
Expected annual
$650K
One-time setup
$1.4M
Annual recurring
$604K
Personnel
10
Initial one-time containment, forensic analysis, and legal/cover actions are roughly $1.4M up-front (mostly contingency and facility/setup costs); ongoing annual operations (security, monitoring, amnestic allocation, and censorship) are approximately $604.5k/year, with higher-cost escalation scenarios possible.
🏗️ One-Time Capital Costs Total: $1.4M
Facilities $510K
[#5, #12] Secure archival cabinet/vault purchase and potential specialized viewing-suite construction (one-time build-out).
Contingency Reserve $500K
[#19] Reserved one-time contingency for escalation (emergency retrofits, quarantine, mobilization).
Initial Research And Lab Setup $181K
[#7, #10, #15, #23] Archival preservation supplies, initial memetic/forensic analysis project costs (specialists + support), chain-of-evidence documentation, and record-revision one-time labor.
Equipment $65K
[#6, #8, #9] Faraday/shielding enclosure setup, forensic duplication hardware, and air-gapped/offline storage hardware (one-time acquisition).
Legal Diplomatic One Time $50K
[#20] Legal/diplomatic response costs if jurisdictional or public disputes arise (settlements, covert diplomacy).
Covert Confiscation Operation $30K
[#1] Covert seizure planning & execution: surveillance, overtime, covert vehicle use, on-site packaging and temporary cover arrangements.
Amnestic Administration $30K
[#2] One-time amnestic administration for assumed ~5 civilians (estimate uses mid-range per-person costs).
Reimbursements Cover Payments $20K
[#3] NDAs/hush payments, replacement equipment, travel/consult fees for cooperation from university staff.
Initial Vetting And Clearance $10K
[#14] One-time vet/clearance costs for initial staff granted access (assumes a small number of personnel processed initially).
Covert Transport Chain Of Custody $8K
[#4] Secure courier/armored transport, cross-border logistics and documentation for chain-of-custody transfer to Site-43.
Psychological Aftercare Per Episode $8K
[#24] One-time psychological aftercare cost for one affected staff episode (counseling, leave, reintegration).
🔄 Annual Recurring Costs Total: $604K/yr
Staff Wages $420K/yr
[#11, #13] Ongoing monitoring/research team salaries and 24/7 archival/security guard coverage (salaries, benefits, overhead).
Amnestic Stockpile Allocation $100K/yr
[#18] Foundation-wide allocation for amnestic manufacture and storage incremental cost assigned to this operation.
Cover Story And Legal $30K/yr
[#16] Ongoing public censorship, online monitoring, takedown operations and contractor engagement.
Civilian Surveillance $30K/yr
[#17] Long-term surveillance/watch-listing and periodic monitoring of involved civilians (phone/financial checks, check-ins).
Logistics And Transport $8K/yr
[#22] Inter-site couriering, vehicle time and fuel for routine inspections and secure transfers.
Facilities Maintenance $6K/yr
[#6, #7, #9] Maintenance of shielding/Faraday enclosure, climate-control energy for archival preservation, media integrity checks and vault upkeep.
Record Revision Recurring $5K/yr
[#23] Ongoing archival/revision labor for public-history sanitation and monitoring of institutional memory.
Supplies And Consumables $2K/yr
[#21] Gloves, evidence bags, tamper tapes, archival sleeves, batteries, lab consumables.
Forensic Duplication Event $2K/yr
[#8] Recurring per-duplication event costs (forensic imaging, technician time) assuming occasional duplication events per year.
Periodic Vetting And Rechecks $1K/yr
[#14] Annual periodic rechecks, reinvestigations, and psychological screening costs for access-holders.
Research And Monitoring $0/yr
[]
Viewing Suite Operations $0/yr
[#12] Conditional ongoing operations for specialized memetic viewing suite (set to 0 unless the footage is declared a cognitohazard and suite is commissioned).
⚡ Cost Scenarios
📊 Baseline (baseline) $604K/yr
93.0% probability / year
Normal uneventful year with containment in archives, routine monitoring, security, amnestic allocation, and modest takedown activity.
no_cognitive_escalation no_public_leak routine_operations_only
🚨 Memetic Hazard Escalation $1.4M/yr
5.0% probability / year +$750K vs baseline
Footage is classified as cognitohazardous or provokes unsafe exposures requiring emergency redeployment, commissioning/viewing-suite activation, and contingency reserve usage.
discovery_of_cognitive_hazard unsafe_viewing_event evidence_triggers_containment_retrofit
🚨 Major Public Exposure $1.0M/yr
2.0% probability / year +$400K vs baseline
Significant leak or public/legal challenge (university or media exposure) that requires large-scale takedown, legal/diplomatic response, additional amnestics, and increased security.
public_leak university_public_dispute law_enforcement_or_media_scrutiny
👥 Personnel 10 total
Role Count Notes
Security Officer / MTF Agent 8 [#13] 24/7 guard coverage for archives (rotating shifts).
Research Scientist / Archivist 2 [#11, #15] Ongoing monitoring/revision and archival management (memetic/forensic analysts folded into small FTE team).
📋 Confidence Notes
Analyst notes provide line-item ranges and clear operational items but many estimates are range-based and conditional (memetic classification, number of civilians, and contingency usage). Mid-range choices were used for budgeting; true costs could vary significantly if the footage proves hazardous.
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