 Why did David press the button?
Over the mesh-covered speaker, two knobs glowed red. I reached down to the tightness that held my body, found the wide strap that held me and fumbled with the buckle. There was no sensation of place, no feeling of up or down, no direction. The name meant nothing to me, but I thought about it, watching the relentless lights that shone below the dials. Now it must tell me why I didn't. He was as still as death, motionless without warmth or breath as I hovered over him. I dared not try to operate anything. It waited for human hands to make it operate. They stood for anything I might guess, and something kept pricking my mind, telling me I had no time to guess.
 He wanted to get more information from the voice.
 He understood his name.  The experiment was successful.  He wanted to leave the spaceship.  He wanted to get more information from the voice.