← SCP Cost Explorer Read on SCP Wiki ↗
SCP-8889 Unknown ~ medium confidence
SCP-8889
Expected annual
$2.1M
One-time setup
$868K
Annual recurring
$2.0M
Personnel
13
Initial one-time setup to create an EM/air-gapped containment and archival workflow is approximately $868,500; ongoing annual operations (staff, monitoring, logistics, insurance and maintenance) are estimated at roughly $1,991,000/yr, driven primarily by staffing, insurance/reserve, and legal/PR contingencies.
🏗️ One-Time Capital Costs Total: $868K
Facilities $350K
[#1, #2] Secure vault upgrade and Faraday/EM‑shielded viewing chamber (structural/room retrofits and installation).
Equipment $288K
[#3, #4, #15, #24, #25] Hardened air-gapped playback terminals, data‑diode kit, in‑house decontamination/incinerator equipment (one-time purchase), initial evidence barcode/containers, and UPS/generator upgrades.
Covert Retrieval Fund $200K
[#21] Planning reserve for potential covert retrievals / GoI interactions (one-time fund allocation for operations if required).
Initial Research And Lab Setup $15K
[#5] Master media creation & multi-format archival initial set (write-once masters across multiple formats).
Sop Documentation Development $15K
[#23] Initial development of SOPs, signage, training materials and admin setup (one-time).
🔄 Annual Recurring Costs Total: $2.0M/yr
Staff Wages $940K/yr
[#8, #9, #10, #11] 24/7 dedicated vault guards and shift staffing, IT/sysadmin & digital-forensics payroll, memetics/research scientists, and medical monitoring payroll (salaries + benefits).
Insurance Reserve $500K/yr
[#22] Reserve/insurance allocation for catastrophic scenarios, liability, property damage and large-scale cleanup.
Research And Monitoring $211K/yr
[#13, #14, #18, #19, #5] Cyber monitoring & takedown, annual research/experiments budget, software & forensic tool licenses, archival migration/integrity checks, and ongoing master media maintenance/replacement averaged.
Cover Story And Legal $100K/yr
[#20] Legal/PR suppression retainer and annual reserve for leak-related litigation/PR contingency.
Supplies And Consumables $70K/yr
[#11, #12, #17] Consumables and per-session monitoring costs (component of medical monitoring), amnestic administration reserve, and sacrificial hardware/burn-bin replacement budget.
Logistics And Transport $70K/yr
[#6, #7] Off-site redundant storage transfers and secure courier/escort budgets (scheduled rotations and escorts).
Emergency Drills $40K/yr
[#16] Annual containment breach exercises, tabletop/live drills and associated overtime.
Facilities Maintenance $30K/yr
[#1, #2, #25] Ongoing maintenance contracts and minor structural upkeep for vault, viewing chamber and power/UPS systems.
Destruction Contract $30K/yr
[#15] Annual readiness contract for secure destruction / hazardous disposal services (per-event destruction costs handled by contract).
Energy And Hvac $15K/yr
[#25] Incremental electricity, HVAC, and monitoring for EM-shielded rooms and climate control.
Master Media Replacement $12K/yr
[#5] Averaged annual budget for periodic master media migration/re-creation (3–5 year cycles averaged).
Training And Admin Overhead $10K/yr
[#23] Annual maintenance of training courses, SOP retraining and administrative overhead.
Cataloguing Upkeep $5K/yr
[#24] Ongoing evidence cataloguing upkeep, tamper-evident containers and auditing.
⚡ Cost Scenarios
📊 Baseline (baseline) $2.0M/yr
89.5% probability / year
Normal year with routine operations, scheduled transfers, maintenance, and no major incidents.
routine_transfers scheduled_testing no_unexpected_exposures
🚨 Minor Incident $2.0M/yr
8.0% probability / year +$8K vs baseline
Localized unauthorized exposure or single-session breach requiring targeted amnestics, medical response, forensic takedown and limited PR response.
unauthorized_viewing small_leak_online
🚨 Major Breach $2.7M/yr
2.0% probability / year +$708K vs baseline
Widespread leak or multiple exposures requiring large-scale amnestics, extended medical care, major legal action and possible covert retrieval operations.
multiple_exposures viral_leak significant_legal_claims
🚨 Catastrophic Breach $5.0M/yr
0.5% probability / year +$3.0M vs baseline
Rare catastrophic event (major projection/portal causing property damage, casualties or broad contamination) requiring full disaster response and large payouts.
portal_projection_event mass_casualties site_damage
👥 Personnel 13 total
Role Count Notes
Security Officer / MTF Agent 8 [#8] Dedicated guards to staff the vault/viewing chamber across shifts; average payroll included in staff_wages.
Research Scientist 2 [#10] Memetics/research containment specialists and senior scientist oversight.
IT/System Administrator / Digital Forensics 2 [#9] Maintain air-gapped systems, forensic analysis and backups.
Medical Officer 1 [#11] On-call physician / psych monitoring for viewing sessions; payroll included in staff_wages.
📋 Confidence Notes
Analyst notes provide detailed line items and ranges for most categories, allowing mid-range budgeting; uncertainties remain around breach probability, scale of covert retrievals and catastrophic losses, hence medium confidence.
← SCP-8887 ↑ All SCPs SCP-8890 →