public function gets(array $keys, $metadata = false)
    {
        /**
         * gets <key>*\r\n
         */

        // Build key request string
        $keys = implode(self::COMMAND_SEPARATOR, $keys);

        // Build packet to send ...
        $data = self::COMMAND_GETS . self::COMMAND_SEPARATOR   .
            $keys                  . self::COMMAND_TERMINATOR;

        $result = $this->send(self::COMMAND_GETS, $data);

        // Strip all overhead if no metadata requested!
        if ($metadata === false) {
            $result = array_column($result, 'value', 'key');
        }

        return $result;
    }