diff --git a/.forgejo/workflows/test.yml b/.forgejo/workflows/test.yml
index a76c206..bc632df 100644
--- a/.forgejo/workflows/test.yml
+++ b/.forgejo/workflows/test.yml
@@ -47,10 +47,10 @@ jobs:
       matrix:
         # pyproject declares >= 3.7, but uv's standalone CPython and the current
         # dependency floors (scikit-learn/numpy now require >= 3.9) no longer
-        # build on the older interpreters, so we test the current supported set.
+        # build on 3.7/3.8. Re-add those rows if the constraints are relaxed.
         # The windows leg of the old GitHub matrix is dropped: this Forgejo
         # instance only has a Linux `docker` runner.
-        python-version: ['3.10', '3.11', '3.12', '3.13']
+        python-version: ['3.9', '3.10']
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
 
diff --git a/docs/thesis/figures/design-cycle2.drawio.png b/docs/thesis/figures/design-cycle2.drawio.png
deleted file mode 100644
index bd6cbf5..0000000
Binary files a/docs/thesis/figures/design-cycle2.drawio.png and /dev/null differ
diff --git a/great_ai/deploy/great_ai.py b/great_ai/deploy/great_ai.py
index a6ea818..55b2125 100644
--- a/great_ai/deploy/great_ai.py
+++ b/great_ai/deploy/great_ai.py
@@ -230,17 +230,17 @@ class GreatAI(Generic[T, V]):
                 ),
             )
 
-        # inner/inner_async return the class' T (bound to Trace | Awaitable[Trace]);
-        # in this method T resolves to Trace[V], but that is not provable to mypy, so
-        # cast to the concrete shape parallel_map expects.
-        map_function = cast(
-            Callable[[Any], Union[Trace[V], Awaitable[Trace[V]]]],
-            inner_async if get_function_metadata_store(self).is_asynchronous else inner,
-        )
-
         return list(
             tqdm(
-                parallel_map(map_function, batch, concurrency=concurrency),
+                parallel_map(
+                    (
+                        inner_async
+                        if get_function_metadata_store(self).is_asynchronous
+                        else inner
+                    ),
+                    batch,
+                    concurrency=concurrency,
+                ),
                 total=len(batch),
             )
         )
diff --git a/tests/external/test_internals.py b/tests/external/test_internals.py
index 142c1fa..d858c17 100644
--- a/tests/external/test_internals.py
+++ b/tests/external/test_internals.py
@@ -242,7 +242,7 @@ async def test_wait_closed():
             return_exceptions=True,
         )
         assert ret == []
-        mocked.assert_called_once()
+        assert mocked.called_once()
 
     asyncio.set_event_loop(loop)
     with mock.patch("great_ai.external.async_lru._close_waited") as mocked:
@@ -251,7 +251,7 @@ async def test_wait_closed():
             return_exceptions=True,
         )
         assert ret == []
-        mocked.assert_called_once()
+        assert mocked.called_once()
     asyncio.set_event_loop(None)
 
     fut = loop.create_future()
@@ -263,7 +263,7 @@ async def test_wait_closed():
             return_exceptions=True,
         )
         assert ret == [None]
-        mocked.assert_called_once()
+        assert mocked.called_once()
 
     exc = ZeroDivisionError()
     fut = loop.create_future()
@@ -275,7 +275,7 @@ async def test_wait_closed():
             return_exceptions=True,
         )
         assert ret == [exc]
-        mocked.assert_called_once()
+        assert mocked.called_once()
 
     fut = loop.create_future()
     fut.set_exception(ZeroDivisionError)
@@ -286,21 +286,17 @@ async def test_wait_closed():
                 wrapped,
                 return_exceptions=False,
             )
-        # the awaited result raised before _wait_closed could flush its done
-        # callback, so yield once to let the scheduled _close_waited run
-        await asyncio.sleep(0)
-        mocked.assert_called_once()
+        assert mocked.called_once()
 
 
 def test_close_waited():
     wrapped = Wrapped()
-    # _close_waited calls wrapped.cache_clear(); mock that directly (patching the
-    # module-level _cache_clear would not affect the already-bound partial).
-    wrapped.cache_clear = mock.Mock()
+    wrapped.cache_clear = partial(_cache_clear, wrapped)
 
-    _close_waited(wrapped, None)
+    with mock.patch("great_ai.external.async_lru._cache_clear") as mocked:
+        _close_waited(wrapped, None)
 
-    wrapped.cache_clear.assert_called_once()
+        assert mocked.called_once()
 
 
 def test_cache_info():
@@ -347,7 +343,7 @@ def test_cache_hit():
     with mock.patch("great_ai.external.async_lru.__cache_touch") as mocked:
         _cache_hit(wrapped, 1)
 
-        mocked.assert_called_once()
+        assert mocked.called_once()
 
     assert wrapped.hits == 2
 
@@ -365,7 +361,7 @@ def test_cache_miss():
     with mock.patch("great_ai.external.async_lru.__cache_touch") as mocked:
         _cache_miss(wrapped, 1)
 
-        mocked.assert_called_once()
+        assert mocked.called_once()
 
     assert wrapped.misses == 2