“Simon,” says Simon. It takes him a (helpful) beat to elaborate: “Just Simon,” in the event that there was any doubt as to his being part of his own lunar legacy. “Handles are overrated as a reclamation -- so often derivative of lies imposed upon us by machines.”

Metzger can talk, when he wants to -- slanted vowels and hard consonants rolled easy off his tongue, nearly too quick to follow.

“Maria Cyphert is a beautiful name,” he finishes on a high note, as if in afterthought.