SCP-8821 — SCP-8821 | Cost Breakdown

Read on SCP Wiki ↗

SCP-8821 Safe ~ medium confidence

SCP-8821

Expected annual

$387K

One-time setup

$226K

Annual recurring

$382K

Personnel

One-time setup and contingency reserves dominate upfront costs (seed contingency + escalation reserve). Annual expenses are driven by staff wages, secure digital storage/IT, legal/PR retainers, and ongoing research/field-investigation budgets.

🏗️ One-Time Capital Costs Total: $226K

Contingency Escalation Seed $150K

[#24] Seed emergency reserve for anomalous escalation response (quarantine of records, wide screening, classified intervention).

Contingency Seed Compensation Fund $50K

[#15] Seed for compensation/settlement/emergency relocation fund.

Initial Research And Lab Setup $9K

[#11] Forensic photographic analysis (film dating, chemical/ink analysis, mass spec etc.).

Controlled Observation Room Outfit $4K

[#10] Room outfitting (lighting control, chair) and recording equipment for controlled observation.

Equipment $3K

[#2, #4, #5] Archival sleeves/boxes & conservator consult (#2), tamper/alarm sensor + CCTV install (#4), high-res scan / scanner or scan job (#5).

Public Relations Development $3K

[#22] One-time development of cover narratives, fake provenance templates and media response plans.

Legal One Time Incident Budget $2K

[#14] Initial one-time legal incident setup / per-incident reserve (smaller incidents).

Psych Evaluation Initial $2K

[#8] Baseline psychological evaluations for ~5 monitored personnel (~$300 each).

Facilities $1K

[#1] Locker allocation, minor modifications, tamper seal points and lock upgrade.

Training Materials Creation $1K

[#9] One-time creation of briefings, training modules, signage, SOP updates.

Chain Of Custody Kit $500

[#19] Padded transport case / kit for moving SCP-8821.

🔄 Annual Recurring Costs Total: $382K/yr

Staff Wages $230K/yr

[#6, #7] Salaries for assigned research personnel/curator and incremental security staffing for supervised viewings (researcher + technician + two guards).

Research And Monitoring $39K/yr

[#12, #13, #23] Public-records/genealogical subscriptions and pay-per-search (#12), field investigation allowances and outreach trips (#13), long-term monitoring & research reserve (#23).

Contingency Escalation Replenish $25K/yr

[#24] Annual replenishment allowance for the anomalous escalation contingency reserve.

Contingency Replenish $20K/yr

[#15] Annual replenishment allowance for the compensation/containment incident reserve.

Data Management $18K/yr

[#17] Secure database software licenses (~$2k–$8k) and administrative labor for logging, redaction and classification (~0.1–0.3 FTE).

Participant Compensation $16K/yr

[#16] Participant compensation for controlled trials (~100 participants/year midpoint) plus administrative ethics overhead.

Cover Story And Legal $10K/yr

[#14] Annual legal retainer and ongoing legal review/redaction/cover-story maintenance.

Internal Audit $6K/yr

[#20] Periodic internal auditing and compliance inspections to ensure protocols are followed.

Psychological Services $6K/yr

[#8] Annual follow-up evaluations (~$150/person for ~5 people) plus on-call psychologist retainer (~$2k–$5k).

Public Relations Reserve $5K/yr

[#22] Annual reserve for per-event PR/cover mitigation and media response work.

It Security And Encryption $3K/yr

[#21] Encryption, access controls, firewall/incremental IT security for case files.

Secure Digital Archive $2K/yr

[#5] Secure encrypted server/storage costs and off-site backup for high-res digitized copy (storage + backup).

Facilities Maintenance $1K/yr

[#3, #4, #10] Incremental climate-control / dehumidifier energy share (#3), CCTV/sensor maintenance (#4), controlled-observation room minimal maintenance (#10).

Supplies And Consumables $600/yr

[#18] Gloves, tweezers, archival labels, cleaning supplies, prints/copies.

Logistics And Transport $500/yr

[#19] Per-move transport/courier costs averaged annually (insured moves/UPS-level courier procedures).

Training $500/yr

[#9] Annual refresher courses and reprints for SOPs and briefings.

⚡ Cost Scenarios

📊 Baseline (baseline) $382K/yr

90.0% probability / year

Normal operational year with standard monitoring, periodic viewings, routine research and no major incidents.

scheduled viewings routine research no field escalations

🚨 Investigative Surge $407K/yr

8.0% probability / year +$25K vs baseline

Year with one or more identity matches that require forensic analysis and multiple discreet field investigations.

confirmed identity matches multiple field investigations expanded forensic testing

🚨 Public Exposure Incident $532K/yr

2.0% probability / year +$150K vs baseline

Year in which an identity match or leak triggers legal action, public attention, and large-scale mitigation (compensation, PR, emergency response).

public leak or media attention civil litigation or privacy complaint widespread distress requiring compensation

👥 Personnel 4 total

Role	Count	Notes
Research Scientist	1	Primary assigned researcher/curator responsible for documentation and controlled observation sessions (part of staff_wages #[#6]).
Research Technician / Curator	1	Assist with documentation, digitization, evidence handling (included in staff_wages #[#6]).
Security Officer / MTF Agent	2	Two guards covering observation windows / supervised viewings (incremental security staffing #[#7]).

📋 Confidence Notes

Analyst notes provide detailed line items and ranges, allowing reasonable aggregation, but many items (incident frequency, contingency replenishment, legal/per-incident costs) are uncertain and given as ranges; hence medium confidence.

← SCP-8820 ↑ All SCPs SCP-8822 →