THE X-FILES

Curst Toast （キラートースト）

Teleplay by: YOUR NAME & ChatGPT
Draft date: 12 May 2025 | Runtime: ~45 min (Network Hour)

CREATURE DOSSIER – "Killer Toast"

Origin: In 1852 Virginia, a young African American slave woman was brutally whipped to death for dropping a piece of toast. Her vengeful spirit bound to every buttered slice.

Manifest: Buttered side down, with restless, malevolent agency.

Behavior: Leaps from plates at dawn, causing fatal slips or pushes victims off heights.

Weakness: Loses its power when buttered side lands up or on nonstick surfaces; spiritual pacification by apology rituals.

EPISODE

Curst Toast – キラートースト

A series of fatal falls at dawn; the mysterious “Killer Toast” bound by a vengeful spirit seeks retribution. Mulder & Scully confront science, legend, and apology rituals to break the curse.

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TEASER

INT. HIGH-RISE APARTMENT – MORNING A BUSINESSMAN butters toast, places it on a plate… a soft *slap* as the toast jumps off, landing butter-side DOWN. He bends to pick it up and slips off the balcony to his death. SMASH TO: MAIN TITLES

ACT ONE

INT. X-FILES OFFICE – DAY Mulder holds a newspaper: “Three Mysterious Falls in Manhattan.” MULDER Notice each victim fell after breakfast. SCULLY examines a buttered toast crumb under UV: SCULLY It glows… ash and linseed oil—centuries old. Skinner enters: SKINNER Officially: accidental falls. But locals whisper "curse." Check it out.

ACT TWO

INT. UNIVERSITY LAB – EVENING DR. AKARI YUUKI (20), MIT physicist prodigy, joins Scully. She sets up a pendulum and cites Buffon’s needle problem: statistical probability vs. curse. AKARI If buttered side down occurs 75% of the time, that’s a natural bias—not haunting. SCULLY tastes buttered toast with stimulant test strips: SCULLY Trace of amphetamine—could be accidental contamination. AKARI volunteers: AKARI I'll model toast flips in simulation. Science can explain this.

ACT THREE

INT. BAKERY – LATE NIGHT Mulder and Scully confront the baker’s son, jittery and pale. BAKER’S SON I—I mixed some stimulants into the dough by accident! It's not supernatural, it's a production error! He’s arrested, but dawn sees another fatal plunge. The curse persists.

ACT FOUR

EXT. ROOFTOP TERRACE – DAWN Scully and Akari butter slices on both sides and distribute to townsfolk. The toast lands harmlessly; nervous laughter. INT. COMMUNITY HALL – MORNING Mulder arranges an apology event with a local Black rights group. A reluctant MAYOR steps up. MULDER Today we acknowledge historic injustices to enslaved people. MAYOR I… apologize for my predecessors’ cruelty. Outside, no falls occur.

ACT FIVE

INT. X-FILES OFFICE – NIGHT Akari reviews simulation data: AKARI Even my model can’t account for the final falls—there’s a variable missing. Mulder pins the 1852 clipping on the board. MULDER (smiling) Science isn't everything...

TAG

INT. X-FILES OFFICE – LATER Scully pours cereal. SCULLY So… butter-up, every time. Mulder gazes at the board, a nihilistic grin forming. FADE OUT.