← SCP Cost Explorer Read on SCP Wiki ↗
SCP-6138 Unknown ~ medium confidence
SCP-6138
Expected annual
$4.6M
One-time setup
$5.5M
Annual recurring
$4.3M
Personnel
18
Initial one-time setup is dominated by lab/startup and emergency reserve costs (~$5.5M one-time). Recurring annual operations including staff, research, takedown/legal, and long-term care are estimated at ~$4.34M/yr, driven chiefly by personnel and research operations.
🏗️ One-Time Capital Costs Total: $5.5M
Emergency Reserve $2.0M
[#20] Recommended initial emergency reserve for mass re-propagation / large-scale takedown events.
Initial Research And Lab Setup $1.4M
[#12, #13, #16] Minimal research lab equipment, memetic research program startup, and initial controlled-testing program setup.
Facilities $1.4M
[#6, #8, #12] Locker upgrades, construction/repurposing of humanoid cell(s), and optional BSL-3 conversion for lab containment.
Equipment $430K
[#2, #5, #7, #11, #19, #23, #24, #27] Detection/software deployment and hardware, cyber-forensics tooling, playback/test rigs, surveillance hardware, standby vehicle/equipment, data-retention systems, PPE devices, and honeypot system.
International Field Ops Setup $175K
[#5] One-time budget for international field operations / travel/setup if cross-jurisdictional investigations are required.
Seizure Operation Reserve $50K
[#28] Reserve for per-operation seizure/disposal costs (as-needed).
Training Development $50K
[#14] Development of memetic-safe training materials and certification curricula.
Policy And Opsec Dev $25K
[#17] One-time policy and OPSEC development (background-check program design, NDAs, internal policy).
🔄 Annual Recurring Costs Total: $4.3M/yr
Staff Wages $2.1M/yr
[#1, #5, #13, #17, #27, #15] Monitoring analysts, cyber-forensics FTEs, memetic research salaries (research staff), OPSEC/infosec staff, honeypot/communications analyst time, and psychological support staffing.
Research And Monitoring $745K/yr
[#2, #12, #16, #22, #14, #25, #26] Ongoing automated detection cloud compute/storage, contracted imaging (MRI/PET), controlled-testing program recurring costs, red-team/adversarial testing program, annual training recertification, compliance/oversight, and translation/accessibility analysis.
Cover Story And Legal $525K/yr
[#3, #18] In-house counsel retainer, outside takedown/specialist counsel, and PR/cover-story budget for leak/rumor containment.
Long Term Care Per Instance $500K/yr
[#9, #21] Per-instance annual cost for long-term housing, 24/7 staffing, medical care, and psychosocial services for SCP-6138-1 instances (per-person figure).
Counter Upload Operations $200K/yr
[#4] Ongoing counter-upload / content suppression operations (decoys, ad buys, moderator payments, seeding mirrors).
Logistics And Transport $125K/yr
[#19] Annual travel and field response team operational costs (rapid response deployments, on-site removal operations).
Cyber Forensics Ops Budget $110K/yr
[#5] Recurring operational budget for subpoenas, warrants, travel, and investigative expenses beyond core wages.
Facilities Maintenance $40K/yr
[#6, #8, #11, #23] Annual maintenance for containment locker, cell utilities/HVAC, surveillance maintenance/storage, and data-retention storage/audit costs.
Supplies And Consumables $7K/yr
[#10, #24] Companion animal care (guinea pig) supplies and PPE/device maintenance costs.
⚡ Cost Scenarios
📊 Baseline (baseline) $4.3M/yr
82.0% probability / year
Normal year with standard monitoring, research activities, and a small number of contained instances under quota.
routine_operations moderate_research_activity
🚨 Minor Incident $4.6M/yr
15.0% probability / year +$250K vs baseline
Localized reposting / single-platform resurgence requiring extra takedown, legal actions, and a seizure operation.
localized_viral_repost moderate_legal_fight server_seizure
🚨 Mass Repropagation $10.8M/yr
3.0% probability / year +$6.5M vs baseline
Widespread viral re-propagation across many platforms and private channels, requiring mass takedowns, large legal campaigns, expanded care, and possible construction of more containment capacity.
platform-wide_viral_spread mass_quarantine_and_care large-scale_legal_campaigns
👥 Personnel 18 total
Role Count Notes
Digital Monitoring Analyst 6 [#1] Two 12-hour shifts plus spares to triage automated flags and handle takedown coordination.
Memetic Researcher / Scientist 6 [#13] Research team (4–8 researchers + techs); headcount chosen to match recurring salary envelope.
Cyber-Forensics / Investigator 2 [#5] For tracing uploads, communications, and conducting digital attribution.
OPSEC / Information Security 2 [#17] Internal monitoring, background checks, and anti-leak operations.
Communications/Honeypot Analyst 1 [#27] Honeypot setup and monitoring analyst time to manage communications endpoints.
Psychological Support / Counselor 1 [#15] Ongoing counseling and monitoring for at-risk staff.
📋 Confidence Notes
Estimates are based on analyst-provided ranges and midpoints for many items; digital/memetic containment has variable, event-driven costs (large tail risk). Core operational costs (staffing, recurring cloud/legal) are relatively well-defined; contingency/event estimates are more uncertain.
← SCP-6137 ↑ All SCPs SCP-6139 →