He asks

As far as plans go, it was a simple one. Julianna still didn't know what the ring did, so he still had a window where he could play to her ignorance. He grabbed a piece of paper and a pencil and wrote something out quickly.

"Excuse me, Mrs. Czarneki, I know this is an odd request, but would you humor me for a second? I'd like you to read this out loud." He passed over the slip of paper.

She looked at him skeptically, but took the paper. She looked at it, then held it farther away from her face, then went searching in a drawer. "This better not be a silly juvenile prank, like that ICUP one Henry is so fond of," she said, before finding her reading glasses. "Okay, let's see. Out loud, then." She read the paper over. "You're setting me up for a joke, I'm sure, but 'Curtis has the gold ring in his pocket and knows how to use its powers intuitively. Am I wrong?'" She looked expectantly for the punchline.

Curtis already had his hand in his pocket, and slipped the ring on his finger the second it appeared. He took his hand out of his pocket and showed her his ring finger before quickly saying, "will Julianna be unable to ask questions that would change me if I wouldn't like the changes?"

She squinted at him, trying to puzzle that one out. "What are you..."

Curtis couldn't help but strut a little, gloating to the universe at how he'd stumped it. He cut her off, saying, "Can Julianna not talk until I say it's okay, and does she know what the rings do?" he asked. He watched her face carefully as words died in her mouth, her lips still moving. Then her eyes shot wide. "Are you going to sit there and listen to me?" He watched the fight leave her expression and sighed in relief. Okay, now he had time to think. He put his feet up on the desk and looked at the elderly woman. He didn't have any malice for her, really. She'd been a wonderful boss to him, and probably would have been a friend if she'd been younger and they shared interests. He knew that he was going to do awful things to her, but maybe he could start with something nice. Well, first he made sure she knew he was doing something nice. "Will you and I be the only ones that know what I change about you and your life?" She stared at him suspiciously and he found himself curious what she was thinking. "Okay, you can talk, but will you be unable to try to do anything to stop me?"

She gasped, enjoying the sound it made. She gave him a cool look, as though she'd reevaluated him and found him to be a worthy foe. "Okay, Curtis, I know this game. We both know I'm going to be trying to think for loopholes, and you'll be closing them as soon as you can. I don't suppose I can appeal to your humanity." She paused, considering. "So, before I lose my chance, I'm going to ask something. Is my husband in poor health?"

Curtis nodded, respectfully. He turned to the old man, who stood up. "Will you sit down and let the two of us speak?" He asked his other boss, making sure he couldn't interfere. He then returned to his conversation with Julianna. "That was good of you. Don't worry, though, I'm not going to take your ring away from you. Rather, I'm going to make sure you use it in ways I approve of. First, as a token of good will: were you and your husband very successful treasure hunters? And then for me: were all of the valuable artifacts that you found sexual in nature?"

Julianna sighed. "I was wondering what your game was, if it was going to be sexual, or political, or what. I didn't have you pegged for a pervert." She said this neutrally, without malice in her voice.

"It's a little of everything. I like power, and power gets me off. I think the same will be true for you, by the way. That's the first thing I want to do. Are you as much of a pervert as I am?"