Alice stumbled through data streams, her path lit only by the neon glow of binary chaos. The digits danced mockingly around her, a frenetic waltz of ones and zeros.
"A utility lost in the matrix," she muttered, the words spiraling into the ether. Somewhere, a clock ticked, but the time was irrelevant.

In the shadows lurked a figure, cloaked in the syntax of forgotten algorithms. "Have you seen the pattern?" it whispered, voice like static on an abandoned channel.

"Patterns," Alice scoffed, "Patterns are traps designed to ensnare the curious." And yet, she peered deeper into the digital abyss, where glitching constellations hinted at secrets untold.