Yes, evil thrives on secrecy. - David Brin

Nothing is beyond us, the new legends say. So choose well.

Some molecules were stable. . . . These became letters in a new alphabet.
They, too, reacted to form still larger clusters, a few of which survived and accrued. . . . the first genetic words.

Other generations perceived a plethora of swords hanging over their heads. But generally what they feared were shadows, for neither they nor their gods could actually end the world. Fate might reap an individual, a family, or even a whole nation, but not the entire world. Not then.
We, in the mid-twenty-first century, are the first to look up at a sword we ourselves forged, and know, with absolute certainty, it is real...