public function getNumeric($names)
    {
        $data = $this->get($names, 'numeric');

        $resultIndices = $this->getResultIndices();
        $result = $data->getIndexedArray($resultIndices);

        // if only one metric is returned, just return it as a numeric value
        if (empty($resultIndices)
            && count($result) <= 1
            && (!is_array($names) || count($names) == 1)
        ) {
            $result = (float)reset($result); // convert to float in case $result is empty
        }

        return $result;
    }