These socks are knitted from the top down and use Cat Bordhi’s Sky architecture for the heel. There are no gussets per se, and no picking up stitches. Short rows are used to turn the heel with a modest amount of wrap- and-turning.

The name is a pun on Sky + Sci(ence)Fi(ction) - the leg pattern looks like rows and columns of Space Invaders, don’t you think?