So, what exactly happened to the 8600 people in the end? I've read through it twice, but this chapter is incredibly vague. They were not woken up, that seems certain. But if they were brainwashed, what's the point of repairing basically every single robot in the series with its core intact to act as some kind of advocate for them if they, as individuals, are already dead?
What a weird way to end the series. The author can say what he wants (unfortunately there are cases when the manga was very obviously axed, even if they claim otherwise, like with Good Ending), but this manga was rushed to the end for one reason or the other. You can even tell almost exactly when the change occurred: it's around chapter 46, when the protagonists discover the secret robot island, but then immediately depart to take part in a huge, weird battle which was the first in the series to use humanoid modules as expendable "faceless enemies", even though there was a lot emphasis placed previously on the fact that they are pretty much people themselves. Remember when Gram shot the core of Dhalia (v1) and he was portrayed as a bitter man out for revenge? (Even though Dhalia did kill a whole lot of people beforehand.) After chapter 46, the robots suddenly started dropping like flies. In many aspects, the series gave up its own "heart" and morality the speed the story along, and honestly that is the part that I regret seeing the most.