SCP-888 — SCP-888 | Cost Breakdown

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SCP-888 Safe ~ medium confidence

SCP-888

Expected annual

$1.0M

One-time setup

$4.6M

Annual recurring

$988K

Personnel

Initial one-time setup ~ $4.09M driven by a funded multi-year research program and contingency/reserve funds; ongoing annual costs ~ $987.8k driven mainly by staff wages, medical monitoring, and security.

🏗️ One-Time Capital Costs Total: $4.6M

Research Program $2.0M

[#16] Multi-year neuroscience/materials research program (mechanism, memory, reversal) estimated as a funded project cost.

Containment Failure Reserve $750K

[#26] Reserve for relocation, emergency containment operations, rapid PR/legal response, and compensation in case of exposure/theft/leak.

Medical Contingency Reserve $500K

[#9] Reserve for emergency medical treatment, hospitalization, rehabilitation and potential lifetime disability payouts (recommended).

Equipment $486K

[#2, #3, #7, #11, #12, #13, #14, #19, #20, #24] Vault door/anti-tamper sensors, HVAC/archival climate setup, CCTV/access-control install, specialized handling setup, non-destructive instrumentation purchase, precision cutting equipment, initial replication/handling program setup, initial vetting/training, emergency power and secure IT setup.

Field Acquisition Expedition $325K

[#22] Field acquisition/provenance expedition budget (travel, permits, local contacts, recovery).

Legal Incident Reserve $300K

[#17] One-time contingency for incident legal costs / indemnities beyond annual retainers.

Facilities $230K

[#1, #2] Sealings and rerouting of access (reinforced concrete, demolition, inspection, permits) and portion of vault structural reinforcement/wall work.

Initial Research And Lab Setup $0

[]

🔄 Annual Recurring Costs Total: $988K/yr

Staff Wages $650K/yr

[#4, #5] 24/7 physical security staffing (~4 guards) and on-payroll librarians/research staff (2 librarians, 1 senior researcher, 2 junior researchers, 1 tech).

Research And Monitoring $120K/yr

[#8, #12, #13, #21, #27] Medical monitoring/MRI programs, instrument maintenance/contracted analyses, precision cutting/operation costs, forensic neuropathology consultancy, governance/ethics oversight.

Cover Story And Legal $35K/yr

[#17] Legal retainers and PR/cover costs for the hosting library / local counsel retainer.

Insurance Premiums $30K/yr

[#18] Artifact/property and personnel liability insurance premiums.

Miscellaneous Administrative Overhead $30K/yr

[#28] Utilities, admin staff time, accounting, travel, and petty expenses.

Archival Conservation Stipend $28K/yr

[#23] Funding/stipend to maintain the library, preserve rare-book room, and maintain cover story.

Liaison Stipends $25K/yr

[#6] Compensation/stipends for external third librarian liaison and local institution cooperation.

Logistics And Transport $20K/yr

[#15] Secure courier/armored transport, insurance and escorts for occasional transfers.

Psychological Services $18K/yr

[#10] Psychological counseling and occupational health follow-up for exposed staff.

Offsite Storage Fees $10K/yr

[#14] Secure offsite storage fees for redundant >8cc fragment storage.

Facilities Maintenance $9K/yr

[#3, #7, #20] HVAC energy/maintenance and monitoring, CCTV/access-control maintenance, emergency power maintenance.

Supplies And Consumables $6K/yr

[#11, #25] Specialized PPE consumables (disposable fingertip covers, sterile barriers) and general lab/archival consumables.

Annual Vetting And Drills $4K/yr

[#19] Annual re-vetting, background checks and periodic security drills.

Secure It Maintenance $4K/yr

[#24] Maintenance/hosting for secure air-gapped records, backups and encryption hardware.

⚡ Cost Scenarios

📊 Baseline (baseline) $988K/yr

93.0% probability / year

Normal uneventful year with routine operations, no major incidents.

routine operations scheduled research and monitoring no exposures or legal incidents

🚨 Minor Incident $1.3M/yr

6.0% probability / year +$320K vs baseline

Isolated exposure or medical incident affecting one or a few staff requiring medical treatment, short-term legal/PR response and limited operational disruption.

single-person exposure limited hospital/rehab costs small legal/PR response

🚨 Major Breach $3.0M/yr

1.0% probability / year +$2.0M vs baseline

Containment failure or public exposure requiring large-scale emergency response, relocation, major legal action, and extensive medical/rehab payouts.

theft or widespread accidental contact public exposure major legal/medical response

👥 Personnel 10 total

Role	Count	Notes
Security Officer / MTF Agent	4	[#4] 24/7 guard coverage (two-person rule/RSSI) — 4 full-time guards.
Research Scientist (Senior)	1	[#5] Head researcher on payroll.
Research Scientist (Junior)	2	[#5] Two junior researchers to assist testing/oversight.
Research Technician	1	[#5] One technical staff for tests and sample handling.
Librarian (on-payroll)	2	[#5] Two senior librarians on payroll with access to the rare-book room.

📋 Confidence Notes

Analyst notes provided explicit ranges for most line items allowing mid-point estimates; uncertainty remains due to optional choices (purchase vs contracted analysis), regional construction variance, and low-probability high-cost contingencies.

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