You have the right idea here: this is a prologue, not the story proper, and you let us know that this is simply a set-up for the actual story that is still ahead of us. The events narrated are clearly dramatic, driven by characters that bring a full compliment of conflict and complexity to their tasks. Now, all you need to do is get out of their way, allow them to come to the fore, take center stage and tell us their story.
Right now, you’re doing all the work for them and the result is we never get an actual experience of the proceedings. All we get is you talking, talking, talking. Starting with the faux metaphysics that occupies the first three paragraphs (if they want the real thing, they’ll read Schopenhauer, or Nietzsche) you shine the light on you and you only.
We never hear any of your characters utter a single word, never get to see them interacting, never get a visual unfolding of the events. I’m certain you feel that you have a killer tale unfolding, and you just might, but the painful truth for the reader is, this story is about some guy talking, and nothing else. Yak yak yak.
I know you’ve encountered the old adage, show, don’t tell. Actually, that’s not quite correct and writers who slavishly follow it end up showing us way too much, most of which is boring, irrelevant detail. The real rule is, show what needs to be shown, tell what needed to be told.
Showing is when you bring the camera and microphone in close and let your characters perform for us. We automatically assume that such moments are crucial plot points, and will pay attention, Telling is how you pass from one section to another, when details can be compressed because we don’t need to see them all unfold in real time. Telling is how we move from summer to autumn without describing every leaf as it changes color.
Clearly you have passages that need to be told. But there are many more that need to be shown, in an unfolding present moment that allows the reader to actually experience events first hand, rather that the Reader’s Digest version you now offer them.
Think about the many different elements included here, then think about how they could be presented in an actual unfolding of events. Give the reader an experience of that, they’ll definitely keep reading to see what happens next